It's all in the Details (Digital Macro Mode)

Hey!


Do you know what's in this picture?

How about this one?

I like little stuff.  It's the little things in life that make a person smile...  When I'm bored, I look up little stuff on Etsy, or eBay, or just in general online...

Many eBay sellers and home-grown websites do not have very good pictures, especially for, well, little stuff.

What's wrong with the pictures above?

1.  The background is the same color as the items I'm trying to photography.

2.  My camera is actually zoomed in way too far.

3.  The picture is blurry (50% is my fault, 50% is the settings on my camera).

4.  You have no idea what I'm taking a picture of because it's poorly taken, and you have no frame of reference, all you know, I could be taking a picture of a HubCap and a bright Red can of glitter....

 

Pictures I see online all the time

What I was actually taking a picture of.  

I like little stuff, and I also like to take pictures of little things, and I work with little, tiny yarn when I am knitting and crocheting.  

Sometimes, I'd spend months on a crochet lace piece, and then I'd take a picture to share with my friends. Unfortunately, the pictures were, well, terrible... But, hey, my photography is getting a little better, and there are some really simple tips you can learn to take better pictures of small, tiny, intricate, elaborate, or fancy items.

Here's a couple of them:

1.  Most Consumer and Pro-level cameras have the ability to take "Digital Macro Photography".  Digital Macro Photography is the ability to focus in and get really clear, detailed pictures of items that would normally be hard to capture (like this) (Please nobody flame me, this is my layman's explanation for people that are not in the photography field).  Really expensive cameras can capture the individual hairs on a caterpillar, or a hummingbird in flight, but as an every day use, you can take pictures of important things, like Chocolate Shavings on Ice Cream, A neat stitching technique on something you've sewn, old jewelry, or tiny items with a lot of detail.  And you do not need a really expensive, high end camera....You're average, point-and-shoot digital camera should have this ability, but you may have to dig into your cameras settings (For mine, it's the little "Tulip" icon)...Check your camera's manual, or Look It Up Online (Click on this link to use the handy search I started to setup, just put your model camera where I indicated).   

2.  PCWorld Magazine has a great free article on Digital Focus: How to Shoot Small Objects Up Close which is a great place to start.  Read this, and constantly refer back to your camera's manual to get a better understanding.

3.  Take pictures in the Daytime.  Wake up a little bit earlier, wait till the weekend, anything you can.  I see a lot of ebay sellers going and listing their items right at midnight, and their pictures look like they were shot at 11pm as well.  No good.  If the Sun has enough power to send it's Light millions/trillions of miles and brighten up our world, the $4 Compact Fluorescent I have right next to my tiny eBay necklace won't do any good.   Note, this is coming from someone that has worked nights for over 15 years.  I want to sell something online, I need bright, clear pictures.   You're camera uses the available light to help it acquire  your subject, and nothing beat's the daytime.  If you have to put a table next to a Sunny window, do it!  My table is a little dresser someone was throwing out, and we just painted it with leftover paint!   

Too Dark

 

A little Better

As Good as I can get without serious Photography Tools, at Mid-afternoon.

 

4.  Macro Mode (Digital Macro Focus/Digtal Macro) is already setup to do it's job, don't mess with any other settings.  If you have Macro Mode set on your camera, there is no need to use the Auto-Zoom or the Zoom feature on your point-and-shoot camera.  Macro Mode allows you to get as close to the subject as possible, without zooming or adjusting the settings, to snap the picture.  All you need to do is hold the camera (in the right light)  as close as you can WHILE FOCUSING, and snap the picture.  

Good: 

Better:

 

Please note, the important part of this is "WHILE FOCUSING".  Your camera should allow you to focus and have an "indicator box" that lights up on the screen or viewfinder.  If this doesn't light up, your either too close, or too far away for Macro Mode to work.   Take pictures with your Inanimate subject facing the sun (unless your subject is something super Shiny/Metallic)...

(Example of something Shiny/Metallic "Taking Over" on the camera because of position/too much light)

  

Okay.  That's enough of that.....

My pictures aren't the best, and it does take a while (since I'm not a photography genius, nor claim to be)....

But with some simple understanding of the camera I'm using, I can educate a future buyer/viewer, and do something artistic.

Neat, huh?