P#23 Q2B: The Key to a New World of Macro Lens Photography

Off the Beaten Path

Scott Stulberg: Let me explain the reasons I shoot with a macro lens. Most people are intimidated about going up to people and shooting pictures of them. They try and stay far away from their subjects and they just lean over and shoot from a distance.

When I'm shooting someone I need to talk of them. Mostly because I usually need them to sign a model release. If their image is going to be published in a magazine or if it's ever going to be used to make money for somebody, it has to have a signed release. That comes with the territory of being a stock shooter. I don't just go and shoot like a journalist would do. He doesn't need any kind of release.

So first I have to have interaction with most of the people that I shoot for legal reasons. My second reason is just that I love being up close and personal with these people. When I shoot with a macro, I can get right in their face. I can move their hair out, I can push up their chin.

I usually shoot with a 50mm macro instead of a 100mm macro. With a 100mm macro lens you still have to be far away, but a 50mm macro, I can be right up close. You can get a beautiful shot when you get in close.

With a macro lens you don't get the compression effect you do with a longer lens, which makes their nose look a little better and blurs out the background even more, but you do get a beautiful, beautiful shot that doesn't distort their face and makes them look the way they are. You can get in really close. I teach this in so many classes and people always end up buying macro lenses and saying, "Wow, you opened up a whole different world for me."

It's great shooting with a macro lens. I really love the interaction of being close with people and getting in close.

In Closing

The traditional methods of photography aren't always the best. While many photographers may scoff at the idea of taking portraits with a macro lens, Scot Stulberg tells us that a 50mm macro lens is one of the best ways to get in close and capture your subject as they truly are.