Gene F. Rhodes  02/12/05 home    

Macro procedure: For LED ring lights used on Nikon twist body cameras (CP-4500 and CP-900 series) which I consider the best suited for macro photography.

ISO: I set ISO to 400 because it increases shooting range and doesn't produce any noticeable noise. In some cases ISO 800 might be appropriate because shadow noise can't exist where there are no shadows

Metering: I usually use spot metering so I can pick the target to focus on. Even then I sometimes have to move the camera back and forth a bit to get what I want.

Aperture Priority: Very little depth of field is available while in macro mode so I use aperture priority and set the command dial to f10. If the f10 shooting range is exceeded the shutter speed will be longer than 1/60. I then manipulate the command dial to control the aperture and hold the shutter at 1/60. This routine eliminates motion blur and maintains maximum field depth for all exposures.

White Balance: I prefer auto mode because it gives me more control of colors when shooting in mixed lighting. I watch the monitor while the camera cycles through white balance and 2nd click the shutter when colors look normal..

Shooting Procedure: For extreme close ups set aperture to f10, ISO to 400, metering to spot and macro to its upper limit of zoom. Observe the monitor and frame the subject. 1st click the shutter button and observe the target area. You may have to move the camera back and forth slightly to sharpen this area.. Also watch the color change as the camera cycles through white balance. When focus and colors are acceptable 2nd click the shutter button. This procedure becomes second nature fairly soon.