Macro Photography

Definition & Theory

Macro photography is extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects and living organisms like insects, in which the size of the subject in the photograph is greater than life size. Macro being able to capture fine details that a human eye may struggle to notice.

Techniques to achieve a macro photo:

1. You can purchase lens' devoted to macro photos; these tend to be expensive though. In which case, most digital cameras have a macro setting you can use; the effect is less effective though.
2. Use point of focus or manual focus.
3. Use a tripod to frame the object and background, apply compositional rules where possible.
4. Experiment with depth of field, you will be very close to your subject which results in a sudden drop of focus, to overcome this you might want to maximise your depth of field, therefore, shoot at F16 F22. In other circumstances, you may like the drop in focus in which case use a lower F-stop.
5. Work with a low/medium ISO from 100 to 400.
6. Apply manual exposure and the exposure meter to ensure that the subject is adequately exposed.

Personal Creation/Final Pieces

Using a Nikon D300S with a macro lens attached to it, I captured various objects close-up to reveal their details.

 Here I captured a close-up on my eye. The lens captures the fine outline of each individual hair on my eyebrow and my eyelashes. It also captures the rough detailings of skin under my eye that are bumpy; this defeating the capture quality of a regular lens if used in the same composition.
The settings were F8 aperture, shutter speed at 1/125 due to the studio lighting, and ISO 200, with focal length on 105mm.

 Here I captured a hand full of granules. I thought capturing these would help to present the ability that a macro lens holds. The lens captures the small detailing on the granules, making them appear defined as small rocks.
The settings were F8 aperture, shutter speed at 1/125 due to the studio lighting, and ISO 200, with focal length on 105mm.

 Capturing a paintbrush I believed would present the detail of all the bristles. Each bristle is presented in fine detail while still bundled together.
The settings were F8 aperture, shutter speed at 1/125 due to the studio lighting, and ISO 200, with focal length on 105mm.

 Using the macro lens helped to define the veins in the petals of this flower. An issue with this photo is the lack of focus and over-exposure. Using a macro the subject being taken must be perfectly still and in the correct depth of field which is very specific, or the focus will easy go leaving a blur. This removed the potential of the lens capturing better detailing on this flower.
The settings were F8 aperture, shutter speed at 1/125 due to the studio lighting, and ISO 200, with focal length on 105mm.

With this flower, I was able to lower the exposure and capture the flower in the correct focal point. With this, the lens was able to capture the lining of the individual seeds and stems.

The settings were F11 aperture, shutter speed at 1/125 due to the studio lighting, and ISO 200, with focal length on 105mm. 

Overall, I'd say the majority of the photos met my intentions of presenting the ability that a macro lens holds. I had minor issues with focusing the photo and exposure settings since macro lens' are a lot more sensitive to these settings and require precision, but with practice, this can be resolved.

Progression

I believe for certain themes of photography macro photography is the perfect approach, but for my personal investigation, what I will be pursuing will not require photos like macro photos. So I don't believe this technique will be used moving forward.

Animated Gif

Definition & Theory

An animated GIF is an image encoded in graphics interchange format (GIF),which contains a number of images or frames in a single file and is described by its own graphic control extension. The frames are presented in a specific order in order to convey animation. An animated GIF can loop endlessly or stop after a few sequences.

How to achieve an animated gif:

• Use a tripod (ensure the camera is locked down. i.e. the camera does not move).
• Set the camera.
• Ensure the camera speed is greater than 1/60 sec.
• You may shoot up to ten frames to create the gif.
• You are advised to shoot in manual mode and using manual shutter.
• If you know how to shoot using a sequence then do so.
• All files will need to be scaled down to create the final gif.

Personal Creation

I captured a sequence of photos of myself rotating and changing my expression, once edited, this will create a moving image of this constant rotation. The settings for these photos were F4.2 aperture, shutter speed at 1/160 due to flash being used in these photos, and ISO 100. The camera was stood on a tripod and put to self-timer to capture my sequence.

Final Edits

Firstly, with each photo I took I changed the pixel size to make sure the file size wasn't too large. I went to 'Image' on the top bar, then 'Image Size', I changed the settings to pixels for the width and height, then made it 900 by 600 pixels.

Then while on the first photo, I went to 'Window' on the top bar, then pressed on 'Timeline'.

I placed all the photos captured over each other in the order of the sequence I intended. This created the same order on the timeline, making them separate clips.

I changed this by placing the photos next to each other in order on the timeline, making them one whole clip together. I also changed the length of the photos so the gif would run at an appropriate speed.

Once doing this and making sure everything is set the way I intend, I can save it for an online gif. I went to 'File', 'Export', and then 'Save for Web'.

I then make sure there are only 128 colours so the file size isn't too large and make sure the pixel size hasn't changed either. Once doing this I can then save the photo into a gif file.

Final Pieces

The final outcome of this piece I believe is successful. It presents a blank expression at first while I rotate, then mid-way through the rotation, my expression is changed into a smile, then it goes back to normal. This could suggest a message of mental illness or just the simplicity of emotional expression. I found no issues when performing this edit, and found it straightforward to complete. This gif could be made more interesting or eye-catching, with a more dramatic expression presenting such as screaming to present anger and then change to an expression of hysteria for happiness, creating a juxtaposition.

Progression

I find gifs to be typically associated with humour and less serious of presentations, and they have a stigma of being unprofessional. I don't believe I will be using this technique in my personal investigation since I find the technique unable to present the theme I plan to pursue.