How to handle very small objects photos and animations?

Macro photography is the photography of very small objects. It is also referred to as close-up photography. However, taking close-up photos does not automatically mean that it is macro photography. For example taking the close-up photo of a person’s face is not macro photography.


Specific equipments are required for small objects photography

With point-and-shoot camera, macro photography is easy but for better quality photos of smaller objects, specific product photography equipments are required. On the digital camera, the Macro photo symbol is depicted as a flower. This is because in macro mode, you can easily take close-up photos of flowers and other small objects.

PackshotCreator Focus stacking a software feature for small objets

In product photography, macro cameras are needed to be able to effectively shoot very small objects such as photos of jewelry products, pictures of cosmetics, images of foodstuffs, multi views of fashion accessories, 360° photos of shoes, eyeglasses, precision tools among others. As it can be observed in the photo below, the ring macro photo was created using the PackshotMacro RE photo studio.

ring standing with suction

Macro photography was defined as a photo where the object had a 1:1 ratio with the photo negative. This signifies that the image of the object is exactly the same size as the real objects. Hence, no magnification was used.

Macro Lenses

The optimized macro lens has a magnification of 1:1. Other macro lens can have better magnification up to 5:1 macro. Macroscopic lenses are lenses which are placed on the camera and they are used to take macro photos at closer range. However, the photographer should beware of shadows in the frame otherwise these shadows will appear really big in macro photos.

best macro lenses for jewelry photography

For far away subjects, telephoto or zoom lenses should be used.

Focal length

The focal length determines how much a subject will be magnified. A short focal length has a wide viewing angle while a long focal length has a narrow viewing angle. This is shown in the illustration below.

Extension tube

Extension tube is a tool which is used in macro photography to allow photographers to take close up shots of small objects with high precision. The extension tube is available for most SLR cameras. When lens moves away from the image plate, it then has a longer focal length and restricts background elements distraction.

Bellows

Bellows is a studio tool. It does not have an auto-aperture. Such a device is best for extreme magnification.

One of the consequences of the use of bellows and/or extensions is that it requires exposure settings to be adapted, as the shutter speed cannot be as high as with standard lens systems. To find more info, google Schwarzschild’s law or Schwarzschild’s effect. That is why in some cases, using compact dsc or adapted systems may be more relevant.

Lighting in Macro photography

Although natural lighting is the best lighting, sometimes they are not enough for macro photography. The standard on-camera flash will not work in macro photography and they are quite useless while taking macro photos.

Specific lighting kits have been developed for macrophotography:

  1. Use of ring flashes
  2. An extension cord that allows you to hold the flash light
  3. Softbox to soften the flash light

Windbreaks in Macro photography

When doing outdoor macro photography, it is important to take into consideration the moving blur. If you are shooting a flower, in macro mode, the slightest breeze will spoil your macro photo. A fast shutter speed could be used but this will not have the expected result. Instead of sacrificing the quality of the macro photo, inexpensive windbreaks can be used to negate the effects of the wind. Windbreaks can be made from household objects; a few wooden or plastic boards will be enough to stop the shy wind temporarily. Depending on the color of the windbreaks you use (preferably white), these can also act as reflectors for your macro subject.

Macro Product Photography

Macro photography plays an important role in product photography. There are several products that require appropriate marketing thus needing their high definition product photos.

Products such as diamond rings, golden necklace, designer sunglasses, toys, cosmetics, perfumes, clothing among others are consumer products whereby professional HD photos are needed for their advertisings.

Macro product photos can now easily be created with a simple photographic solution: The PackshotMacro DL and PackshotMacro RE. It is a digital photo studio which can help anyone create close-up product photos very easily and instantaneously.

vacuum system to hold rings vertically

PackshotMacro RE from PackshotCreator

Macro photos reveal the quality of a texture, jointing or surface

Such a professional photographic tool brings out the most discriminating details of your products. Macro photos reveal the quality of a texture, jointing or surface. The macro photos are controlled from the computer screen. The lighting environment on the PackshotMacro DL is constant and similar to daylight conditions.

Some example of macro product photos using PackshotMacro RE:

This example relate the professionalism of the digital PackshotMacro RE photo studio. Being very intuitive, anyone can easily manipulate the photo equipment. Such photosand 360 animations of small products can be used in print media such as catalogs, newspapers, magazines and online media such as ecommerce sites, websites, blogs, social networks among others.

Small products animations

Using animations on your ecommerce website is one way to grab the attention of your audience. By displaying 360 degree animations of small products on their ecommerce websites, companies have a competitive advantage. Being able to attract and retain customers attention helps increase the conversion rate of potential customers into actual buyers.

By using the product photo studio PackshotCreator Mini Mark II with 360 degree option, anyone can easily create such animations for their marketing and communication purposes. Using interactive animations of products will help increase the marketing impact with photos of attractive products. Productivity will significantly be boosted with reduced workflows.

Become the photographer of your products

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Focus on… the Hyperfocus on product photography

2 September 2013

The Hyperfocus module is the latest addition to the PackshotCreator software suite: made to answer the needs of our clients in macrophotography, the Hyperfocus option allows you to get an ultra-sharp image on the totality of the product that being shot from very close.