Day Eight: “Treasure” — Zoom In

Objects, places, people, moments — we all cherish something or someone. Anything deeply meaningful to you can be a treasure.

A treasure can be grand, like a precious heirloom, or teeny-tiny, like the first plump blackberry of spring atop a tart:

Or perhaps it’s the vintage coat passed down from your grandmother, your once-in-a-lifetime trip through the Himalayas, a quiet space in the woods, or your children. What’s your treasure?

Today’s Tip: Get close to your subject. Use the zoom function in your camera, or physically move closer to it. Often, our goal is to capture as much of a scene as we can. This time, zoom in on your subject or a particular detail to tell a more interesting story.

Day Eight: “Treasure” — Zoom In

So far, we’ve focused on establishing shots, horizontal and vertical images, and getting comfortable with moving around and experimenting with point of view. Today, get close to your subject.

As you photograph your treasure, consider photographer Brie Anne Demkiw’s tips on macro photography:

• You may need special equipment to get a great close-up shot — not every camera can do macro photography. Simple point-and-shoots and iPhones are limited to how close you can get.
• Try going abstract. Play around with how shapes, colors, and textures change as you get closer to your subject.
• Experiment with shooting objects outdoors — shoot on a cloudy day for better lighting. Shooting outside on a cloudy day may impede your exposure a bit, but, for the real close shots, I recommend a tripod.

If you want to get real close, you will obviously need either close-up filters, or extension tubes for cameras. (click on those links). Or, if you have a camera that will take interchangeable lenses, a macro lenses will do the job very nicely.