What is Macro Photography?

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By Kathy Burns-Millyard

Many hobby photographers and photography enthusiasts who are just starting to learn how to take great pictures often wonder how more professional photographers can get such great, extreme closeup photos of things like flower petals, bees, and other insects. It's really quite easy once you learn about the technique, but it does take some trial and error, and your results will vary a bit depending on the kind of camera you're using.

Extreme closeup photography is referred to as macro photography. Anytime you see a super close photo of a fly for instance, or a flower petal, the photographer probably used macro photography techniques to get that gorgeous close up photo.

Not too long ago, you had to have expensive special camera equipment to do macro photography, but with the plethora of digital camera technology enhancements in recent years, now almost anyone can do this type of photography.

With that said, you will need to have a camera that offers this feature. Since digital cameras are so popular these days, we'll focus on those for the purpose of this article.

A general point and shoot digital camera may have macro photography functionality built into it. High end digital SLR cameras which allow you to change lenses will also have the capability... sort of. You actually have to buy macro capable lenses for use on your digital SLR camera, because macro photography is actually a function of the lens and not the camera.

Because point and shoot cameras are meant to be less expensive and easier to operate though, the macro functionality is built into the camera in those cases. So if you want to do macro photography and you plan to start with an inexpensive point and shoot camera, you'll need to make sure it offers the feature before you buy it. Sometimes the product specifications will tell you the camera has macro mode, but you can often tell by simply looking at the camera too.

There is usually a selection dial on the top of small point and shoot cameras. This dial has little image icons that stand for various things. Look for one that looks like a small tulip flower. That is the selection setting for macro photography mode, so if the camera has that as an option, that means it's available on that model.

Kathy Burns-Millyard publishes the Hobby Hour site. Check out its hobby photography area for more tips, advice and techniques. Stop by her SasEz! site to see some of her recent stock and portrait photography.

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