Creative Photography Activities: Macro Photography (Tiny Things)

This is more properly called Macro Photography, where you are imaging small items. You'll need:
- A source of bright light (open window, bright sun behind a person outdoors, etc.)
- Some tiny things - paper clips, coins, paper currency, stamps, beans, you name it.

Camera Setup:
Mode: Aperture Priority (Often shown as Av on the mode wheel)
ISO: 400 or so (your f-stop and available light levels will determine this)
White Balance: Custom
Aperture: Mid-range, from f/5.6 to f/16.

Watch out for: Focus. Depending on your lens, you can only get so close to the objects before the camera can't focus on it. You may be able to back up a bit and zoom in, but without a special Macro lens or close-up attachments, your focusing distance will be limited. Check the minimum focus distance on your lens, and stay farther than that distance. If you put close-up attachments on your lens, you can get very close.

White Balance Setup: Take a shot of your reference paper right where you will photograph your items. Make sure it's bright gray, and set custom WB.

The Pose: Compose your items any way you would like. I suggest to start with a random arrangement, with your focal items clearly set to be positioned for good focus and imaging.

Framing the Image: Consider a plain backdrop such as white, black or a single other color with a small "nap" (eg not a towel). Determine if you will want the entire image in focus, or just some of it. For an entire image to be in focus, you'll either need the subjects to be exactly parallel with the image sensor (meaning you shoot from directly overhead for flat items laying on a table), or a very tiny f-stop (meaning focus zone is wide). Try both - a smaller f-stop for very small and tight focus areas, and larger f-stops for wider focus zones.

Take the Image: Your shutter speed may be limited by the light levels. Brace the camera or better, use a tripod if you have one. You may want to switch to manual focus to set the specific focus point.

Analyzing and Improving: Vary your camera angle and lighting if you can. If you camera has a live view feature, use the image magnifier to check your focus. Vary the f-stop and camera distance/zoom to change the amount of the field that's in focus.

Advanced Tricks: In post production, use the unsharp mask to sharpen up details of the small items. This is best used after the rest of your editing, and right before you save an image at a particular size.