« [ IMPORTANT — ADOBE CS2 UPDATES ] | Main | [ REVIEW — SONY DSC W55 camera ] »
April 19, 2007
[ GETTING UP CLOSE AND INTIMATE ]
AUTUMN IS A WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR for photographers. When the cool, dewy mornings kick in the little things around turn into lovely photographic subjects.
Flowers, leaves, spider webs, fungi and insects are bejewelled with tiny water droplets, veritable photo clichés challenging the photographer to find a new way of looking at the micro world.
It so happens that compact digital cameras, like the Sony W55 reviewed here, are very good at close-up photography. In the days of film cameras parallax error was always a problem because the closer the camera moved to the subject the greater the disparity between what was seen in the viewfinder and what was captured on film.
With the LCD screen acting as viewfinder on a compact digital camera you see exactly what will be captured on the sensor.
Compact digitals have another advantage over film – greater depth of field. Without going into the mysteries of optics the fundamental fact is that the smaller the aperture opening, the sharper the image will be from front to back. A typical sensor in a compact is only a few millimetres across, just a fraction of the area of 35mm film. This means that the lens and aperture diaphragm have a small diameter, even wide open. In fact this characteristic of compact cameras can be annoying with big subjects because the depth of field is so great it is almost impossible to get attractive out-of-focus backgrounds, but for close-up work it is ideal.
Pressing the macro button on a Canon compact (and some other brands) produces a change in the optical configuration of the lens, optimising it for close-up work. SLR users will remember that an effect something like this was achieved with extension tubes between the camera body and the lens – well now it is all done electronically by pushing a button.
Selecting the macro mode also affects the flash, reducing the output – but we never use flash for close-ups. On some cameras it also sets the auto-focus to the centre of the image.
One thing that all camera makers recommend is that a tripod be used for close-ups. If you are just a few millimetres from a flower or an insect there is no way that the camera can be held steady. And if the camera provides manual control of shutter speed and aperture then choosing the slowest shutter speed will make for the smallest aperture and the greatest depth of field and make the camera even harder to hold steady.
The best light for close-ups is what Kodak used to call cloudy-bright on their film instruction sheets. Flowers, in particular, look best when the light is even and diffused. Direct sunlight will almost always produce white highlights or inky black shadows. Take the flowers indoors and arrange them near a window for an attractive modelling light, lighter on the window side and slightly darker on the room side.
Sometimes nature doesn’t do the trick with the water droplets on the spider web or the petals. Who cares? We get out our trusty Plaspak Selecta Spray multi purpose sprayer and squirt a fine mist of water drops over the subject. It looks just like the real thing.
There are some fine examples of macro photography in the picture gallery at www.dpexpert.com.au/gallery/BM
*
Posted by terry at April 19, 2007 12:17 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://bleedingedge.com.au/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1255
Comments
In your article "Autumn Glory", I have to take issue with the comment that the smaller sensor size increases depth of field. F-stops are a function of aperture diameter and lens focal length and regardless of film or sensor size, the depth of field is the same for any given aperture. Focal length changes the magnification which can give the appearance of greater depth of field (wide angle) or smaller depth of field (telephoto). The main reason why depth of field is greater on these cameras is that the lenses have smaller apertures to make them compact.
On the subject of close-ups with flash, flash can allow close-ups to be taken without a tripod.
Other than this, keep up the good work. Your articles are well written and informative.
Posted by: Glenn Hilling at April 19, 2007 01:01 PM