Who uses macro photography?
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As some of you know, I’m currently writing a book about macro photography. As part of this, I’m writing an appendix on the commercial uses of macro, only to realise that I don’t know that many professions that use macro- and micro photography as part of their everyday life.
So… I’m turning to you, my faithful and lovely readers, to appeal to your wisdom. Can you think of any fields where macro photography is used regularly?
I’ve come up with the following:
- Forensics
- Research science
- Food photography
- Jewelry catalogues
… What else can you think of? Pretty please leave a comment — you can be anonymous if you want to!
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Insights, suggestions and comments
Hi. I own a lot of field guides to things like arthropods, rocks and minerals, flowers, and the like. They require a great deal of macro photography.
I’ve always been impressed by this super-macro photo I saw on Flickr quite some time back:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artsyscience/51311029/
Macro is used a lot in nature photography.
It’s also widely used in technical circles (ie. fault reports, when something has blown up)
Low magnification macro is often used in product manual and catalogue photography too.
As for photomicrography, it’s bascially anything you would put under a microscope.
People taking the same picture of insects over and over again.
Macro photography is used a lot in research and education when it comes to tiny objects of course.
http://www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk/ – all manner of helpful things on there.
eBay! I use my macro (or micro as Nikon puts it) lens all the time for illustrating maker’s marks, flaws, just about anything that needs to be shown to sell my stuff!
Check out Jane Davenport’s work here in Australia. Gorgeous http://www.janedavenport.com/lbc_gallery.html
You might check with the modern cosmetic dentist or dental surgeon.
I take macro photos on my job in Pathology at a hospital. Some surgical specimens are really impressive. The hospital has a weekly tumor board and the Pathologists present micro slides of tumors by projecting the images. Occassionally one of my “gross” photos is included. Also lately some patients have requested photos of their specimens. Sometimes I photograph a uterus with fibroids, email it to the OBGYN then he or she “goes over” the photo on the computer on a follow up visit.
I shoot macro and enhance with image stacking software check out the Japanese doll composed of 125 images.
your website is very attractive and informative one.iam very interested in photography.please send me the important information about the photography.
thank you very much.
root canal treatment is a field that need surgical microscope and may be using a digital camera with macro lense could do the same
Well, it’s funny you should ask…I just spent an entire evening at Borders Books painfully looking for a book on Macro Photography, with hope that it would help me improve my photos for the coins I sell on Ebay. To my surprise and frustration, I couldn’t find a whole lot on the subject (for novices like myself) of Photographing shiny objects such as coins…In what is such an enormous market on Ebay. So…I purchased your book, which is how I found my way here…So, I’m new and looking for help, beyond my scanner. By the way, I sat down with about a dozen books before I decided to purchase yours…Wish me luck!
Hi, I’ve been messing with ’smokeography’ since I tripped over some of your work, on STROBIST I believe. You ain’t wrong when you say that you learn something new every session. Does that mean that it’s just an infuriating, but addictive, aspect? My limited experience of commercial macro’ is limited to detail shots of flowers, and a catalogue I once undertook to shoot for a joke company of all things!! There is probably more macro’ out there than you, or I fofr that matter, imagine. That’s why it’s kept it’s novelty value. When you see a good macro’ shot, WOW, the impact is right there, in your face! Let’s just hope that ’smokeography’ and macro’ never become so commonplace that we cease to be amazed.
All The Best, Doug. :-)
great blog.
anyways…. i love macro. i shoot with it always. it may delay the shutter time a bit.. ? but i love the extra detail it captures.
Thanks everyone. you have been very helpful in answering the same question i am asked for my uni assignment!
I am interested in microphotographi in dentistry. I am lookig for any knowledge in this field. I wold like to make photos of images from endodontic microscope. I am especially interested in photos of canals ( they are narrow and darker then the rest). I wonder if I should use body of profesional camera or rather compact camera (it has smaller matrice and maybe needs less light???)
wow, Snailrind youre really cool
What about engineering fields. There’s always need to document a circuit board, how something was put together, problems that arise. There are a number of images that come out of engineering that no one ever sees, it just needs to be documented. I take a number of pictures using my camera and macro lens for these reasons.
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