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Chapter 6 ✦ Real World Applications 139
Table 6.7
Taking Macro and Close-up Pictures
Setup Practice Picture: Figure 6.22 is an amazing red dragonfly I found
perched on a stem while leaving the Zilker Botanical Gardens.
On Your Own: Look for subjects with bright colors and
interesting texture, whether they are insects, flowers, or everyday
objects.
Lighting Practice Picture: For this shot I used an SB-600 in wireless
remote using the D200 built-in flash as a commander. The
commander unit was set to TTL. I held the Speedlight close to
front of the lens set at a 45 degree angle.
On Your Own: When photographing a subject such as this, you
want the light a little off axis, in other words angled off to the
side, in order to highlight the texture.
Lens Practice Picture: 50mm Macro-Takumar f/4. (I found this lens
on eBay very cheap; it was made for old Pentax film cameras
with a screw-mount.) It is manual focus, but when you’re down
really close to a subject, focusing is more or less achieved by
moving the camera back and forth rather than focusing with the
lens itself.
On Your Own: You have many different types of macro lenses
from which to choose. Longer telephoto lenses let you zoom in
on the subject without actually being close. Most good macro
lenses are in the 50 to 60mm range allowing a closer focus and
better magnification, but resulting in less depth of field.
Camera Settings Practice Picture: The camera was set to Aperture Priority mode.
Most macro subjects aren’t going to move at great speeds so a
fast shutter speed is not really needed. Controlling the depth of
field and what is in focus is more important.
On Your Own: Set to Aperture Priority mode in order to have
more control over the depth of field.
Exposure Practice Picture: ISO 100, 1/60 sec. at f/4
On Your Own: Decide what’s important in the image and focus
on it. use a wide aperture to throw the background out of focus,
while maintaining focus on the subject.
Accessories If your subject is stationary, a tripod can be invaluable tool.
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