Wideangle Macro

[Updated April 2017]


Although the majority of my macro images deliberately show the subject in isolation, often against a clean background, an alternative style of photography that I am also very keen on is wideangle macro. Images taken in this style are able to show the subject in its natural environment and, as such, can be more interesting than other macro styles, in my opinion at least.

Producing wideangle macro images is far from easy. Fisheye or wideangle macro lenses work best as they will often allow very close focusing. The lenses I currently use for this style of photography are the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye and the Tokina 35mm macro lens. Although the maximum magnification of the fisheye lens is not great (approx 0.4x) this is fairly typical of fisheye lenses. The 35mm macro on the other hand is capable of lifesize (1x) reproduction although the field of view is obviously less than the fisheye. A newer lens that became available in 2015 is the Laowa 15mm macro lens. This isn't the easiest lens to use but can produce excellent results. This post provides a review of the lens while this post provides some additional images taken with the lens.

A problem that all of these lenses suffer from, but particularly the fisheye and the Laowa 15mm, is that at maximum magnification the subject will almost be touching the front of the lens, and that's no exaggeration. This also presents a challenge for lighting as the lens will often cast a shadow on the subject, given its close proximity. It is therefore necessary to use a very carefully positioned reflector or an even more carefully positioned flashgun. Finally, because of the ultra wideangle nature of fisheyes you need a very attractive backdrop and one without telegraph poles, benches or other artificial elements, all of which have a habit of creeping into fisheye images.

So, after much experimentation, I've realised that meeting the following conditions will considerably increase the likelihood of taking a successful wideangle macro shot;

1. You need a relatively large insect (because of the lack of magnification), such as a dragonfly or large butterfly if using a fisheye. Smaller insects are possible if using the 35mm of 15mm macro lenses.

2. The insect also needs to be very docile and not likely to fly off when a lens is placed within a centimetre or two of it.

3. You need an attractive setting to form the backdrop of the image. Again, this is particularly true of the fisheye and the Laowa 15mm lens.

4. and you ideally need a deep blue sky because white sky will always tend to overexpose as well as look somewhat insipid. It is very difficult to keep the sky out of wideangle macro images altogether although it can sometimes be done.

So here are a few of my examples, in each case I have indicated the lens that I used;

PLEASE CLICK ON ALL IMAGES TO ENLARGE


Blue-Tailed Damselfly (Laowa 15mm macro)

A Marbled White Butterfly (Tokina 35mm macro)

A Brown Hawker Dragonfly (fisheye @ 17mm)

A Brown Lipped Snail (Laowa 15mm)

Blue-Tailed Damselfly (Laowa 15mm macro)

Newly Emerged Four Spotted Chaser Dragonfly (Tokina 35mm macro)

A Common Blue Butterfly (Tokina 35mm macro)

A Fly Agaric in woodland (fisheye @ 10mm)

A Meadow Brown Butterfly (fisheye @ 17mm)

Sulphur Tuft Fungi (fisheye @10mm)

Nomada Bee (Tokina 35mm macro)

Common Darter (Laowa 15mm macro)

Finally, it's worth pointing out that Paul Harcourt Davies and Clay Bolt have published an excellent guide to wideangle macro photography which is available to buy here.