Close-up Photography on Film

[J11]

First time trying to shoot this type of photography. I have a lot to learn. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Film used was Arista EDU 200. Lens was a 105mm Micro. Jim.



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3.

 

[koraks]

What area are you looking to improve on? I see several possibilities, and they'll require interventions in quite different parts of the process.

 

[J11]

What area are you looking to improve on? I see several possibilities, and they'll require interventions in quite different parts of the process.

Thank you, Koraks. How about a sharper image. See image 3. A shallower DoF. See image 1 and no blown out highlight. See image 2 and image 3. Jim.

 

[BrianShaw]

Image 3 looks problematic, like missed focus or camea vibration or something. A potentially nice image, though.

The other images might be possibly helped by use of reflectors, either white or black, to balance the luminance range of the scene. But I'm not too offended by the blown highlights in 1 and 2...

How are you metering? A spot meter might give a lot of very valuable information to consider regarding hte exposure aspect.

 

[J11]

Image 3 looks problematic, like missed focus or camea vibration or something. A potentially nice image, though.

The other images might be possibly helped by use of reflectors, either white or black, to balance the luminance range of the scene. But I'm not too offended by the blown highlights in 1 and 2...

How are you metering? A spot meter might give a lot of very valuable information to consider regarding hte exposure aspect.

Thank you Brian. I used the camera metering system to take these shots. My lens was a Nikon Ais 105 f2.8 Micro. It was early in the morning before sunrise so I had to stop down to prevent camera shake. Looking back, I should have waited for better light to increase my DoF to somewhere around f8 or f11. Thanks for the idea of using reflectors. I never thought of that before.

 

[xkaes]

Usually macrophotographers tend to want to show the fine detail of their subjects -- which suggests a fine grain film. Unfortunately, fine grain films are usually LOW ISO films -- which means longer exposure times (possible blurring), or wider apertures (less DOF), or flash use (possible harsh light), or a tripod (awkward, of course). There's no free lunch.

Check out CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY by Lefkowitz and FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY by Blaker.

 

[Paul Howell]

When shooting macro I use a tripod whenever possible, a cable release or remote and mirror lockup. For fine detail I use Tmax 100 at 200LPM and finest grain of any general purpose black and white film. There are microfiche film that resolve much more than Tmax but tones may not be to your liking and generally are a bit slower. If your Nikon has a depth of field preview I would use it, decide if you need more depth of field, the image of the angle not sure what you were focusing on, nothing seems to be in sharp focus. If you decide on getting into macro work as you have an AIS lens you might to add a Nikon Bellows and a ring flash.

 

[J11]

Usually macrophotographers tend to want to show the fine detail of their subjects -- which suggests a fine grain film. Unfortunately, fine grain films are usually LOW ISO films -- which means longer exposure times (possible blurring), or wider apertures (less DOF), or flash use (possible harsh light), or a tripod (awkward, of course). There's no free lunch.

Check out CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY by Lefkowitz and FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY by Blaker.

Thanks xkaes. Somebody on this forum recommended a close-up photography book by Heather Angel. I bought it a couple months ago. It was very helpful. I will take a look at the books you recommended. Jim

 

[wiltw]

The issue of focus is a fundamental challenge of macro work, and there are a variety of 'solutions' that can be used to try to address an inherent problem.
As a rank beginner, all you should attempt is first ensuring that your primary subject features are in sharp focus (and with no camera motion blur). What post #7 mentions are fundamentals employable in any aspect of photograpy, their uses simply are singificantly more important in macro work.
And THEN slowly adopt the use of increasingly advanced methods for increasing the amount of the subject seen with sharpness. Each takes time to master.

Your issue of highlights blown out is not specific to macro work, but inherent to photography of objects (sometimes referred to 'product photography'). That is, generally speaking, dealt with by control of subject lighting brightness range.. It can involve metering very selective areas using spotmeter to assess the brightness range of highlights vs. shadows, and controlling the lighting to better fit withing the range which can be captured by the film:

• (already mentioned) the use of light reflectors to add light
• (and non-white panels to cut light reflected to the lens' view)
• and/or use of angles of subject and/or wisely in the placement of light sources.

This can be quite simplistic, or can be extremely complex and time consuming to implement, in part due to inherent technical complexity of the object being photographed. Again, methods used can take time to initially implement, and more time to master.

 

[J11]

When shooting macro I use a tripod whenever possible, a cable release or remote and mirror lockup. For fine detail I use Tmax 100 at 200LPM and finest grain of any general purpose black and white film. There are microfiche film that resolve much more than Tmax but tones may not be to your liking and generally are a bit slower. If your Nikon has a depth of field preview I would use it, decide if you need more depth of field, the image of the angle not sure what you were focusing on, nothing seems to be in sharp focus. If you decide on getting into macro work as you have an AIS lens you might to add a Nikon Bellows and a ring flash.

Thanks Paul. Your right about the Angel. I just missed focus by a lot. My Nikon FE2 has a depth of filed preview on it. I will start using it as well as a tripod. Jim.

 

[J11]

The issue of focus is a fundamental challenge of macro work, and there are a variety of 'solutions' that can be used to try to address an inherent problem.
As a rank beginner, all you should attempt is first ensuring that your primary subject features are in sharp focus (and with no camera motion blur). What post #7 mentions are fundamentals employable in any aspect of photograpy, their uses simply are singificantly more important in macro work.
And THEN slowly adopt the use of increasingly advanced methods for increasing the amount of the subject seen with sharpness. Each takes time to master.

Your issue of highlights blown out is not specific to macro work, but inherent to photography of objects (sometimes referred to 'product photography'). That is, generally speaking, dealt with by control of subject lighting brightness range.. It can involve metering very selective areas using spotmeter to assess the brightness range of highlights vs. shadows, and controlling the lighting to better fit withing the range which can be captured by the film:

• (already mentioned) the use of light reflectors to add light
• (and non-white panels to cut light reflected to the lens' view)
• and/or use of angles of subject and/or wisely in the placement of light sources.

This can be quite simplistic, or can be extremely complex and time consuming to implement, in part due to inherent technical complexity of the object being photographed. Again, methods used can take time to initially implement, and more time to master.

Thank you, wiltw. The information you provided is extremely helpful. I really appreciate it. Jim

 

[MattKing]

Doing this is both frustrating and satisfying .
The depth of field preview function may help a bit, but you will probably find that it becomes harder and harder to use as you stop the lens down - viewfinders get quite dark!
Much of the trick for getting useful results comes from realizing what works well with selective focus - sharp where it matters, and blurred where it looks good.

IIRC, Portra 160 in an RB67 with a 140mm macro lens - from 14 years ago.

 

[jeffreyg]

Along with what has been mentioned. Depending on what subject matter you want to photograph you might look into using a copy stand and also a ring flash. I have a Nikon 105 macro that I used for clinical photography as well as copy. It’s a nice versatile lens. You can do a lot with it.

 

[Vaughn]

I like what Matt mentioned. It will just take a little experience to learn how the macro lens sees and compose even more effectively. Translating such a small area into a larger image can be tricky. Small areas of no information (pure black or white) that work well small, can become too large and empty when enlarged. It is a different way of seeing.

The first image is wonderful. I like how the in-focus areas of the image match well with one's experience using a water fountain, as we bend down and focus in towards where the water will be coming from. (At least I do after getting a yellowjacket in my mouth at Boy Scout camp) There is nothing out-of-focus that would improve the image by being in focus (same with Matt's image above).

I like the second one also, but find the light in the lower right and in the upper part of the image (even with full detail) fighting for attention of my eyes. And the selective focus is working for me.

 

[xkaes]

Thanks xkaes. Somebody on this forum recommended a close-up photography book by Heather Angel. I bought it a couple months ago. It was very helpful. I will take a look at the books you recommended. Jim

You can easily check out the books BEFORE you decide to buy, by visiting your public library. A LOT of photography books are more pretty pictures than technical information.