Underwater macro photography is very exciting and is about close-up photography that includes shooting small objects. Most of the digital cameras have a macro mode that provides a sharp focus within a few inches of the object in focus. With the increased focus, the results obtained are quite rewarding. Some of the tips for great results with macro photography are listed below.
1. Most of the digital cameras use tulip as a symbol to indicate macro mode and don’t automatically close-focus.
You need to activate the setting by operating the buttons on the camera and remember to turn it off when you are done shooting close-ups; else the normal photos will be blurred.
2. Macro photography works best only when the subject of focus is just a few inches away.
3. Brightly colored objects give best results when shooting close-ups in macro photography.
4. While shooting close-up, most of the digital cameras face the phenomenon of parallax. This is so because the optical viewfinder and lens aren’t located at the same place and are actually a few inches away. The parallax problem can however be corrected by looking for correction marks in the eyepiece when using the optical viewfinder, and using the LCD to focus the frame properly.
5. Macro photography narrows down the depth of field. This can be solved by switching to aperture priority and selecting the greatest value to maximize the depth of field. However, for ultra close-ups, narrow depth works well since it blurs the background and makes it indistinct.
6. Using a macro lens from a reputed company can help you magnify the close-ups better, when compared to the built-in lens that comes with the camera. Screw-on or snap-on macro lenses can be the objects of choice.
7. Get as close to the subject as possible and eliminate the amount of water in-between. This helps in creating colorful and sharp underwater images. Having good buoyancy skills help in getting close.
8. Create contrast between the subject and the background. This helps in highlighting the object in focus and can be done using creative lighting techniques like side lighting or top lighting. These techniques isolate the subject from the background and thus help in highlighting.
9. Increasing the shutter speed and using narrow aperture can reduce the amount of light that reaches the sensor. This can help in creating dark (black) background which will in turn isolate the subject and create contrast.
10. Selecting subjects positioned on interesting backgrounds like colorful patterns can add to the beauty of the image. In this case, tight aperture can maximize the depth of field and keep the background in focus.