While most photographs that we see depict gorgeous landscapes or portraits of beautiful people or the moody intrigue brought about by black and white images, we can also find really interesting subjects peering into the microcosmic world of flowers, insects and even a tiny drop of water. Macro photography utilizes specialized camera lenses that are able to focus sharply on objects extremely near to the glass. This often requires the use of a tripod to keep the camera very still. The slightest movement will cause the macro subject to be out of focus.
Like peering through a microscope, macro photographs make tiny objects appear very large, filling up the camera’s frame. Insects are favored subjects for macro, as are flowers. One might capture a grasshopper sitting on the leaf of a plant or even an extremely close-up shot of the eye of a housefly. We can marvel at the amazing shapes and colors and body parts of a spider as it lies in wait for prey. Plants and flowers seen enlarged many times reveal the beauty of nature’s flora normally missed when viewed walking by.
One of the oft-desired effects of shooting with a wide-open lens aperture is the ability to blur the background behind your subject. This is called bokeh. This makes your subject stand out and be visually separated from it’s surrounding environs. With macro, bokeh can be achieved almost automatically due to the relative distance your subject is from objects behind it; relative to the distance between the subject and the camera.
In addition to plants and insects, almost anything can potentially be a macro subject. The eye of a needle, a drop of water into a bowl, a clump of raspberries, water droplets on a leaf, a submerged strawberry surrounded by air bubbles – all can make amazing subjects for macro photography.