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Macro Photo Backgrounds
A lot of things make up a great macro photo: subject, balanced lighting angles, and depth of field. But far too many underwater photographers ignore a key element to their macro underwater photo—background. It is what frames the shot, and it is all too frequently what makes or breaks the photo—what make it a winner or just a mediocre shot.
When you frame your photo in the viewfinder, you must see the entire frame—subject and background.
Unfortunately in California we do not have a lot of choices for backgrounds, but the ones we do have are great. One of the suggestions below can apply to other parts of the world as well, but some apply only to California, which combined with our unique animals can make our shots here truly special.
BLACK BACKGROUND
This is the simplest of all backgrounds and can be applied to any part of the underwater world. Get low and shoot up. Because in macro photography the strobe is so close to the subject, a small aperture is used. This means that the background will usually be so underexposed that it will be black. Although simplistic, it makes the subject stand out in the photo.
ALGAE
Many of our macro subjects in California are brightly colored. Small fish, nudibranchs, crabs—they all have distinctive colors. Algae is the predominate growth on which they live. Green, amber, even purple. But sometimes algae can be flat, brown, dirty looking. Key is picking an algae background that is appropriate to the subject. It should be clean with a good texture and color that contrasts with the subject. Moving a subject to a desirable background is often impossible, other times unethical (you don’t want to hurt the animal).
Some animals you can give a “stage.” Use a loose kelp frond and have a nudibranch climb on to it for photos. Break off a small piece of algae and you may be able to get a small crab to climb up on it. This technique can be used also for snails and small stars. Once on the stage, you can position the subject, and background, as needed.
SUNBURST
If you can position the subject in such a way as to have the sun coming through the surface above, you will have a shimmering blue background, which is very effective. Obviously this can be difficult. Using the “stage” technique as mentioned above, you could hold the subject up in such a way as to put the sun directly behind it. You then only need to set the proper exposure and strobe settings to give the sun a shimmer and illuminate the subject properly.
DEPTH OF FIELD
If the above techniques seem a bit difficult, there is an easier way. All that is required is to be able to get a side angle on your subject, then the background does not matter much. Macro photography has a narrow depth of field. That means the distance from the lens in which photos are in focus in is relatively narrow—usually no more than just a couple of inches, often much less. Take a side angle on your subject and as long as the background is a few inches away or more, it will be thrown out of focus giving the shot a three-dimensional look, so long as the main subject is in sharp focus.
Don’t shoot flat macro anymore. Make your subject jump out of the photo by giving it the proper framing—the proper background.
Dale Sheckler is Editor and Publisher of California Diving News and co-author of the book A Diver's Guide to Southern California's Best Beach Dives, 3rd Edition.
Return to Cover Page/Contents for January/February 2005 issue