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Apogee Photo - Home
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by
Nancy Rotenberg & Michael Lustbader
EXPOSURE Middle Tone As
long as the subjects being photographed have approximately 18 percent
reflectance, the camera’s meter recommendations will yield the correct
exposures. But the world is not composed of ideally lit scenes.
If you trust the meter’s judgement, images photographed in deep shade
are often too light and those photographed in bright sunlight are often too
dark. To have your images
accurately reproduce the tonality of the original subject, you must replace the
meter’s suggested settings with ones that will yield a more accurate or more
pleasing rendition. To do so, you
need to know what part of the scene your meter is measuring-the entire scene, a
circle in the center of the viewfinder, or an area at the bottom of the viewing
screen-and judge how much lighter or darker your subject is than middle tone. Exposing For Highlights Highlights
are the parts of an image that contain the lightest tones in which you’d like
to see detail. Identify them and,
if possible, take your meter reading directly from this area.
This is where a spot meter comes in handy. Imagine that you are photographing bright yellow daisies.
If you shoot at the meter’s recommended exposure, the bright yellow
petals will translate into a dull, mustard yellow-brown.
If you wish them to be more accurately rendered-lighter than
middle-toned-you must increase your exposure accordingly.
Take your meter reading from the petals and ask yourself how much lighter
than middle tone the area is that the meter is reading.
Suppose your meter reads 1/60 of a second at f/8 when you meter directly
off the yellow petals. If you
decide that the petals are one f-stop lighter than middle tone, you must open up
one f-stop, exposing at 1/30 of a second at f/8 (a slower shutter speed) or 1/60
of a second at f/5.6 (a larger aperture). Both
of these combinations will give you one f-stop more light than the meter’s
recommendation and will produce a lighter and more accurate image of the daisies
on film. Contrast Range If
an image contains a contrast range greater than five f/stops (the range of
tonality between the lightest and the darkest tones in the subject), you may
still wind up with burnt-out highlights even though your middle-toned exposure
is accurate, because transparency film cannot record a contrast range of more
than five f-stops. You have to
choose which of the tonalities present is the most important to you and to the
integrity of the image.
Backlit Dahlia: This Dahlia was backlit by a setting sun.
In order to maintain detail in the shadows, I opened up one to one and a
half stops, and used fill-flash. I
bracketed the exposure as the light was tricky.
Had I not opened up, the flower would have been silhouetted. Leaves Against
Snow:
Minimalist in its simplicity of muted color and
design, the interplay between the strong diagonal of the branch and the weaker
diagonal intersection of the leaves contributes to a sense of balance in this
image. Exposure was calculated by metering off the snow and opening up two and a
half stops. Slight overexposure, sometimes referred to as "high key" exposure,
adds to the overall feeling of delicacy.
EQUIPMENT
When you purchase a camera, you are not just buying a
piece of equipment: you are buying into an entire system. Do your homework and make sure that both the specific camera
body and the system itself provide the features you may want as your interest
and skills grow. Certain features
will make your life simpler in the field.
Interchangeable Lenses:
For close-up photography make sure that the system you purchase includes
macro lenses. Depth-of-Field Preview Control: A depth-of-field preview
control, either electronic or manual, allows you to evaluate the depth of field
through the lens before releasing the shutter.
It really helps to eliminate those sighs at the light table of “Where
did that stick come from?”
Other useful camera features include Interchangeable
Focusing Screens, Through-the-Lens Metering, Remote Operation, and Self-Timers. Some optical accessories could include Telextenders,
Close-up Lenses, and Right-Angle Finders.
Next to your camera and lenses, your tripod in the most
important piece of equipment. Its
support allows for sharp images even in the dim lighting conditions you will
often encounter in the field. For
close-up work, the legs should move independently, and you should be able to
collapse the entire mechanism to ground level.
Avoid tripods with braces between the legs and a center column.
Photo Magnification Devices
Extension Tubes and Bellows You can increase photographic
magnification by increasing the film-to-lens distance with extension tubes or
bellows. Extension tubes are hollow
metal tubes that attach between the camera and lens.
The longer the tube or combination of tubes, the greater the degree of
magnification. A bellows unit
consists of front and rear standards, which couple to the lens and camera body
joined by a flexible, accordion-like extension. Reversing Rings and Stacking Rings Reversing the lens on the camera face
plate, with the aid of a reversing ring, increases magnification and may
actually improve image quality. A
reversing ring is an adapter that mounts to the camera on one side and the front
of the lens on the other. Automatic
functions are lost when the lens is reversed, so the lens must be stopped down
to the correct shooting aperture either manually or with a double cable release
made specifically for that purpose. Other Devices If you wish to further explore the
realm of higher-magnification close-up photography (3X to 10X), several camera
manufacturers produce short focal-length lenses, from 20 to 45mm, specifically
designed for this purpose. Some
have focusing helices like normal lenses. Others
do not and are intended for use on a bellows.
Photo Filters
Filters change the appearance of light by eliminating some
colors and enhancing others, in varying degrees. Buy the best quality filters that you can afford and avoid
the inexpensive ones sold in package deals by some camera retail stores.
The left starfish was photographed without a polarizer.
A circular polarizer set at full polarization was used in the right image.
Polarizing Filters Polarizing filters are used to remove reflections from
nonmetallic materials, such as water and glass, and to darken skies to
accentuate clouds. In close-up
photography, polarizing filters are used to increase the apparent saturation of
colors and to decrease contrast by eliminating specular reflections and
highlights (small reflections from shiny or irregular surfaces). With a polarizing filter, there is a loss of light between
one-half and two and a half stops, depending on the degree of polarization.
This is compensated for by your camera’s meter. The best polarizers have a thin profile and are made from
anodized brass, which have less of a tendency to bind during operation.
The thin profile helps to prevent vignetting-the darkening or cutting off
of corners-especially if you are using two or more filters or a wide-angle lens. Warming Filters If you shoot in shade or in early morning, you may notice
that the light tends to have a slightly cool, or bluish, cast.
You can compensate for this color shift and restore a more
natural-looking color balance by using filters to absorb blue light in various degrees. This
effectively exaggerates the warmer tones: red, orange, yellow, and brown. In
autumn, using warming filters will enhance the colors of foliage close-ups. Stacking Filters On some occasions, a polarizer and a warming filter may be
stacked together and used simultaneously. It
is important that both filters be clean and of the highest optical quality.
Use your depth-of-field preview button, and watch for vignetting or
flare.
NATURAL LIGHT
What is ordinarily a mundane image can become magical in
special lighting conditions. Time
of day and weather are two important factors. Time of Day In early morning, light is uniform and soft, creating
low-contrast conditions that cause the important details of texture and pattern
to stand out. In late afternoon, light is warm and colors appear more
saturated. Even after the sun goes
down, there is often more light than you realize. Weather People often assume that images will look better when
photographed in bright sunlight. But
in actuality, some photographs will be more successful if shot in overcast
light. Although subjects may look
beautiful to the eye in the glow of bright sunshine, on the light table they may
appear contrasty, with burnt-out highlights and detail. Overcast skies produce soft, low-contrast, diffused
lighting that preserves details that might be washed out in full sunlight. Rainy days can be quite magical, drizzling softness on
flowers and leaves, and painting tree trunks with black wetness.
Our rainy-day box consists of: rain boots, rain pants, and jacket golf umbrella towels Ziploc bags and trash bags camera and lens raincoats (shower caps are great) Manipulating Natural Light Diffusers:
It
would be wonderful if you could always be photographing in morning, evening, or
overcast conditions. You can create
the effect of overcast skies by using a diffuser.
A diffuser is a panel of translucent material, positioned between the sun
and your subject. Reflectors:
Reflectors
are wonderful tools that redirect light onto your subject.
Mirrors or crumpled aluminum on cardboard can be used, but the fold-up
commercial reflectors work best, and fit neatly into a pack.
Gold reflectors produce warm tones, enhancing earth tones such as red,
oragne, and brown. Silver and white
reflectors are more neutral and are useful as supplements to available light.
Above:
The warmth of late afternoon light adds a wonderful
dimension to images. To emphasize
the flow of water and color, I used a long exposure. Upper
Left: A diffuser was used between the sun and shell to create an
overcast condition. The shell
became iridescent in this light and all of its intricate details could be shown.
Lower Left:
The soft side-lighting of early morning rays created a warm
glow on this little scene. Midday
light would have blown all of the details out, and I probably wouldn’t have
given the subject a second glance.
FLASH
As you move closer to increase
magnification, you are faced not only with decreased depth of field, but also
with an effective loss of light with the addition of any extension device. Achieving a life-size magnification requires two additional
stops of light to maintain correct exposure.
The camera and lens by themselves cannot satisfy the needs of a small
f-stop and freezing motion. Although
we prefer to use natural light at every opportunity, electronic flash can help
with these problems. Using a TTL (through-the-lens) flash
unit is the best way to supply additional light when there is not enough light.
The TTL flash unit reads the light reflected off the subject by using the
camera's sensor. Set the camera exposure mode to manual
or aperture priority. Choose the type of metering pattern
you’d like to use. Spot metering
allows the greatest degree of control, but center and bottom-weighted averaging
systems give good results as well. Set the aperture on your lens
according to the depth-of-field desired. Set the shutter speed for the correct
available light exposure. This
allows the flash to fill in with just enough light to finish off the correct
exposure without burning out the highlights.
On bright, sunny days, you can get ghost images if you use too slow a
shutter speed. Set the zoom control on the flash. This adjusts the angle of dispersion of the light-the wider
the setting, the wider the light dispersion. Set the f-stop on the flash unit to
correspond to the aperture chosen for the lens. (Some units do this
automatically.) Set the exposure compensation on the
flash to -1 to -1.7 or 1 2/3 stops for most subjects.
This tells the flash not to fire at full power and determines the amount
of fill light.
If full power flash had been used
to illuminate this backlit banded argiope, the effect of the
backlighting would have been lost.
The fill was set to -2, so that the shadowed argiope would be lit
but the delicate web and dewdrops would not be burned out.
ADDING INTEREST TO YOUR PHOTOS
As your vision sharpens, you will become more aware of
shapes and patterns. Looking for
the extraordinary in the ordinary is an exciting part of close-up photography.
Ignore color and texture, and concentrate on the outlines of objects.
If you have trouble doing this, a handy little filter, Zone VI from
Calumet, eliminates color and shows just contrast and shape. Reflections As light disperses into abstraction, blues and greens dance
in cascading waterfalls, and yellows and oranges weave tapestries in autumn
ponds. Reflections create visual
metaphors, where red rock canyon hues and cottonwood leaves echo their glow into
rivers and streams.
Reflections
have so many varieties of patterns and color combinations that just by moving
your vantage point you can obtain a very different image. Texture Sometimes a photograph is not about the subject itself but
rather about its physical properties, such as shape or texture.
Things with wonde
Special Effects When vignetting, an out-of-focus foreground is used to
frame and isolate the subject. You
shoot through one foreground object while focusing on another that is farther
away. Whatever material you use as
a frame must be as close as possible to the lens and outside of its focusing
range. It’s usually best to shoot through a color that is
complementary to the subject and does not compete or clash, although you can
occasionally achieve an exciting image by creating visual tension between
colors. Soft Focus It’s easy to overdo special techniques - be subtle.
As is often the case, the most effective techniques are those which are
“transparent” and do not attract attention to themselves. ESTHETICS You may have all kinds of wonderful camera equipment, and
you may have learned all the proper techniques, but when you look at your images
on the light table, you still may be disappointed.
Just as the development of your technical skills did not happen
overnight, the development of your photographic vision also takes practice,
patience, and perseverance. Eliot Porter, master of detail in the natural world, said
that a true work of art is “the creation of love; love for the subject first
and for the medium second”. A child’s brain thinks in terms of magic and mystery, not
mastery and manipulation. To obtain
successful images, we have to get in touch with that child inside, and leave
known territory for the discovery of new lands. Spending focused hours in one small area, you can learn
about a blade of grass, a crab spider, patterns in the earth, and about the tiny
hairs on a flower’s stem. It is
only by spending time with a subject can you hope to move from documentation to
interpretation.
Upper
Left: Using symbols in your photographs is an effective method of
telling a story. Viewers are
encouraged to think about the events that took place and thus become involved in
the story. Lower
Left: Hillsides of sweeping hues, grand landscapes of oranges and
reds, and lakes surrounded by kaleidoscopes of color make it easy to be caught
up in the grandeur of it all. Small
details can quietly represent an entire season, and often provide a more
intimate view. To strengthen inner vision, start by merely slowing down.
Before you begin a walk in search of images, take a deep breath.
Look around you and focus on the ground below you and the sky above you.
Smell the air and think about the flowers and grasses that grow from the
earth upon which you are walking. Think
of everything that might have happened where you now stand.
Then refocus on where you are and the gifts that the day is bringing you.
Inhale the nature around you and take nourishment from “the tonic of
wildness”. This is a holistic
process, through which everything is understood to affect everything else. ~~~~~ How To Photograph
Close-ups in Nature
by Nancy Rotenberg and Michael
Lustbader.
To find other articles by subject, just type subject in
the Search Box. Apogee Photo and Apogee Photo Magazine are trademarks of Apogee Photo, Inc. © 1995-2012 Apogee Photo, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How to Photograph Close-ups in Nature
Tips on Exposure, Equipment, Natural Light, Flash, Adding Photo
Interest & Esthetics
All tips are excerpted from the book "How to
Photograph Close-ups in Nature"
© Nancy Rotenberg. All Rights Reserved.
© Nancy Rotenberg. All Rights Reserved.
Magnification is simply a comparison
of the size of the subject in real life to the size of its image on film,
expressed as a ratio or fraction. A
magnification ratio of 1:1, or life-size, means that a subject that is 1 inch
long in real life will also measure 1 inch on film.
A magnification ratio of 1:2, or one-half life-size, means that a subject
that measures 1 inch in real life will measure 1/2 inch on film.
Above: A 105 macro lens with a short
extension tube yielded a magnification of greater than 1:1.
An 81A warming filter emphasized the golden color.
Right: A magnification of 1:2, with its more
shallow depth of field, was chosen to exclude distracting elements. Fill flash at -2 was used to fill shadows.
Starfish in Tidepool
The image on the left was taken exhibits a fairly neutral
palette. For the second image, an
81A warming filter was added. Which
is “better” is a matter of personal taste.
Fill flash, set at - 1.5 stops,
helped to freeze the motion of the snake’s flicking tongue.
It also provided a highlight in the eye.
Both of these reflections were photographed only a few feet
away from each other.
Vignetting the bottom of the wintergreen’s rather bare
stem softens its emergence into the frame.
Vignetting
Soft focus can add a hint of mystery or romance to your
close-up images. Soft-focus filters
are simply screwed onto the front of the lens.
You can purchase one or make one yourself from an inexpensive skylight
filter covered with Vaseline or mesh, such as a piece of nylon stocking.
© Nancy Rotenberg. All Rights Reserved.
© Nancy Rotenberg. All Rights Reserved.
© Nancy Rotenberg. All Rights Reserved.
Above:
Instead of being frustrated by the wind, I chose a long
exposure to portray the movement and rhythm of wind.
Published by Stackpole Books
Signed copies at: http://www.ccia.com/~tapestry
