Have you ever wondered if there was a difference between close-up, macro, micro photography? Well, there are a few differences. Close-up photography takes the subject of the image and zooms in on it. Even though you have zoomed in you still get a sense of what you’re looking at and how it relates to the space around it. An example of this could be a lizard on a leaf or Oreos on a table. You can see that the subject is small, but you can still relate to the original size of the subject. With macro/micro photography you lose the since of size of the subject. In most cases macro and micro refer to the same thing. Macro refers to something large where micro means small. This type of photography lets you fill the frame with the subject and there will be an incredible amount of detail in the image.
The real difference in these types of photography is the lens that is used to capture the image. Anyone can capture close-up but just using the zoom feature on the camera. Some might also use a telephoto lens to get even closer to farther away subjects. Macro photography can only be captured with a macro lens. These lenses are pricy, but these lenses allow you to capture the detail of an insect or the vanes of a leaf. Macro lenses can achieve at least a 1:1 magnification.
A few things to keep in mind when shooting close-up or micro/macro is to use a tripod. This will help reduce the camera blur and noise. Another tip is to use the fastest shutter speed on your camera. When looking at the composition of your shot try to fine-tune the close-up patterns with your camera instead of cropping your image later.
