• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery County Master GardenersTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Demonstration Gardens
      • Adaptive Garden
      • Aquaponics
      • Bog Garden
      • Composting
      • Discovery Garden
      • Floral Gardens
      • Greenhouse
      • Herb Garden
        • Entry to Herb Garden
        • Herb Recipes
      • Orchard
      • Vegetable Garden
    • Educational Gardening Classes
      • Gardening Classes
        • 2022 November 12, The Living Layer of Earth
        • 2022 October 8 Gardening Class
        • 2022 August 25 Gardening Class – Growing Microgreens
        • 2022 August 13 Gardening Class – Turfgrass
        • 2022 July 21 Gardening Class – Orchids
        • 2022 July 9, Gardening Class
        • 2022 June 23, Gardening Class- Texas Superstars
    • MCMGA Privacy Statement
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Contact Us
    • Garden Helpdesk
    • How to Become a Master Gardener
    • Soil Testing
  • Members Only
    • VMS
    • Forms for MCMGA Members
    • Membership Directory
  • Publications
    • Articles
  • Blog Posts
    • Texas Kidneywood
    • Red Velvet Ant
    • Wildscapes
    • Walkingstick Insect
    • Texas Wild Orchids
    • Tea Roses
    • Japanese Maple ‘Baton Rouge’
    • Skinks of Texas
    • It’s time to think spring bulbs!
    • Spring Bulbs Planted in Fall – Part one
    • Canna Leafroller / Brazilian Skipper
    • Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha)
    • American Beautyberry Jelly Recipe
    • Dragonflies and Damselflies
    • Rattlesnake Master
    • Do Copperheads eat Cicadas?
    • Crinum
    • Texas Bluebell
    • The Red-cockaded Woodpecker
    • Indian Pink
    • 2022 September Gardening Tips
    • 2022 August Gardening Tips
    • 2022 July Gardening Tips
    • What to do in the garden in July
    • 2022 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 March Gardening Chores
    • 2022 February Garden Chores
    • 2022 January Gardening Chores
    • 2021 December Gardening Tips
    • 2021 November Garden Chores
    • 2021 October Gardening Tips
    • 2021 September in the Garden
    • 2021 August in the Garden
    • 2021 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 F&N Sale On-line Resources
    • 2021 Spring Sale starts on Tuesday April 27
    • On-Line Gardening Class – Free
    • A happy gardener’s view to a symbiotic relationship with deer
    • New Texas Superstars
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lynell Soltys
    • Profile of a master gardener – Michael Christensen
    • Profile of a master gardener – Teena Reese
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lloyd Schill
    • Profile of a master gardener – Cliff Blackerby
    • 2021 Herb, Vegetable and More Sale – Starts Tuesday, March 16 *** On-Line ***
    • 2021 Herb and Vegetable on-line sale has been rescheduled
    • 2021 Fruit and Nut Sale
    • 2020 Virtual Fall Plant Sale
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale Pre-View and Plant List
    • MCMGA 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line Shop is open
    • Heat-loving plants for summer months
    • Why you should aerate your lawn
    • Planting for Pollinators and Other Wildlife
    • Monarchs and Milkweed
    • What the heck is pH and why is it important?
    • Tale of Woe by Bob Dailey
    • 2020 Upcoming Saturday Classes from MCMGA (Plant Sale is CANCELED)
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 11: Still LIfe Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 10: Life Cycle
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 9: Abstract Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 8: The Art of Exclusion
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 7: Find Something
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 6: Shallow Depth of Field
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 5: Black and White
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 4: Macros
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 3: Perspective
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 2: Composition
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 1: Light
    • Not Just Another Rose of Sharon
    • Must Have Abutilons
    • Fall 2019 Open Gardens Day
  • Events Calendar

Photographing Flowers Series Part 4: Macros

October 17, 2019 by cblackerby

Get Close to Create Memorable Pictures

Macro of a bee collecting pollen

Bee collecting pollen

When you get really close to your subject, you capture details in structure and components of a flower of which many people never notice. You provide a unique and interesting view of the world of flowers.

Natalie Denton in her blog suggests a start point. “Stand above the flower and shoot the subject from various angles, then lower the lens in stages to the same level as the flower and shoot again, finally fall beneath the flower head and shoot up at its delicate underbelly.” It is also interesting to repeat the photo session by going back and taking shots at different times of the day under different lighting conditions.

As an iPhone photographer, I find the native camera in the iPhone does not give me the true macro image capability for which I’m looking. You can use the zoom feature and get good close ups, but they lack the detail of a macro view. For true macro captures on a mobile phone you have a couple of options. First, you can buy an external lens you can attach to your camera or you can download a camera app. Because I don’t want to deal with an external lens, my preference is to use a camera app such as Camera+2 which has a macro mode feature. It’s a convenience thing. If you use a DSLR camera you can adjust the f stop to f18 or f22 to get a clear, sharp macro.

When taking macros, keep and eye on the weather. Just a little bit of wind will introduce movement and cause the picture to be blurry. It is also important to get the focus right. Don’t rely on auto-focus; manually set the focus and exposure to get that perfect shot.

As you gain experience in macro photography you may find it will become your favorite type of photography. You can be truly creative and capture unique and interesting pictures.

Grab your camera and look for those great macro opportunities.

Macro of pink and white lily

Macro of a pink and white Lilly

Macro of pistols and stamens of hibiscus

Peppermint Flare Hardy Hibiscus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see previous articles in this series, check out the Sep-Aug archives in the MCMGA Blog link on the homepage.

Written by Cliff Blackerby, July, 2019.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Posts


 

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required



Join Us on Facebook (primary sidebar)

Montgomery County Master Gardener Association
  • Facebook

Join Us on Facebook

Montgomery County Master Gardener Association

Join Us on Facebook

MCMGA members
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member

Login/Logout Below

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Texas AgriLife Extension Office/MCMGA
9020 Airport Road
Conroe, Tx. 77303
(936)539-7824

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information