How to Take Close up Pictures With a Digital Camera

You can take quality close up pictures with a simple point-and-shoot digital camera. Just set the camera to "macro" mode, find a still subject with the right amount of light, get close, focus, and click. You will soon be enthralled by the world of minute detail you can capture on your camera. Don't worry if it takes a few tries to get the perfect picture, the great thing about a digital camera is that mistakes don't cost a penny. The "macro" setting is one of the most impressive features on digital cameras today.

Instructions

1. Find a still subject that is not in direct light. Too much light will wash out a close up, and too little causes blurriness. Turn off the flash, as this will also wash out the shot.

2. Hold the camera very still, and if possible, rest it on something stable. Use a tripod if you have one. This will prevent blurriness.

3. Focus the camera automatically by holding the button half way down. Play around with the depth of field (DOF). Close up pictures have a very narrow depth of field. This means that the part of the picture that is in focus will really stand out. Figure out what part of the subject you want in focus by playing around and focusing on different parts of the same scene.

4. Take a lot of pictures in a lot of places of a lot of things. In other words, practice makes perfect.

Tips & Warnings

• Take your first close up photo expedition outside, by plants or water if possible. Natural subjects make great close up shots because of the rich colors. Go in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid direct sunlight. Depth of field (DOF) refers to the section of the picture that is in focus, verses the area in front of and behind the subject that is blurry. A deep depth of field means that a large area is in focus, a shallow depth of field means that a small area is in focus. Look at your subject as a pattern instead of as a thing. Focus on the play of texture, color and shadows. For example, if you are taking a picture of a piece of bark bring your face right next to the bark and squint your eyes so that you see a pattern of light and color instead of a piece of bark. Try to recreate this effect with the camera. It is not always obvious what the subject of a good close up picture is, but it is more important that the picture is visually pleasing.