Hints and Tips

Getting ‘Up Close and Personal’

There is nothing quite like taking close up shots of living things for really getting to know and understand them – especially if you consult a few textbooks before or after the event.

Here are a few technique tips for close up work.

• Decide how large your subject needs to be in the frame. Do you wish to show great detail with no background, a general view of part or the whole of a specimen with an out of focus background, or a shot further back to show the specimen in its habitat?

• You may want to try all three options above and each requires a different approach.

• Depth of field (DOF) is a key factor in close up work and is dependent on the magnification of the subject on your film or CCD and the f-stop used. Strictly speaking most shots will not be 'magnified' as such, i.e. greater that life size or 1:1, but the nearer you get to life size and the beginning of true macro photography the smaller the DOF becomes. Regardless of the lenses and the format used all images of a subject of equal size will have equal DOF at a given f-stop. Other things being equal, the smaller the aperture (a higher f-stop number) the greater the DOF.

• Magnification depends on focal length and focused distance. A frame filling shot of a fungus will have the same DOF when taken with a 20mm lens or a 200mm lens if both are set to the same aperture, say f16, but the distance between the lens and subject needed to achieve this will be very different, probably just a few centimetres for the 20mm lens and perhaps 200cm for a 200mm lens. When working at the same ‘magnification’ and f-stop, changing focal length only affects the working distance.

• Even at small apertures DOF often will be no more than a few millimetres, therefore critical focusing on that part of the subject that needs to be pin sharp is essential.

• If you need to throw the background out of focus so as to concentrate on the subject matter,  you should carefully estimate the DOF. Apertures must be small enough to get the subject sharp but large enough to throw the background out of focus – a balancing act that depends on your equipment and your experience. When the background is very close behind the subject it may be virtually impossible to achieve this.

• Checking DOF with a preview stop-down button is not very easy in average or poor light as the viewfinder dims greatly. Shining a bright torch on part of the subject whilst stopping down may be of help. Some digital cameras with electronic viewfinders do not suffer in this way and can be very useful.

• It goes without saying that a suitable tripod is essential, unless a bean bag is used at or near ground level. With only millimetres to play with it is essential that the plane of the film or CCD is parallel to the key areas of the subject. There is no instrument to check this, only the eyes and lot of positional and focussing bracketing.

• In all photography and especially in close up work the background surroundings are vital.  Don’t think that when your subject is framed and in focus your job is done. Spend at least as much time checking for stray objects such as twigs or blades of grass or bright spots; if possible remove them or reposition the camera. If slides are your product they can be ruined by peripheral distractions. If digitising slides or using a digital camera, distractions can be removed in a photo editing program. Nevertheless it is always prudent to get the best possible original and not to rely on post processing.

• Choosing the best light. Don’t imagine that baking, cloudless summer days are the best for close up work. They are bordering on the worst. Where detail is required the tonal range acceptable is narrow. Some modelling is important but flat light rather than bright sun will at least allow you to get good record shots.

• Best light is bright overcast or perhaps early or late, weak sun. Remember our eyes can see into shadows in a way that no film can. Even CCDs, although more able, cannot respond to a wide tonal range. Use a small reflector to fill in the shadowed areas that will be there, even if there is no sun. A grey sky is always brighter where the sun is behind it.

• If you cannot avoid the sun shield the subject with a translucent white sheet. A small frame with white muslin etc. can be easily made up. Some people even build a white walled tent over the subject. This has the advantage of reducing wind movements in flowers or tree leaves.

• Use of flash is difficult to disguise. In general in very dull light use it as fill in, preferably with the light head off camera, held to one side. Plastic diffusers fitted over the flash head can successfully soften the light. Hard light (high contrast) is one of the worst results of flash photography.

• Wind can easily move delicate subjects such as flowers, leaves etc. The best and only technique here is patience – waiting for a lull. Often movement makes very close up work impossible, even if shutter speeds are increased by using fast film or sacrificing DOF by selecting a larger aperture. At such times mosses, lichens, fungi, crawling insects and molluscs are least likely to be affected.

Equipment

There's no question that close-up photography is made easier and more successful by having the right equipment. Here are a few thoughts about useful equipment that you might already have in your camera bag.

• A tripod is absolutely essential. The multi-jointed types from companies like Benbo and Uniloc are ideal for getting the camera into those tight and low spots.

• A macro lens - a good focal length is around 100mm - is designed to focus at very short distances. If you don't want to invest in a new lens there are other ways to get close up. Extension rings and teleconverters that fit between the lens and camera, supplementary lenses that fit to the front of the lens like a filter will enable you to shoot macro shots. Alternatively, a reversing ring that permits you to attach a lens to an SLR body back to front is inexpensive and can yield excellent results. 

• Longer focus lenses - in the range 2-300mm make it easier to put background out of focus and give longer working distances.

• If you wish to use flash (not essential or even desirable in some people's opinion) be sure to use a flash diffuser - a thin, white handkerchief will do at a pinch. Hold the flash head to one side of camera if possible.

• A simple sheet of white paper or card or crinkled silver foil can be used as a reflector  to fill in shadow areas. Companies like Lastolite make a range of reflectors that fold away to almost nothing.

• A thin, translucent, muslin sheet or white flash umbrella is great for shielding subjects from direct sun.

• You might also want to pack a tough plastic bag or waterproof sheet to kneel on!

• Knitting needles or something similar, plus a length of twine are helpful to support plant stems if it is windy. A ball of Blu-tac can come in very handy for holding things in the desired position too. Small bulldog clips can come useful for clipping branches to one side or stems to needles

• Fine grain, saturated, colour film, e.g. Fuji Velvia ISO 50 is ideal for capturing as much detail as possible. A faster film, say ISO 2-400 might be better in windy conditions or with moving creatures. Negative colour film might be better if there is high contrast in the subject.

• One luxury item is a right angle finder, especially if you are flexibly challenged!

Deryck Ford