As the title says, what do you think is the biggest enemy of a macro photographer outdoors?
In general, photographers say that the light is crucial, but in my opinion bad/boring light does not affect macro as much, since you can do a lot of the lighting yourself using portable lights, flashes etc.
I think the worst is the wind. This might not affect photos of pretty solid objects, but there is nothing more frustrating for me when doing macro (or something pretty close to 1:1) and the subject keeps going out of frame, let alone to stay in focus
Tripod often solves motion blur, but here it is of little help, especially when the subject is located on a tripod-unreachable spot. Add squatting in an awkward position so you can barely hold a heavy lens and youāve got a lot of to be frustrated aboutā¦ Have you got any tips?
Integrated flash for the win
But yes, continuous shutter is a must My cameraās buffer isnāt exactly large, but I think it can do about 10 RAWs in a row.
Some time ago I researched those round macro flashes a bit, but in the end I decided not to get one, a good flash is pretty expensive and the support for cheap (but not too old) DSLR was questionable.
Iām rather thinking of getting a small light in the future, something like a Godox LED6R, they are just 30ā¬ each and for macro in the shade you donāt need as much light output (the one linked is 6W, hard to tell if thatās enough).
Balancing the contrast from direct sunlight wil require a flash thoughā¦
Oh yeah, I totally omitted the wildlife .
But the nice thing about macro is that you can do it almost anywhere, even right next to a sidewalk and no one may notice from the photo. So far, most of my macro was actually not in the wild .
Imagine yourself stretching over a shrub in the Bois de Boulogne to try to get a shot of a butterfly and feeling someoneās breath in your neck, turn over and find a guy very disappointed by what you were shooting atā¦ At least that one had kept his pants onā¦
Wind can be useful at times. I made this wigglegram(*) from two consecutive shots.
(*) GIF is pretty big, so DropBox complains. Download to watch.
A really dedicated macro photographer - with some sort of lighting source - would make his final and most unique photos from inside of a bear/crocodile.
Another +1 for wind. I read about people using racks and then focus stacking a series of photos, and all the while Iām thinking āthatās nice if you could persuade that flower to hold a pose for umpteen shots.ā
Yes, if there is any slight movement of the subject, you can forget about stackingā¦
Not only perspective changes, but good luck doing even 1mm focus increments with three-dimensional motion
People sometimes bring their subjects home where they do stacking in a controlled environmentā¦ but letās be honest, thatās only really an option for >5:1 insect photos.
I recently had the realization that I was using my tripod wrong for outdoor macros. In the rare event that itās dead calm, or youāre shooting mushrooms or other super-stationary subjects, having the camera on a tripod is ideal.
But most of the time even the smallest breeze will push your subject out of frame of a stationary camera.
On the other hand, flash placement is much more forgiving. I mounted my flash on the tripod, and hand-held the camera to track this sleepy bumblebee as her perch swayed back and forth.
that looks promising. I watched a YouTube, and from what I saw it looks plenty bright.
Godox flashes are pretty economical as well, if a bit more than your LED light. You donāt need a lot of power, one of their little models with a separate trigger can be had for $100 or so all-in.
yes, all the Godox flashes have a built in receiver, but you need a transmitter to trigger them. But only one transmitter is necessary for as many flashes as you might use.
Incidentally, I always wondered if bees / wasps / etc a bother when doing macro shots of flowers. Donāt they get angry if you hover around with a camera?
(sorry if this is a silly question, the last bee sting I had was decades ago, when I was a kid and a bee was interested in my ice cream, I have been wary of the critters ever since, fortunately I am not allergic)
Not generally, based on how little my presence alters their behaviour. Itās common for them to forage within inches of flowers Iām shooting, or, after briefly moving away, to return to the flower Iām at. I did some focus stacks indoors a few weeks back, and the bees continued foraging on the stems I cut while a carried them back to the house, where I had to gently shoo them away.
In this case my subject may not have known I was there. She spent a chilly night sleeping on this flower. By the time I set up in the morning she was just barely moving. Didnāt warm up enough to fly until about noon.
My only advice, if your flash is capable, is spray and pray 
My cameraās buffer isnāt exactly large, but I think it can do about 10 RAWs in a row.
