Macro photography sharpens your attention to detail and lighting, crucial skills whether you're exploring creative images at home or pursuing commercial work. Understanding how to effectively highlight small products, control lighting, and employ techniques like focus stacking can elevate your photography significantly, no matter what you shoot.
Coming to you from Andrew Lanxon Photography, this practical video shows you how to capture detailed, professional-quality macro shots using the new Sigma BF camera as a subject. Lanxon emphasizes selecting specific camera details—such as textured surfaces, minimalist button designs, and machined elements—to create visually appealing images. He demonstrates straightforward ways to use LED lighting effectively, explaining the importance of modifiers to soften and direct the light precisely. Lanxon also highlights an accessible method of bouncing light using everyday items like styrofoam, proving you don't always need specialized gear for quality results.
Throughout the tutorial, Lanxon demonstrates focus stacking clearly and explains its benefits in capturing sharpness throughout complex subjects. He carefully guides you through the process, detailing each setting choice, including aperture adjustments and exposure times. Lanxon also reveals useful tips on organizing and managing large sets of images efficiently in post-processing, showing how Helicon Focus software helps achieve sharp, detailed stacks with ease.
Lanxon takes the extra step of demonstrating subtle post-processing techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop. He explains straightforward yet powerful editing methods, such as selective clarity and careful shadow and highlight adjustments, to enhance product images without making them look overly processed. He even shows practical retouching skills, like removing dust or imperfections, essential for presenting products professionally.
The skills presented are not limited to product photography alone. Lanxon notes that these techniques are equally applicable to outdoor macro photography, such as capturing flowers or mushrooms, expanding the potential uses of these methods. Practicing these setups at home prepares you with versatile skills that translate well into various real-world photographic situations. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Lanxon.
If you would like to continue learning about macro photography, be sure to check out "Mastering Macro Photography: The Complete Shooting and Editing Tutorial With Andres Moline!"
