Macro Photography (without a Macro Lens)

PHOTO CHALLENGE | Go on a photo walk either in your home or outside to look for interesting texture. Don’t rule out composition, light, or subject, you still want an interesting photo that makes sense.

I’d like to talk about macro photography, while we have the TEXTURE prompt this week. These two concepts go together quite nicely. I will include macro as an actual prompt in the future, but I know that not everyone has, or even wants, a macro lens.

Macro photography is all about detail. It forces you to slow down and truly see the minutiae of a scene.

High end macro lenses come with image stabilization (Canon) or vibration reduction (Nikon) technology to aid in achieving tack-sharp focus. A good macro lens will usually double as a great portrait lens as well.

Here is an affordable option for Canon users, and one for Nikon users. If you are interested in exploring macro photography, there are lens filters that you can put on your normal lens for the same effect (ensure you select filters that fit on your desired lens). You have to be sure to know which lens you will be using these with so that you can get the filters of the correct size. If you are planning to use these filters with a variety of lenses, you may have to find a set that fits each different filter size. I use lens filters and really enjoy not having an extra lens to cart around, but if you have room, the lens options are nice.

With all that said, you can explore macro photography without a macro lens or filter, so I’d like to encourage you to try while we look for textures this week.

• Using your widest zoom lens (18-55mm, 24-70mm, 24-105mm), and zoom in as much as possible.

• Set your aperture around f/5.6 or so.

• Manually adjust your focus to the nearest point you can (opposite of infinity).

By adjusting your settings this way, you’re compressing the image and creating a sense of closeness with depth of field, much like a macro lens would.

If that particular method isn’t your favorite, free lensing is an option. You can read this article that walks you through the process.

A third option is reverse lensing, which you can read about here.

The final option is to use lens extension tubes (which, in my opinion, if you’re going to invest in that, you might as well purchase a macro lens or filter kit). Here’s an article about it here.

Macro photography can be a creative extension of your style, or it can be a spontaneous mess. Consider what speaks to you, what makes sense for your style of photography, and enjoy the creating process.