Photo Plus - UK (2020-01)

50 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

PROJECT 2

VIDEO ALSO ONLINE

http://bit.ly/pp_160_2

THE MISSION

Take brighter

close-up photos on

a budget

Time needed

One hour

Skill level

Intermediate

Kit needed

• Tripod and macro
  lens (optional)


• Reflective card or
  cheap reflector

STEP BY STEP BETTER & BRIGHTER CLOSE-UPS

You don’t need expensive kit for exquisite macro close-up shots, find out how...

Close-ups on the cheap

There’s no need to break the bank for close-up setups, instead use

homemade reflectors with our resident Scrooge (aka Peter Travers)

USE LIGHTING

TO YOUR

ADVANTAGE

If you find your setup
provides too much light,
or you actually want more
shadows on one side of
your object, use a dark
surface like black card or
cloth to reduce the
shadows for a more
moody image.

02 EXPOSURE SETTINGS

In Aperture Priority (Av) mode set your aperture to

f/5.6 and use a tripod so you’re hands free to position

reflectors. We used f/5.6, 1/15 sec, ISO200, but your

shutter speed will vary depending on light levels. Use

Live View and focus on the closest part of the object.

04 WHICH REFLECTOR TO USE?

Compare the images on the right with different

reflective surfaces that create different bounced light:

White – neutral light; Silver – cool, bright light; Gold

• warm, bright light; Sunfire combination of silver
  and gold stripes – warm/cool bright light.

01 CAMERA AND LENS

With window light to one side of a table or shelf, and a

plain coloured wall behind, it’s easy to capture well-lit

close-ups. Any Canon EOS camera with a kit lens will

do, we’re using a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with

24-105mm lens shooting at 105mm to fill the frame.

03 HOME-MADE REFLECTORS

With window light from the left, we angled our gold

and silver card together from the right side to bounce

light to fill in shadows. If the reflected light is too

bright, move the reflector further away. A large sheet

of white paper can also work well for softer light.

or this budget-tastic

project, we’ll show you

how easy it is to capture

great close-up photos

with nothing more than a

kit lens, window light and

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You don’t even need high-end

kit – anything from an entry-level

EOS camera with a kit lens will do

• but you can get closer with a
  macro lens. We’ve used a Canon
  EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR with a
  24-105mm telephoto lens.

First, we need to make sure the

light where you’re shooting isn’t

too harsh, you don’t want to place

your subject where sunshine is

blazing. Choose a window that’s

out of direct sun light, but still well

lit, so it provides even soft light.

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really help make your close-up

shots reveal more detail. You can

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with silver/white sides from only

£15. However, you can also use

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food packaging! We found

Waitrose’s salmon packaging was

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and the other is silver, but any

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When shooting, put your Canon

on a tripod and use Self-Timer

drive mode so it leaves you with

your hands free to hold one or two

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angle them effectively for the best

lighting on your small subjects.

Here’s how we took our shots...

F

VIEW^ TH

E^ VIDEO