How to improve your macro photography in just one month?…Simple – put a macro lens on your camera, leave it there, and shoot every day. Sounds obvious, but it is so true.
Shoot every day
Even if it’s just five minutes a day, get out and shoot. Shoot inside, outside, shoot in the kitchen, in the garden. It doesn’t matter where you shoot, or when you shoot. But is important is playing with different apertures and different shutter speeds. Learn what aperture you feel confident with at various distances. Learn how slow you can get your shutter speed without camera shake. Personally, I can’t really shoot under 1/80 second. I am much better at 1/125 second. I also prefer f/4.0. That doesn’t mean I don’t shoot f/1.8 or f/2.8…but more often than not I just prefer f/4.0.
Shoot in the morning, the afternoon, in sunlight, with a flash. Even in the rain, you can get some amazing shots. You just have to practice.
Play with aperture
Grab some kids’ toys or statues (even coffee cups will work) and set them up on a table. Put them on a diagonal and set your camera up on a tripod. Now you can play with different apertures and different focal points, without moving the camera. Pick the front and then the rear object as focal points. Change your aperture from the minimum to the maximum of your lens. So if you can go from f/2.8 to f/11 or 16…try it. Learn the differences with YOUR lens. What are the sweet spots? What do you prefer?
Practice, practice, practice
Seriously, I can’t say this enough. If you spend a month with your macro lens, shoot a lot, play and experiment, I can pretty much guarantee your macro photography will improve dramatically. How could it not?
Want to learn even more about how to improve your macro photography even quicker? Why not join my World in Miniature self-paced online class? Explore different genres, and different techniques from focus stacking to working with water drops. All in your own time, in the comfort of your own space. I’ll even give you a $10 off coupon code – 10410 to get you started.
