Tripod Techniques: So Close, Yet So Far…

While tiny wonderlands are amazing to explore, getting the details right takes some practice and some help.

For shots of water and ink droplets, you need to keep the frame steady and constant while the rig puts out one droplet after another. Exposure: 1/100sec at f/5 (ISO 400) Photograph/Leonardo Aguiar

There might have been times when you might have said to yourself, “I have a macro lens/My camera has a macro mode, that is all I need, right?” Not quite. There are a few thumb rules to shooting great macros, and they involve the use of a tripod.

The Focusing Dilemma
If you are using the widest possible aperture that your lens can achieve, such as f/2.8 or lower, then a very tiny part of the frame will be in absolute sharp focus, owing to shallow DOF. Even a millimetre of change in your position to the subject can alter the plane of focus and hence, you might end up focusing on the area ahead of or behind the one you actually wish to focus on. Hence, you need a tripod to lock your position.

The Exposure Conundrum
On the other hand, if you have stopped down the aperture for greater detail, you will need a slower shutterspeed. Even if you have moved in very close to the subject and are blocking natural light, the exposure will automatically need to be longer.

Quick Tip
Use a soft box or fire a diffused flash to better illuminate your macro subject. Try using different WB settings and see what they do to foliage.

For more cool techniques on tripods, click here. 

This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of Better Photography.