Step into a world of photography that most artists consider magical. The closer you get to things, the more fascinating they become. Unimaginable details can be captured with the aid of special photography techniques and equipment, detailed at length within these pages.
Macro photographers play by a different rulebook. The challenges faced from the subject matter, the equipment and even the laws of physics make this an ambitious genre of photography. It can be abstract, it can tell stories, and it can spark your imagination.
Author and “Mad Scientist” photographer Don Komarechka covers every area of macro photography, from simple beginnings and tips to help you get the most out of your first macro lens, all the way through a masterclass in the obscure. Topics include:
- Redefining the rules of composition
- Finding and exploring narratives we ignore
- The challenges of magnification
- Camera equipment choices and recommendations
- Inexpensive ways to get “closer”
- Controlling and sculpting light
- Overcoming shallow focus
- Using water droplets as lenses for enchanted refractions
- The art of photographic discovery: “what if?”
- Winter macro: snowflakes and freezing soap bubbles
- Ultraviolet fluorescence macro
- Stereoscopic 3D macro photography
- MANY more topics down the rabbit hole
Author(s): Don Komarechka
Publisher: Don Komarechka Photography
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 384
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Introduction & Equipment
Getting Closer
How Much Magnification?
Lenses
Lighting
The Technical Basics
Aperture
Focal Length
Distance From Your Subject
Why Can’t I Shoot At F/96?
Effective Aperture
Focus
Pushing Focus Farther
Embracing the Chaos
Composition
Tell a Story
Lines, Shapes and Colours
Simplify
The World is Not 5 ½ Feet Tall
Fascination Factor
Water Droplet Refraction Photography
Creating Good Droplets
To Spray or to Carefully Place?
Lighting the Background
Lighting Options
Alignment
Equipment for Staging
Depth of Field
Throwing Away Pixels / High Res. Mode
Different Backgrounds
The Earth in a Droplet
Adding Dimension with Reflection
Narratives with Actors
The Evolution of an Idea
Ultraviolet Macro
Reflectance vs. Fluorescence
Capture UV Directly - Reflectance
Ultraviolet Fluorescence
Constructing a UV Flash
Using an LED-based Flashlight
Fluorescing Subjects and Equipment Setup
Exposure and Camera Settings
Fluorescent Insects
Fluorescent Minerals
Living on the Rocks
Ultraviolet Liquid Flow
Bokeh
Mucking With Light
Lomography and Lensbaby
High-Magnification Macro
Shooting With Microscope Objectives
Magnification and Resolving Power
Focus and Framing
Focus Stacking at the Extremes
Cross-Polarized Crystals
Micrometeorites
Photographing Snowflakes
Background & Contrast
Photographic Equipment
Shooting Techniques
Camera and Flash Settings
Finding Focus
Flash Angle
Revealing Hidden Features
Breaking Snowflakes
Alternate Method for Shifting Focus
Protecting Your Camera
Melting Snow and Weather Sealing
Focus Stacking Not Required
Other Lens Options
Illusion of Symmetry, Bias on Beauty
Exotic Snowflakes
Photographing Frost
Photographic Techniques of Other Snowflake Photographers
Freezing Soap Bubbles
Manual Exposure, Manual Focus
Composition and Creativity
Adding Colour
"Mad Scientist" Colour
Flowering Frost
Crossing the Streams
Masterclass
Essence of Reverie
Midnight Sun
Jewels of Summer
Maple Leaf Flag
"The Snowflake"
Handheld Microscope Snowflakes
Snowdrop Sedulity
Bee Happy
Fortress of Solitude
Gazing into Vibrancy
Crystal Blossoms
Editing Workflow
Brighten but Don’t Over-expose
The Many Paths to Local Adjustments
The Eye of the Beholder
Showcasing Structure
Sharpened for Success
Cropping
Snowflake Editing Workflow
Selection of Slices
Align and Blend
The Long, Boring Process.
Clean Up and Isolate
Cleaning Up Colour
Masking Out the Snowflake
Texture and Structure
Crisping the Edges
Summarizing a Snowflake
Water Droplet Workflow
Devil the Details
Working Through the Layers
Automated / High Resolution Stacking
Helicon Focus
Zerene Stacker
Multiple Paths Forward
Dusting Stardust
Background Cleanup
Extracting Maximum Details
Stereoscopic 3D Macro
Shooting in 3D with Your Current Equipment
Creating 3D Images with Dedicated Optics
Composing in Three Dimensions
3D Framing, Focus and Lighting
3D Image Preparation and Editing
Aligning Images
Setting the Stereo Window
Final Output
Challenging Stereo Windows
Taking 3D Further
Epilogue
About the Author
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