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By: Stephen WhiteheadMacro-photographers are a peculiar breed, often braving the most freakish of creatures, getting closer to them than any human has any right to be. I, however, am a wimp. When God was handing out the courage, I was too scared to approach the proverbial desk. The very thought of getting near to a web, let alone the spider responsible, is enough to set my hands shaking to such an extent that any shot would be irrevocably blurred. And so, for a coward such as myself, the best route left is that of the abstract. I will shoot anything - flowers, wiring, bottles, textiles, tools - the list goes on and on. I believe that everything has worth in this life. Everything is beautiful if you look at it in the correct way. It is my responsibility to try to convey this beauty. And this is how I go about it... Shallow Depth of FocusPerhaps it is due to the way I see things in general (being VERY short sighted without my glasses, things are only clear at about a distance of four inches, everything else is a blur) but a shallow depth of focus is a wonderful thing. I have known many other people who feel exactly the opposite and spend their time striving for the perfectly sharp shot, but I truly cannot express myself in this way. Sharpness is wonderful, indeed, but when placed against a beautifully blurred distance, that sharpness becomes the whole world. Too much focus lessens the main subject, detracts from colour and texture, and generally diminishes the beauty I see. Indeed, I often strive to have only the edges of form defined in focus, leaving the rest to blur pleasingly into a soft haze. I do, however, wish to point out that this is just my way, and I have seen many tight, sharp shots I admire greatly...it just so happens that none of them have been taken by me.A year ago I had only the vaguest ideas of the importance of the F-stop, and so I will write down here for any in the same situation, the basics. The smaller the f-stop (e.g. f2.8) the smaller the depth of focus and the greater the amount of light to enter the lens. 
The higher the f-stop (e.g. f22) the larger the depth of focus and less light enters the lens (meaning that you might have to compensate with greater lighting, slower shutter-speed or higher ISO sensitivity of film or sensor, to achieve the same exposure) 
This becomes even more important in Macro photography, as the depth of focus changes depending on how close your camera is to the subject. Sometimes it helps to think big when it comes to this phenomenon - take a picture of a mountain overlooking a village from a distance of a few miles, and even at small f-stop the entire scene will be in focus. Take a picture of a chimney pot from a distance of a few meters with the same small f-stop, and the mountain in the background will be blurred. The closer you get, the smaller the area in focus becomes, until you risk losing detail on the main object itself. I have already stated, however, how much I love a shallow depth of focus, so do not think that I find this a bad thing. An object may well be blurred, but this might well be important for the subject. Just think of the effects you might obtain; blurred sparkles of light in the distance, soft sheens of colour and movement, a gentle bed of shallow depth of focus velvet for the main subject to nestle in - the options are endless. 
LightingReferring to my love of Ancient Greek, I'd like to quickly point out that the word 'photography' comes from (photos) and  (graphis) - roughly translated as drawing with light. Light from our sun bounces through our world, into our eyes, is converted to electrical signals which are then analysed and understood. Photography is the same experience frozen...or sort of shlurred...depending on your point of view. We see in
motion; the camera in moments. However, the moment is one of an extended period of time in which things can and do move (hence the word shlurred which I don't believe to be a real one, but works better than any other I know to describe that movement). Try to take a photo of the moon with too long an exposure and it will blur with movement. I like to think of all this as static movement. But I digress.
Drawing with Light. It is an important thing to remember for any photographer. You have the ability to control so many options (f-stops...shutter speeds...film speeds...filters...etc etc etc) and light should never be forgotten. I do not necessarily mean flashes and modeling lights, however. I don't own a separate flash (although that is simply because I'm too cheap to buy one) and make do with a variety of other sources. The Sun - it's free and perhaps the most beautiful light you'll ever find. You are left rather at its whims, though, so clouds, angle and intensity can be a pain. Some might say that you should wait for the perfect light, but I take a more pro-active stance - search out that shot! Try different angles, different ideas; nothing is wrong. 
A Lamp - I have a handy desklamp which illuminates most of my still-life shots. It has a cold blue light that I enjoy, but which might be too cold for others. There are coloured bulbs available which might be helpful, or, indeed, coloured filters. 
And that's it. I make do with those two sources. Occasionally I use a reading lamp with a strong orange/yellow light which produces a lovely golden sheen. Even more occasionally I use the integral flash on my Canon 10D. Either way, light is desperately important, but this does not mean you have to pay out for things. Especially when you're as tight fisted as I am. Over-exposureLinked to lighting, I have a love of over-exposing subjects. It helps to abstract and lift them. White flowers over-exposed take on an intensity seldom dreamed of, especially against the dark green of foliage, making them appear heavenly. The same effect can be produced in Photoshop afterwards, but can leave the resultant image soulless. Especially with digital, I would always advise taking as many photos as possible and experimenting. I am an advocate of learning by doing.
AbstractingAnd so we come to the main point of this article - Abstract Macros. What is an abstract Macro? Does it have to be unintelligible to apply? Should it look like something different to what, in fact, it is? I haven't a clue. I would say that perhaps an Abstract Macro should evoke a feeling which the object alone might not.A flower made fragile flesh. 
A piece of metal given life. 
An item of clothing transformed into a monument to strength and life. 
This might involve some, all, or none of the above techniques I have discussed. Technique is, after all, just a wonderful way of bumbling about and forgetting that the real joy of photography is taking photos. The most important thing is to enjoy the shoot, enjoy the shot, enjoy the print and, most of all, enjoy the feeling it invokes. Anything can, and should, be abstracted. Think of it as another way of understanding the universe. Copyright © 2004 - Stephen Whitehead & Photo-Genesis.net |