Macro is a very popular aspect of underwater photography and early success at it can be very satisfying.
I'm a big fan of macro photography as some of you will be well aware. For folk keen on marine life it concentrates your mind on what can be found on almost any dive. I never do a dive and come up saying I've not seen anything, there's always some tiny new critter to come across.
Once you get in the macro mindset it can quickly give you satisfying results, but you do need to have a grasp of some of the basics.
So let's get started.
This shot of a long nosed hawkfish on a wreck near Manado, North Sulawesi was taken with an Olympus EPL3 camera with a 45mm lens and a +10 macro wet lens. Good buoyancy control was needed to get this shot as the fish was in a black coral bush on the side of the wreck.
What is Macro Photography
Macro photography can be considered the taking of images where the subject appears at life size or larger on the camera's sensor. You will hear the phrase 'super macro' and this really just refers to very magnified subjects.
Close-up photography is used sometimes to describe taking pictures where the subject is 1/10 size down to actual size on the sensor but is often used as a catch all including macro in with it as well. A lot of the underwater pictures referred to as macro (including some here) are actually just close-ups.
Macro Mode
Many compact cameras have macro modes, what these usually do is allow the camera to focus closer than normal. This is an advantage when using the camera on it's own to take macro shots. But these modes tend to work best with the camera's lens zoomed to it's widest. Some of these macro modes limit the furthest a camera will focus to as well as or instead of allowing it to focus closer. This makes focusing easier by preventing the camera focusing into the distance and has an impact on magnification when using add-on lenses.
Picture of a bullhead under a pier in North Wales taken with a Fuji F30 compact camera using Macro mode
When using interchangeable lens cameras, lenses will have different minimum focusing distances and will sometimes as in the case of the Olympus 60mm macro lens have controls to change the focusing limits.
Macro Wet Lenses or Diopters
These are add on lenses that fit on your housing port and in simple terms increase the magnification produced by your camera's lens (it isn't quite that simple but for most purposes this will suffice). Diopter is just another photographer's term for this type of lens, originally coming from the measure of lens strength. This is the number that most manufacturers rate them by. A higher number means a more powerful lens. Common powers tend to be +6, +10 and +12 but there are lenses out there that equate to +15 and beyond. It isn't clear cut to say how magnified your subject will be because this varies not only by what wet lens you add but also by the focal length of your camera's lens and the focusing distance.
Fantasea +12 macro lens. Wet lenses like this one can be taken on and off underwater allowing you to deal with a range of subject sizes. I will often dive with two different strength wet lenses when shooting macro and swap between them.
When using macro wet lenses you need to be aware that they reduce how far your camera will focus to and as a result you have less depth of field available. The more powerful the wet lens the closer you need to be to get the subject in focus and the less depth of field you have. So you have to get close to your subject and it will be harder to get the part of the shot you want in focus. You can balance some of the loss of depth of field by using a smaller aperture (higher f number), but remember this reduces the amount of light being allowed in to the sensor and at high f numbers image quality can begin to suffer and images appear less crisp. As always camera settings are a juggling act and there is no perfect magical setting for every situation. For more about camera settings go to my earlier blog about shooting manual, here.
When using a camera with a zoom lens you will get the greatest magnification with the lens zoomed to its longest. But this does mean that you’ll have more issues with camera movement.
You can stack some wet macro lenses together to produce a more powerful effect but focusing will get closer and closer to the front lens until it’s difficult to take a shot without actually touching the subject.
Goby in Loch Creran, Scotland taken using an Olympus OMD EM10 MkII fitted with a Panasonic-Leica 45mm macro lens and an INON UCL-165 +6 wet lens.
So how do I get good results using macro wet lenses?
Don't be too ambitious.
We suggest going with a lower power wet lens to start with. Maybe a +6 and then once you are getting satisfactory results move up to a +10 or +12 ,stacking a couple of +6's or look at getting one of the powerful Nauticam macro wet lenses the CMC’s and SMC’s
Master buoyancy control before you start.
For me macro is all about getting positioned to reach small creatures without disturbing them and once I've got in that position holding steady while I take the shots. Kneeling or lying on the bottom isn’t good practice for many reasons, not least the number of poisonous creatures that can be found on the seabed.
Don't just snap.
Take your time with your subject. This goes for all underwater photography. If you want your pictures to be good you need to commit a significant amount of time to each set of pictures.
Common prawn in UK waters. Taken with a small aperture (high f number) to increase depth of field.
Then take multiple shots.
You'll seldom get your first shot right. With a small subject at a short distance giving you a shallow depth of field, you'll sometimes take a lot of pictures to get that one shot with the eyes in focus. And sometimes you won't get any right. Focus the camera on the point you want in focus but then take strings of shots holding the focus because slight movements of the camera and/or the subject will take place. I find Single Auto Focus works well for this, using a half press of the shutter button to set the focus. You can set focus on many cameras to a separate button and some photographers do prefer this so-called back button focusing. You can also often reduce the size of the focusing point which can help when trying to focus on small or thin subjects. I then just make fractional movements of the camera to try to get the subject correctly focused. It's very much trial and error. Remember to change your angle as well and don’t just keep taking exactly the same framed shot over and over. And if things really aren’t working move on and find something else.
Choose your battles.
If you don't have a strobe you'll need bright conditions because by the nature of adding the macro lenses you are reducing light getting to the camera sensor. And when you have to get very close to what you are taking a picture of you'll find you tend to block the light with the camera and your body. This is why for divers keen on macro photography we tend to recommend a strobe set up as an early purchase. You may get some results using a built-in flash but often you'll find the macro lenses cast a shadow.
Macro photography often gives the opportunity to see creatures so tiny the naked eye is not enough. This ‘shaun-the-sheep’ sap sucking slug was absolutely minuscule but i managed to get a picture of it using a macro lens on my camera combined with a powerful Nauticam wet lens.
Learn to use manual settings.
As always you'll find you get better results once you take control of your camera and learn what changing aperture, shutter speed and ISO will do to your pictures. The camera rarely gets it right of its own accord when underwater, the more help you give it the better.
If you’d like to know more about the Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras and the lenses for them, watch the Facebook Live video I did about the equipment I use here Also included on that blog are links to buy the various lenses and cameras from our affiliates. (for more on affiliate programmes go to our T& C’s page)
So that's the end of part one of my musings. If you want more specific advice or have a suggestion for a blog subject feel free to get in touch, drop us an email at info@alphamarinephoto.com Do the same if you'd like a quote for equipment or to book on one of our courses (dates are on our Events page). Anyone is also welcome to join the Alphamarine Photography Q and A Facebook group as long as you behave yourself and stick to the rules and there are buttons to take you too our various social media pages below.
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