Little Game Hunting

Why should cats, dogs, deer, and birds get all the attention? Bugs, spiders, bees, and other little creatures make great subjects, too. You just need to know how to use your camera in the tiny world of macrophotography.

Virtually every digital camera on the market has some sort of close-focus mode. That's because your camera lens usually can't focus properly when you get within inches of a subject. Switching to macro mode rearranges the optics to accommodate such close ranges.

If you have a point-and-shoot digital camera, look for a button on the camera body or a Scene mode that accommodates close-up photography--this is often indicated by a tulip icon. If you have a digital SLR, things are a bit simpler. Instead of searching for the right setting, you simply need a macro lens. Of course, this means that you might need to buy a new accessory. You can't win them all.

The macro mode built into your point-and-shoot digital camera is certainly a nice start for taking close-up pictures, and you can get some pretty good results with it.

But if you yearn for greater magnification than your point-and-shoot camera is capable of providing, there is an answer: add-on lenses. Often called macro filters, these inexpensive lenses attach onto the front of your camera's built-in lens. They are usually made from a single-glass element and are threaded to screw onto the front of the camera lens, an adapter, or even each other. Of course, the specific filters you get will depend on the size of the lens on your digital camera. And though not every camera on the market can work with macro filters, many can. For more information on finding one for your camera, read "Take Great Close-Ups."

You can combine close-up lenses by threading them together. Adding a +1 lens to a +2 lens, for instance, yields an impressive +3 magnification. For that reason, I suggest getting close-up lenses as a set instead of one at a time. That way, you can combine them as you see fit to get the magnification you need for a given picture. In the pictures below, you can see the effect of +1, +2, and +4 filters.

Using a +1 macro filter screwed onto the front of a point-and-shoot digital camera, you can get closer than using the camera lens alone.

You can get even closer to your subject with a +2 macro filter.

Get close enough to count the atoms with a +4 macro filter.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I recommend that you invest in a tripod if you plan to take many close-up photographs. Although you can get away with holding the camera when taking ordinary pictures, the extreme magnification provided by close-up lenses tends to make even the most subtle shake ruin your picture. In close-up photography, I highly recommend planting your camera securely on the ground with a tripod.

Read "Stabilize Your Camera for Razor-Sharp Photos" and "What Makes a Good Tripod?" for shopping tips.

Some tiny subjects are easier to shoot than others. Many insects move fast--especially those that fly--so you'll want to use the fastest shutter speed possible. Set your camera to its action or sports mode if possible, or turn on Shutter Priority and set the camera to its fastest available shutter speed. Unfortunately, the faster your shutter speed, the more narrow your depth of field will be. And a narrow depth of field means that accurate focus is really important, or you'll end up with a sharp leaf but a blurry bee an inch away.

Check out this dragonfly, for example. The depth of field in a shot like this is literally just a fraction of an inch. To get a shot like this, you'll probably want to put your camera on a tripod, and leave the tripod head loose enough that you can move it around to track your prey. Set the shutter speed as fast as it'll go, and apply light pressure to the shutter release to focus the camera on the most important part of your subject. Try to compose the shot so the subject is parallel to the frame, like this dragonfly. If the subject is perpendicular--if it juts in or out of the focus plane--you won't be able to keep it all in focus at the same time. When you're ready, snap the photo--but be patient and take a lot of shots. You'll probably want to keep only a couple of them.