In the forthcoming blogs I am going to be writing of simple, but sometimes overlooked techniques to help elevate macro images.
For me, the very first step involves emotion rather than actual technique, it’s finding a subject with which you connect. Yes, I am talking about connecting with a flower! You would probably laugh (or raise your eyebrows in despair) if you could see me at my local Friday morning flower market. There are numerous stalls, each with a good variety of flowers, and each stall has pretty much the same selection. I walk up and down between the stalls, examining the blooms, turning them in different directions. Very often there is one flower only, in an entire bunch, which jumps out at me. And so that bunch comes home - just so I can start to connect with that one beauty.
Friday Flower market in the south of France
Once the flowers are in water, they sit on my desk and I start to look at them, sometimes out of the corner of my eye whilst working at my computer. As I get to know my floral beauties I will often secure my favourite in a sturdy clamp and I rotate her until I am happy with her position and profile.
As I advance I will look at my camera’s LCD screen to see the connection between the camera and the subject. I find viewing the camera’s screen to be a really effective way to observe the effect of light on the flower - something I’ll cover in a future blog. It’s interesting that as the flowers evolve during the week, there is sometimes another beauty which flirts with me and my heart and my lens have double love! Furthermore, I find as the flowers age they often become so much more interesting, they acquire more character, more texture - much as a human does! Many of my favourite images are of flowers which were destined for the bin, only for me to notice their ageing character and thus they are saved for a little longer.
An ageing but exquisite beauty
Today’s tip is far from technical but I do consider it essential to develop an appreciation for your subject even before you lift your camera to your eye. And your subject doesn’t have to be flowers. You could be attracted by a twig with an amazing texture, the curious shading on a succulent (I love succulents!), a decaying wall even - or a beautiful autumnal leaf full of warm colour symbolising the passage towards winter.
Examine your subject - explore its beauty, because that’s how you will create the connection which will impact on the success of the final image.
In future blogs we’ll look at how, with simple tricks, you can elevate your macro images.
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