How to Take Macro Photos

References

Macro Photography Tips for Point and Shoot Compact Digital Cameras
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/macro-photography-tips-for-compact-digital-camera-users/

Fine Art Photography by M. Plonsky
This is a very practical tutorial that might better be titled "Bug Photography with a Point-and-shoot," written by a professor, with lots of pictorial examples - covering equipment, camera settings, lighting and flash, tripod issues, methods, etc.  Everything he does is with a non-SLR camera.

Macro Photography - how to take close-up pictures of small things by Philip Greenspun
General discussion, covers equipment (cameras, lenses) exposure and lighting and focus.

Macro Photography Tips for Point and Shoot Compact Digital Cameras
Covers selecting Macro Mode, tripods, aperture settings, focusing, composition, flash, lighting, using self-timer.
Digital Photography Tips for Beginners from digital-photography-school.com

digital photo walks


Macro Digital Photo Walk at Shark Inlet 27 August 2009 Handout
Macro Digital Photo Walk Handout
(http://photomorrobay.com/walks/lessons/macros/ )

Visit PhotoMorroBay.com, where you can join (1) our Yahoo! Group for discussions and (2) our Flickr Group for photo sharing and critique.
Post three of your best photos from today's walk to this Flickr group.

Scope out your subject - walk around, visualize, compose
- Background elements, simple, cluttered, sky, weeds
- Portrait or landscape mode
- Focal points, select, focus on; set on same plane

Tripod

Manual Focus - Liveview 100% viewing mode; 90-degree Angle Finder 2.5X; focus by moving camera; luck says take many photos

Fill Flash - reduce ambient light with high-speed shutter; bounce; external; off-camera

Self-timer or remote shutter

Tight aperture for more depth-of-field

Wide aperture for object/background separation using blur

Diffuse harsh direct sunlight with screen/cloth; overcast days may be best

Select Macro Mode if applicable (closer focusing, wider aperture for blur)

P&S Zooms, go wide, not narrow, for focusing at closest positions

Spray water bottle for simulated dew

Mike Baird  mike [at} mikebaird d o t com flickr.bairdphotos.com photomorrobay.com
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