As close as one might wish to get

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, photography

The Book of Close-up Photography: A Complete and Illustrated Guide to Close-up Techniques and Equipment by Heather Angel contains this charming picture of her son in a hollow tree. In keeping with her practice, which reports that this image on film is ×0.05, and on the page is ×0.4, this image as shown here is about ×0.25, if your monitor's pitch is 100 per inch (4/mm).

This image also exemplifies the author's preference for "close-up" in ranges close to life size. She does not neglect more highly magnified photomacrographs and photomicrographs, the former roughly life size on a 35mm film frame and the latter much more greatly magnified. But most of the book is devoted to images you might get using the "macro" settings on a lens with a macro range…that's most zoom lenses these days (On cameras with a scene wheel, the "macro" setting looks like a tulip).

It became clear while perusing the book—it is a reference book, not something one just sits and reads straight through—that lighting is the key issue, being much more important than the type of lens or camera. The second-most important piece of device is a solid tripod, or several. While it is possible to take good close-ups by available light, and even hand-held, the author makes it clear that the smaller the subject, the steadier the camera must be, and the harder it is to get sufficient light.

Thus, we find her, in an appendix, recommending quite an elaborate "close-up studio" as shown here (click on this image for a readable version). The appendix covers much more than just this: Tripods and other supports, accessories such as bellows and extensions, many kinds of lighting accessories, copy stands and light tables, and a handy table of depth-of-field information for various lenses and magnifications.

Note: the depth-of-field data are based on a 30µ circle of confusion. That is 4 pixels wide on my SLR, and more than 10 pixels wide on a typical point-and-shoot camera. For the latter, much narrower depths are the rule, requiring a circle of confusion closer to 5µ (2-3 pixels)

Every image in this richly illustrated book has technical information: lens used and magnification, plus often notes such as length of exposure or special lighting. One "still life" image of grapes in a snifter notes six light sources. Most of us try to get by with two: ambient light plus our camera's built-in flash. The take-away message: any kind of photography, particularly close-up and macro, will benefit from making a modest investment in extra sources of light, whether a lamp on a stand or a slave flash unit and extension cords so flashes can be positioned away from the camera. Better lighting cost less that a better camera, and gains you more.