Ultra-close-up photography is a difficult but extremely interesting genre of photography. It gives a professional photographer the unlimited freedom for creativity and helps him to start seeing the various objects of reality from the different angle. Ultra-close-up photography is taking pictures of middle-sized and small objects and details in greater zooming in. Usually the photographers take ultra-close-up pictures using the scale level from 1:5 to 20:1. Macro photography with extra zooming in may provide the viewers the opportunity to see the things and small details that we normally don't notice in the everyday life. These details are commonly unseen by the naked eye. This photography option allows us to travel to the surprising world of insects, flowers and small animals.
One can find enormous number of ideas and themes for close-up shooting. In addition to that there is no need to travel far in the search of the best frame as the ones who shoot landscapes do. Macro photos could be taken literally anywhere. The most customary and plain objects are able to look fantastic when shot using the option of extra zooming in. The main task of the photographer is to find the hidden beauty in the every-day objects and show it the viewers.
Ultra-close-up photography is more complicated than shooting in usual modes. It requires some skills from photographer and some additional options and technical properties of his equipment as well. The option of close-up shooting is typical of both compact and full-size SLR cameras. In the compact digital cameras the close-up photography mode is normally marked with the flower icon. To shoot close-up photos with the full-size SLR camera it is recommended to purchase close-up objective lens, extension tube and close-up ring flash. If you want to shoot the objects with high zooming in using the usual compact digital camera you should also probably use a special strobe arm to avoid getting the effect of diffuseness on your macro pictures. While taking photos using the close-up photography mode it is useful to try various scale, background and angles of shooting.
Ultra-close-up photography requires creativity. The most effective photos usually depict the main object (an insect or a flower) distinctively and even somewhat sharply while the background remains washed out and blurred. The effect of blurred lights and flashes is called bokeh. The process of taking zoomed in pictures can't be carried out in a hurry. It requires concentration and patience. The photographer usually chooses another angle of shooting and the most showy background. It can be extremely difficult to take pictures of various insects as they are likely to be frightened off easily. Sometimes the photographers have to lay an ambush for quite a long period of time to wait until a dragonfly or a butterfly appears. When an insect is doing its business for example it is collecting honey dew ad doesn't pay any attention to the photographer it is easier to take a successful photo. The drops of dew with the appropriate light also look well when shot with extra zooming in.
