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Home » Photography Challenges » Stay Home Macro Photography Challenge
Stay Home Macro Photography Challenge

Stay Home Macro Photography Challenge

by Darlene Hildebrandt | Last Updated: January 21, 2023

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Continuing on with our series of photography challenges you can do while you stay home – it’s time to do some macro!

Macro photography is great because you can take ordinary things and make them look unusual, create abstracts and find things around the house to photograph you may not have considered.

Find some subjects for macro photography

First look around your home and see what you can use for a subject. Household items look totally different close-up. Here are a few ideas:

  • Cutlery
  • Food items (cut pieces of fruit, seeds, bread, wine cork)
  • Fabric or yarn
  • Wood or textured items
  • Bugs (in your backyard maybe)
  • Flowers (if they’re blooming in your yard)
  • A person’s eyeball
  • Pets or pet parts like noses, paws, etc. (if they will sit still for you)
  • Lego people or figurines
  • Feathers
  • Tools from the garage
  • Shoes or parts of them

You get the idea. What other ideas can you come up with or find around your home? If you think of something unique and fun please share with everyone in the comments below.

macro photography challenge example close up of wine corks showing details

Details for this challenge

Next, if you aren’t familiar with macro photography, the first thing you’ll want to do is read up on it and decide which tools you’re going to use for the job.

I’ve written a few articles on the topic previously. Start here:

  • The Ultimate Guide Macro Photography
  • How to use Macro Extension Tubes
  • Using a Macro Lens
  • How to turn your 50mm into a Macro lens for under $20
  • Macro Photography – an Interview with Don Komarechka
a close up macro photo of a pocket watch gears showing details
Look for things with a lot of detail that might look good close up, like this old pocket watch.

close up photo of a flower in bloom

So once you’ve read the articles you need to pick your gear. If you currently don’t own a macro lens see what other options are available to you. Perhaps you can order something that’s fairly inexpensive to give it a try.

You can use or do:

  • Reverse lens macro (you need a special adapter ring to mount your lens to the camera backward, they usually cost less than $20). Make sure you get the right kind that matches your camera brand and model and lens mount. Choose a 50mm or longer lens (wide-angle will be trickier to use).
  • Close-up filters (they screw on to the front of your lens, the cost will depend on the quality of the glass and brand but they can range from about $10 to $100 or so).
  • Extension tubes (these mount between your camera body and the lens – read the article on these before you buy, quality varies greatly and a cheap one could damage your lens or camera – choose wisely)
  • A macro lens – obviously this is a bigger ticket item and comes with a bigger price tag. But the price is worth it if you plan to do a lot of macro photography and want the best image quality. If you aren’t sure yet see if you can rent one from a camera store in your area or a company like Borrow Lenses.

I’ve made a handy list of macro items on Amazon for you if you want to see some of the options just CLICK HERE.

NOTE: Make sure you get the right lens mount, filter size, and adapter rings for your camera and system for any items you decide to go get.
This could be a week in your yard, but photographed using reverse lens macro it becomes visually more interesting.
This could be a week in your yard, but photographed using reverse lens macro it becomes visually more interesting.
macro
How about some colored marbles?
close up shot of a cat's face
Pet parts? Yes this is Munch – thank you for all your concern for her last week – she’s going to be fine and we’re so grateful!

quarantine photography challenge macro

Cheers,
Darlene-1-250x130.png

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About Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene is an educator who teaches aspiring amateurs and hobbyists how to improve their skills through her articles here on Digital Photo Mentor, her beginner photography course, and private tutoring lessons. To help you at whatever level you're at she has two email mini-courses. Sign up for her free beginner OR portrait photography email mini-course. Or get both, no charge!

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