How to Shoot Fall Macro & Close-Up Photos with Great Color (VIDEO)

Spring and summer usually come to mind when most photographers think about shooting macro and close-up photos, when budding flowers, insects and other creepy-crawlies are just about everywhere you look. But if you’ve already stashed your macro lens for the year, you may have second thoughts after watching the video below.

Serious macro photographers ply their craft throughout the year, like in winter when snowflakes and frost-covered objects provide an opportunity for incredible images. But we’ll cover that tropic in a month or two, and concentrate on autumn close-up photography today.

The key to making successful macro images this time of year is taking advantage of the stunning orange and golden tones that make autumn so special. You’ll see how to get the job done ion barely 11 minutes, with several simple tips from a British pro.

In this behind-the-scenes episode you’ll watch photographer Paul Miguel do his thing in a beautiful English garden, while explaining  a few secrets for attention-grabbing autumnal close ups. He’s shooting with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens atop a tripod, while battling strong winds that require paying attention to camera placement and exposure settings to avoid subject movement.

Despite the wind, Miguel is blessed with beautiful mixed light that’s occasionally filtered by passing clouds. You’ll learn a bit about composition, choosing great subjects, and making a compromise between shutter speeds that yield sufficient depth of field and apertures that are wide enough to provide pleasing backgrounds.

Good composition can be even more important with mid-range close-ups than it is with true 1:1 macro photography when you’re in so tight on a subject that the periphery of the scene is less of a concern. Miguel has a bunch of other solid tips, including shooting in both portrait and landscape orientation, the advantage of shooting in open shade, and much more.

So pay close attention, pull out your trusty macro lens, and give Miguel’s tips a try.

You can find more great advice on nature and wildlife photography on Miguel’s YouTube channel, so head over there and see what he has to offer.

You may also want to take a look at the image-editing tutorial we posted recently, explaining how to enhance fall colors with a few clicks in Photoshop.

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