More Macro Photography Tips
(Plan it first)

Most of the macro photography tips on this website are about lighting, exposure, composition, equipment and depth of field.

Photos like this Bug Eye don't happen by accident.

There is a certain amount of planning that goes into taking better macro photos.

Don't get me wrong. I sometimes just set out with no specific target in mind with my quest to simply capture something interesting with my digital camera.

When I do it this way, more likely than not, I often come back with average photos stored on my camera's memory card.

A little bit of forethought and planning ahead of time can make a huge difference in getting great photos. This can be especially true with macro photography.

Keeping a photography journal can be very useful to you in several ways.

When I say "journal" you might think of a place to record events that have already happened.

That is definitely one useful thing to do.

Keep track of the photos you have taken, as well as maybe some observations about lighting conditions or other details.

These notes can be great to have when you are evaluating and editing your photos after your photography session.

You can learn a lot when you review your mistakes as well as your triumphs.

It is one of the travel photography tips I strongly recommended in this article on vacation photo tips.

Another use of your photography journal is the planning stage.

I have a several pages that list subjects that I am interested in photographing in the future.

I also have a page of places that I wish to visit , strictly for the purpose of taking great photographs.

When I was in photography school, one of my professors had us sketch out each assignment before we entered the studio or went on location to take our photographs.

It is one of the things that I have done, at least mentally before almost every portrait session I do.

I must confess that I got away from doing this in writing (in stead of just picturing it in my mind's eye first), for many years, but was reminded of it somewhat recently.

Sketching out your macro photography ahead of time, perhaps thinking of a few different angles can be a great idea.

This might remind us as photographers that certain angles can cause some challenges with respect to depth of field.

Depth of field in macro photography is one of the biggest issues to deal with. Links to other macro photography tips can be found on the main Macro Photography page linked below.

Happy Shooting!
Photo Tipman

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