Light Meter: Me and My Macro

You know all those sweet endearing songs about wanting to get close to someone? They’re really just metaphors about using the macro setting. No, really, I mean it. What else could they possibly be talking about? Let us explore this feature and all get a little bit closer. C’mon!

We’ll begin with the icon for the macro setting on your camera. The universal sign for macro is a flower. Most cameras have this identifiable symbol on the 4-way controller on the back of the camera. As camera designs change however, readily available controls are moved to fit below increasingly larger LCD’s (screen on back) or disappear entirely and are only obtainable via the camera’s main menu.

“So come on baby come on over. Let me be the one to show you.” When you press the macro icon, you turn on the function that will allow you to take close-up shots of things that are small, such as flowers and coins.

Then there’s the ability to get detail on something larger. For instance, normally you’d take a headshot of your child but with the macro function you can photograph his/her cute little freckled nose. Scrapbookers can go wild and take photos of each part of the face and put them together as a collage. Oh, and one small request, no one tell my mom about the option to photograph freckled noses. That’ll be our little secret, OK?

I used the Digital Macro mode (manual setting) on a Canon Powershot SD500 to get the entire pin as well as the dangling piece by itself.

Then I used the auto mode and turned on the macro setting and got this. Although it’s a clear photo, I couldn’t get as close as I could with the Digital Macro setting.

Just to show you why macro is important, without it the pin looks like this. Blech! Who wants to buy a blob?

So my friends, go out and capture the details in everyday life and as you do you’ll say to yourself, “Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you.”