How to shoot macro photography

While starting my journey into the macro world I’ve notice some essential items you will need to get for a successful macro shot. First things first you will need to get a macro lens. I shoot with canon so I purchased the 100mm f2.8 and this thing is a beast and super cheap for a canon L lens. I purchased mines off craigslist for $450 and I actually seen them cheaper than that but with scuffs on them. With canon’s 100mm f2.8 telephoto capabilities your able to get a more compressed background appose to other focal lengths that’s offered in macro lenses.

The first mistake I’ve made with shooting macro photography was trying to shoot handheld. The shots I was getting wasn’t as nearly as good as the shots I get with my camera being on a tripod. Which leads me to the second essential item (a tripod), if you haven’t already purchased one do yourself a favor and get one. This will help tremendously eliminating the shakes you get trying to shoot handheld. It also allows you to grab focus easily because trying to maintain a steady hand while grabbing focus is very difficult especially if your shooting with your lens wide open (aperture at f2.8).

My next essential item, well maybe not and item but an essential piece of knowledge is to use manual focus on your lens while shooting macro photography. For the longest I was shooting on auto focus and my lens will focus only sometimes and hunt for focus the rest of the time. With me putting my lens in manual focus and using my focus ring to focus I’m able to save time and save myself from an headache. So if your having trouble shooting macro photography and haven’t tried the few essential items I’ve named above give it a try and let me know how it turned out.

Happy Shooting! Below you will find an image I got by using the essential items.

Dandelion shot with 100mm Macro lens