I don't know if you have seen this kind of macro pictures on the Internet, unlike ordinary photos, they look more high-definition, sharp, and the texture of the subject is more delicate and clear.
For example, the ant in the picture below, after enlarging the picture, we can also see the villi on its body, the texture on the carapace and even the structure of the compound eye.
Old Frog 25mm F2.8 Ultra Macro 2.5-5.0X shooting
And it is just a small ant that is smaller than the tip of the little thumb and needs to be measured in millimeters.
Head details
Tail details
Of course, not only for animals and insects, plants also exhibit equally stunning textures.
Iris pine flower bud
Detail is magnified
When the picture is enlarged, you can see the details on the pollen, like "small mines" adsorbed on the plant.
This kind of picture seems to lose sight of the concept of "depth of field", the objects are fully clear, they are pure and concise, and they are designed to express the magic of life. So how were these photos taken?
Depth of field compositing!
Each "depth-of-field" macro photograph is not taken by a single shot, but is backed by dozens or hundreds of photos.
For example, the following picture:
This is a totally heterogeneous blind leafcutter ant.
After the picture is enlarged, the "gully" and fluff of the ant's head are still clear and sharp
In order to get this picture, the author took more than 70 photos and used the method of post-stack synthesis to achieve this. But why does a simple picture require such a huge amount of work?
The reason is that the best picture quality for each lens needs to be achieved at a specific aperture. This photo was shot with a 25mm F2.8 Ultra Macro 2.5-5.0X for the old frog. It exhibits the best image quality at the aperture of F2.8 or F4, and although its depth of field becomes deeper as the aperture becomes smaller, the image quality becomes much "fleshy" due to the "diffraction phenomenon" of optics, as shown in the following figure:
F4 aperture shooting
Although the depth of field under the F4 aperture is very shallow, the picture can withstand the test of enlargement.
F8 aperture shooting
The depth of field at the F8 aperture has deepened a little, but zooming in shows a decrease in image quality, although not noticeably.
F16 aperture shooting
Under the F16 aperture, the entire head of the ant is clear, but after zooming in, it is obvious that the picture has a lot of "flesh".
So in order for the final imaging to show the best results, it is necessary to take a photo of each focal plane (as shown in the legend, using the aperture of F4) under a large aperture with better image quality and finally synthesize, in other words: let the best picture quality of the lens cover every inch of the focal plane. When the picture quality is better, the depth of field is often very shallow, so a large number of shots are needed to achieve full coverage of the focal plane.
Equipment preparation and introduction
First, lens selection
To shoot sharp and clear macro blockbusters, the first thing you need is a high-quality macro lens! I often use two macro heads: The Frog's 100mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2x Magnification Macro lens and The Frog's 25mm F2.8 Ultra Macro 2.5-5.0x Magnification Macro lens. Why choose these two? Because the old frog lens has a richer choice of magnification, it also maintains a good picture quality under the high magnification, giving the author the possibility to explore more wonders of life.
A brief explanation of what magnification is may be helpful for friends who want to get involved in the macro field to buy lenses.
For example, doubling the magnification means that the ratio of the size of the object projected onto the sensor to the actual size is 1:1.
The scale of the ruler can reflect this concept intuitively, the full-frame camera sensor size is 35.9 * 24mm, if you shoot with 1 times the magnification ratio, the scale of the ruler in the picture is exactly 36mm (due to the influence of the tilt angle, there will be a slight deviation), just to meet 1:1. As shown in the following figure:
(No cropping of the image)
However, if you shoot with 2 times the magnification, because the scale is magnified twice, the maximum width of the shooting is also half, and the picture can only be shot up to 18mm (from 36/2 =18mm), as shown in the figure:
Second, the choice of stack platform
The so-called macro stacking is, from the outside to the inside, every time you shoot a picture, the machine moves forward a step, so as to achieve the forward push of the focal plane, after shooting a number of pictures, to achieve full coverage of the focal plane, and finally use the post-software to synthesize a panoramic depth, that is, the object is fully clear photo. This is shown in the video below:
We may have been exposed to depth-of-field synthesis in the process of shooting landscapes, but in the macro field, the depth of field of a single photo is extremely shallow, only a few millimeters, and some are not even a millimeter, so this surgical precision operation requires the help of tools. This is thanks to the help of stacking platforms.
Manual operation can choose a micrometer: with the help of scale sizes, manually twist the ring to achieve the fuselage push forward little by little.
If you want to save this energy-consuming step, you can choose the electric stacking music, rely on mobile phone control, set the step length distance, and "lie" to complete the stacking step.
Stacking Music (Electric Slide)
Mobile phone manipulation interface
For example, the author's camera is a7r3 (full frame), the shooting time circle selects F4, the magnification selects 1 times, according to the reference in the following table, you can choose the step length of 464 mm, set the operation.
Third, the choice of lighting
Macro stacks are mostly done indoors, and relying solely on indoor light is bound to be stretched, so we need extra lighting when shooting. There are a variety of options for this, with a constant light source or a flash. The advantage of constant light source is that the light is stable, and the convenience of choosing a flash is that you can take it to the outdoors at any time, which can also save us a lot of money.
The flash model I use is the Madman 808 double headlight. Its octopus-like tentacles can easily adjust the position of the light, and the intensity of the two light sources can also be controlled separately, which is convenient for playing a three-dimensional light effect.
Fourth, other easy-to-use accessories
▪ Diffusers, reflective pockets
▪ Macro lift table
(Source Guago)
In the macro perspective, any movement feedback is very obvious in the picture, but the macro lifting platform can be very subtlely raised and lowered, which greatly reduces the difficulty of composition. At the same time, you can also use the lifting platform to create a variety of backgrounds to add to the fun of shooting.
▪ Shutter line
Friends who use the micrometer as a stacking platform can use the shutter line to avoid the vibration generated when the shutter is pressed affecting the final piece.
Fifth, about lighting
This is the conventional way of lighting the author: the double head lamp is lit left and right, and the reflective pocket is used to reflect the light to illuminate the darker part of the bottom of the carapace. At the same time, the white packaging shell on the left side and the white wall on the right side reflect light are used to ensure that the left and right carapaces of insects are evenly illuminated. Under the combined force of these several, the entire specimen is guaranteed to receive light uniformly. Image courtesy of the Old Frog 100mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X.
Here are a few examples of errors:
Without the use of a diffuser, the light is too hard and very unsightly.
Without the use of a reflective pocket (of course, you can also add an a4 paper under the specimen to increase the reflective area), the middle part of the specimen is not well reflected.
No light barrier was used on one side, no light was reflected on the left side, and the left and right carapaces of the specimen were bright and uneven.
There is no absolute correct statement about the light, the benevolent see the benevolent, the wise see the wise, but also there are people outside the people, and there is a heaven outside the sky. Friends can figure out their own lighting methods.
Sixth, the synthesis software and post-operation
When we finish shooting footage, we need post-compositing. Compared to the redundant algorithm of ps, HeliconFocus is more powerful and convenient.
It is recommended to use algorithm C, the value is set to 1, which is enough to cope with 90% of the cases. Such as video demonstration:
This is the author's macro workbench, although a little simple, but this does not prevent me from exploring the richness of life here, but also in this small square inch, witnessed a lot of wonderful things that are usually invisible to the naked eye.
The macro is small, and it is magnificent for life.
When we are freed from the limitation of depth of field, the door to the microscopic world is also opened, and the subtle life around us begins to become strange and magical. From this we can photograph a lot of things: insects, flowers, metal textures around us. They will surely appear before you in a form you have never seen before.
Macro stacks aren't just limited to dead insects, you can find ways to quiet models down and try live piles:
Master of disguise - dead leaf butterfly
Old Frog 100mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X shooting
Fluttering moths like elves
Cute big eyed beanie
The insect "corpses" that can be seen everywhere around you also become interesting in the macro stack, you can photograph their overall form, of course, you can also buy more colorful and different insect specimens online to shoot, to create your own insect museum.
The tree fell down to know
Locusts in the field
Create your own insect collection
In addition to insects, the small flowers and grasses around you can also bring you an extraordinary visual experience behind the macro stack.
Arab Mother-in-Law
Blue flowers and glass are flourishing
Five-star flowers
The photograph of Sanhua in the picture above
You can also turn your eyes to other places.
They can be a grain of MSG
A hair
A leaf
Or a feather
If you're tired of taking landscapes, portraits, or sweeping the streets, try the Macro Stack. It keeps you fresh in photography at all times, even if it's a very small insect, a little flower that looks a little nice, or even a fallen leaf.
Each macro stack is also a dialogue between yourself and yourself, closing the door and slowly exploring, no need to communicate with the model, no need to look at God's face, just in a small macro workbench, listening to your own heartbeat, resonating with these wonders of life again and again.
I hope that friends can also find happy harvest surprises in the macro stack.
(At the end of this article, I would like to thank Guago for providing pictures of macro lifting platforms, macro micrometers and stacking music)
Author: Bougainvillea
Visual China contracted photographer, old frog lens co-photographer. An office worker in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, who loves aerial photography, macro, and scenery. Personal public number: Xiaojiu's photography shop.