Part 5 of my digital nature photography book is entitled "The Close-up World". For good close-up magnification of different subjects, macro lenses or extension tubes are usually required. "A true macro lens is designed and specifically corrected for high-quality close-up work." They have focusing ranges that extend from infinity to a distance that usually yields 1:2 life-size images. They can be used without any extra add-on to shoot anything from a close-up of a mosquito to a landscape of the ancient pyramids. Zoom macro lenses are also available, but the focusing ability is not quite as good as a true macro lens. Extension tubes and bellows can also be used in conjunction with non-macro lenses to produce the same magnified photos. The only down side to using these is that they reduce the amount of light transmitted by the lens and limits the ability of the photographer to capture motion.
When wanting to shoot close-ups at a distance, teleconverters can be used along with telephoto lenses which allow the photographer to add to the desired shooting distance. they increase the focal length of the prime lens by 2x or 1.4x. Unfortunately, a 10% loss of image quality occurs with a 1.4x teleconverter and a 20% loss of image quality occurs with a 2x teleconverter. Luckily this loss in image quality occurs around the outer edges of the frame, and does not affect the center where the subject is located.
Wide angle lenses can be successfully used with short extension tubes to create great macro shots. The author remarks that he likes to push the wide-angle lens directly into a clump of flowers to obtain his desired macro effect. These lenses when used with a short extension tube to produce magnifications exceeding life-size. At this magnification level, the image quality of the primary lens tends to deteriorate. To fix this, you can reverse mount the lens to the camera body, but closing the diaphragm manually and manual exposure control is required.
The author really enjoys shooting macro photographs of flowers. He dedicated a whole section of this part of the book to shooting "Wild Flora". He recommends restraining flowers as well as stabilizing camera equipment for these shots. Under natural overcast light and using a polarizing filter with a moderate ISO speed, a shutter speed of 1/15 or longer is usually required. When you are looking to capture a landscape of a meadow, windy days may be desirable due to the blurred effect that it can produce. The author suggests using a plamp (plant clamp) when shooting a macro shot of an individual flower even when it is not windy out. Macro shots are usually best accomplished with the use of natural light, because it does not flush out the natural color of the plant like a flash might.
I think there are some absolutely beautiful wildflower portraits in this part of the book. The author gives some great tips on how to shoot these great photos. The first of these steps is to get close enough so that the bloom will occupy most of the frame. Next, make sure the sharpest focus is on the flower's pistils and stamens unless there is a more distinctive feature to the flower. "Use out-of-focus patches of color to frame the main blossom." Check the outer edges of the frame to make sure that there is not anything else that will distract the viewer from the main subject. Finally, simplify the composition by shooting at a large aperture (shallow depth of field). This allows features surrounding the subject to be softened, allowing the subject stand out even more.
Citations:
Fitzharris, Tim. National Audubon Society Guide to Nature Photography Digital Edition. Buffalo: Firefly, 2008.
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