Commercial Micro Photography

By John Siskin

Nanogel Product #1 © John H.  Siskin All rights reserved

I was working on a micro shot yesterday for client. Their product is transparent and about a millimeter long. Consequently it is astonishingly difficult to shoot. I thought I would discuss some of the tricks that make shooting a micro project possible.

First I define micro as a project where the image of the subject is bigger than life size on the camera sensor. In this case the subject is about 1.5 times life size on the sensor. I call anything that is less than life size on the sensor macro. I don’t suppose that the distinction makes much difference, except to the choice of lens. When you do work with a very small subject the shorter the focal length of the lens the less space you need between the lens an the camera and the less working room you have between the lens and the subject. I have about half a dozen lenses for micro work. The sorter lenses, about 30mm long work well for products between 5 and 15 times life size on to the sensor. Lenses between 50mm and 75mm work well for slightly larger products that will be reproduced between 1 and 7 times life size. In this case I used a Zeiss Luminar with a focal length of 63mm.

Background for macro shots © John H.  Siskin All rights reserved

The background is often a problem with a shot like this. For slightly larger products that won’t be enlarged as much I print out a background with my inkjet printer.

Nanogel Product #3 © John H.  Siskin All rights reserved

This image has a variety of colors and a gradation so it serves as a very handy background for macro work. In the case of yesterdays shot the reproduction ratio showed up the dots from the inkjet printer. This interfered with seeing the subject. In this case I used paint chips from Home Depot. They have an even painted surface that is a good background.

Concrete with Bubbles © John H.  Siskin All rights reserved

French coin with concrete dye © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Another problem with very small subjects is communicating just how big the product is. I often put the product on top of a penny to show size. I have a couple of proof pennies that I use for this purpose. Proof coins are specially minted for collectors; they have a much finer surface than a normal coin. I have also used coins from other countries for products sold in other countries.

Most of the time I use one or more Norman 200B strobes for lighting. I put them on Bogen/Manfrotto Articulated Arms to give me control over light placement. I use different reflectors to create lighting effects. In this case I used a snoot to increase contrast.

Nanogel Product #2 © John H.  Siskin All rights reserved

Thanks, John Siskin