Photography - macro

Macro photography is magnified photography which is used to produce an image that is larger on the "film plate" than in real life.
To take a macro image on a point and shoot camera select the macro mode which is denoted by a little flower. When this is selected it causes the camera to focus on an object closer to the lens than normal. The size of the aperture will increase as well, bringing the subject into closer focus while leaving the background in the distance. You then zoom in on the image, focus and shoot. Macro photos require a certain amount of light to remain clear and in focus so a bright day can help.
For the DSLR camera attach the macro lens, set camera to macro mode and select aperture - in most situations it is best for a large aperture - small f number - then focus the camera manually.

There are tips for taking a good macro photo.
Simplify your composition. Isolate your subject so viewer knows what they are to look at. This may involve tidying up around the subject e.g. removing dead flower heads.
A macro photo should have three colours at most or fewer, too many colours cause chaos.
 This photo of snails on a mushroom by Alberto Ghizzi Panizza from Italy is very muted in tone so colours are not causing chaos. The photo below by Carlo Galliani from Italy has more colours, it may be more chaotic however it is still clear it is a ladybird.
 It is important the background does not take away from the subject so you want it as simple as possible. The sky and background flowers in the below photo by Danny Perez USA is clean and simple. To get the nice blurry background set the camera for around f2.8-f4.
The advice is to focus manually as autofocus can struggle and it might focus on a bit of the subject you don't want the focus to be on.
There are further suggestions like shooting into the sun with your subject blocking the sun, and shooting when the sun is low.
 In the past I have taken a lot of macro photographs with my Minolta film camera with additional macro lens. However, although I do have a separate macro lens on my Nikon I rarely use it, preferring to zoom in. I took lots of close up of the machair flowers last summer, the one below is two colours and the background is nice and blurry. I am pretty sure I have it the right way up?
 I took this photo at the village graveyard last week. I forgot about the macro setting so this was just on P and zoomed in.

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