Introduction

The fascination photographers have for macro photography is similar to the obsession astrologers have with the sky above: There is a vast unknown to be discovered. You don't necessarily need the most expensive equipment, but you do have to go looking for it.

Look around you. Can you see anything worth having a closer look at? If your answer is no, you might not be looking hard enough. Don't worry, that is one of the things this book will help you with. In addition to giving you the tools, the theory, and the skills you need to be able to take good up-close photos, I hope the photos in this book inspire you to the point that your shutter-finger twitches like that of a gunslinger outside a saloon at high noon.

Throughout this book, I touch on all the aspects of macro photography. After a brief introduction, I jump straight into the equipment you need to work on macro photography. I talk about lighting for a while before getting into the proper photography stuff. Everyday objects, flowers, and insects are popular topics in macro photography, so I've given them a chapter each to really get your creative juices flowing. My personal favorites are photographing textures and abstract objects, so there are chapters on those topics as well, along with an interesting section about how you can use macro photography to capture the human body!

Finally, I show you how you can use digital image-editing techniques to fix small problems with your photos, and there are lots of tips on how ...

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