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HOME » Cat Photography Ideas Go Macro

Cat Photography Ideas Go Macro

03/03/2021 by Marjorie Dawson 13 Comments

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Haven’t you always been impressed by those photographers who take amazing pictures of a cat’s whisker, or super sharp fur or shiny eye? They get so close that spiders look like super creepy aliens and fur looks like a forest.

Photographers use special equipment called a Macro lens, and you can go macro – or cheat and go almost as good as. Let me show you how.

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

A macro shot of a jumping spider taken with a 100mm macro lens with extension tubes. © Macropixels

There are three macro options for the adventurous new photographer that I will tell you about:

  1. Option one is buying the correct Macro lens for your camera, (or a smartphone macro lens) and what you might want to try.
  2. The second option is a combination of good zooming, and cropping, so you don’t need a macro lens. Let’s edit.
  3. The third is investing in a ‘reversal ring’ that means you can have a macro lens without the expense (I include a video for this).
  4. A cheeky bonus is advising you to use your camera’s own macro setting (the small flower motif) and explore what happens 😉

Macro Camera Lenses 

These range in price from about $50.00 to thousands of dollars but they are a great option and worth the money if you intend to ‘go macro’ all the way and do a lot of very close work on, say, cat’s features or jewellery or insects. If you combine cat care with crafting this type of lens could be worth a look too.

Smartphone © Dash Kitten My First attempt at a Macro Type Shot ‘Johnathon the Cockatoo’

The 1:1 designation means that the image of a subject projected onto the sensor (or film) is the same size on the sensor as real life, and is the minimum magnification to classify as a true macro.

Stack Exchange

Using a smartphone? You can use a macro lens like the well regarded Xenvo Pro which slips on to your smartphone’s camera ‘eye’. Depending on your camera you can adjust your light settings too.

How to Use a DSLR Macro Lens

Preparation is important to make good use of a real macro lens. You should spend time getting used to your lens and seeing things if a different way through it. Your cat is a great place to start for macro shots but you can get close to the pattern on a ceramic object or the beads on a costume. Take photos of everything.

  • While you practice be conscious of your exposure, aperture and your shutter speed.

Light

You may be used to using a DSLR at an ISO of 200 (great for light and colour) but you can go up to 400 or even 800 if it helps enhance your subject. Never be afraid to experiment by changing any of your camera settings.

Aperture

Think about your aperture. Aperture affects your depth of field and you might find yourself like me, setting yourself an F-stop of F2.8 then finding the camera refuses to focus at all.

F8 is a good place to begin but you can move to F4 and explore what happens. Several photo web sites that I read advise you not to use F11-F22 because everything is sharp which distracts from your focus on your subject.

Macro Cat Paw Photo
© Dash Kitten ‘Toulouse’ ISO 200 50 mm F 3.5 1/400

Shutter Speed

If you want to chase bees and butterflies around the garden or snap ladybirds in the park, both you and your camera need a bit of speed.

1/125 is a good setting, to begin with but go faster if you are not happy with your results  I have just started experimenting with macro style photos and speed is one thing I am changing constantly right now.

Almost a Macro Lens

What? Almost? Let me point out that while you won’t get super amazing macro shots with an ordinary lens you can come close in some of my favourite cat-themed areas. The fun thing to do is to learn about your lenses and discover what they can do. As this means taking more cat photos I don’t think you will mind too much. Just use your lenses, take pictures and see what worked then try it differently!

Experiment. I admit that I am always making mistakes and realising new things my lenses can do. I have taken some super close photos with a kit lens and a telephoto lens as a result so you try it. Don’t judge yourself, have fun, and, inside or outside you will have fun. 

Go Macro Closeup Cat Photo paws make a fun shot
Valentine’s Paws © Dash Kitten
ISO 3200 55 mm F 5.6 1/50 [Enhanced High ISO shot]

Lens Thoughts

A telephoto if you zoom it in, will take a clear and sharp closeup of a cat’s eye or fur, and your versatile kit lens takes really nice photos, especially if you experiment with ‘macro mode’ (the small flower on your camera dial).  My 50 mm Lens took a decent shot of Valentine’s Paws, although it did need some editing.

I know that your camera lenses will not be at the 1:1 magnification of a real macro lens, but the quality is outstanding and when you take the final step you get close to the real ‘go macro’ wow quality.

Creating Almost Macro Magic

You will need two things to make your photo into a splendid faux macro shot.

  • A good, sharp cat photo
  • Photo editing software.

Once you have taken your sharp closeup, import it to Affinity Photo, Corel or Adobe editing software and crop your photo close to your chosen spot. Remember you can undo it if you are not happy with the results the first time. Then crop your photo and you are finished.

Macro Cat Cat Photo Eye
© Dash Kitten ‘Toulouse’ ISO 200 152 mm F5 1/160
  • Dash Kitten Top Crop Tips

What is a Macro Reversal Ring?

A reverse ring allows you to turn around one of your current lenses and use it as a macro lens. To do this you will need to buy a reversal ring for your own brand of camera.

There are a couple of things your camera will not do once the ring is in place, but there are workarounds and I recommend Andres Moline’s video (below) about using the reversal ring. Not only is he a very clear speaker he really brings you up to speed on a piece of equipment that will save you lots of money! WARNING: There is a spider in the video.

Macro Photo Resources and Tips

  • A good blog post on fitting a reversal ring
  • A comprehensive tutorial of you are keen on macro photography.
  • The Importance of lighting. Use nice even lighting – cloudy days are great. Avoid strong sunlight and its dark shadows.
  • Give a sense of scale. You will find that a coin is often used to show size.  Imagine a silver cat charm, you think it looks cute but how big is it? A coin instantly gives you a sense of how big an item is (and if you want to buy it).
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Marjorie Dawson from Dash KittenMarjorie is a blogger, award-winning photographer and smartphone moviemaker who loves cats.

She is a Cat Writers’ Association Professional member, CWA Muse® Medallion Winner, and winner of the Kuykendall Image Award. Marjorie loves sharing her photo knowledge with others and seeing their skills grow.

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Comments

  1. Athena and Marie says

    10/03/2021 at 9:41 pm

    Amazing shots. I really do need to try more macro.

    Reply
  2. Jana Rade says

    08/03/2021 at 10:56 am

    Macro photography is my favorite; all the hardly-ever seen beauty. I have never tried it on non-inanimate objects such as dogs, though.

    Reply
  3. Barb (and Marv and Jo Jo And Kozmo and Cinnamon) says

    08/03/2021 at 5:55 am

    Marjorie! Terrific information! Wow! Who knew. I did know that I can really zoom in on the photos from the DSL Camera, but my iPhone is too ancient. Now I know why. |Thanks for these informative posts! Ciao Barb

    Reply
  4. Kamira says

    08/03/2021 at 5:25 am

    I never knew how the photographers got such detailed up close sharpness before. Now I learned something new…macro lens. I didn’t realize but can definitely tell the difference. You shared some great shots! My favorites are Valentine’s paws and Toulouse’s eye.

    Reply
  5. Britt K says

    08/03/2021 at 4:39 am

    Now that I am taking more pictures of the pets, I have been seriously considering investing in a macro lens for my DSLR. I feel like it opens up so many new opportunities. Just the idea of being able to capture those fine details that we all know and love about our pets (whiskers, the appearance of greying on their muzzles, their soulful eyes, etc.). That being said, I am now also considering getting one for my smartphone… When we are camping, I often don’t bring my DSLR simply because I’m trying to cut back on what I’m carrying on a hike as much as possible. With the improved quality of cellphone cameras, I usually feel like I can rely on that instead.

    Reply
  6. Cathy Armato says

    07/03/2021 at 1:19 pm

    This is so cool. That photo of Toulouse’s eye is amazing – great job! I didn’t know there were macro lenses for smartphones. I haven’t studied macro photos, I’m still working on making my regular pics look as good as they can. Thanks for sharing.
    Love & Biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

    Reply
    • Marjorie Dawson says

      07/03/2021 at 10:45 pm

      First one I saw was at BlogPaws back in 2016!

      Reply
  7. Tiffany says

    07/03/2021 at 4:46 am

    I will have to look into getting the Xenvo Pro for my Smart Phone! I would love to be able to take some Macro shots of our pups and nature. Thanks for the tips!!!

    Reply
    • Marjorie Dawson says

      07/03/2021 at 11:16 am

      I was amazed to find lenses available and get definitely need to invest a bit to get a quality lens.

      Reply
  8. meowmeowmans says

    04/03/2021 at 5:18 pm

    So fascinating. I have been thinking of getting a macro lens. One of these days! 🙂

    Maybe I’ll try a reversal ring.

    Reply
    • Marjorie Dawson says

      05/03/2021 at 11:13 am

      I love the idea of the rings. I just need to remember the electronics in my camera don’t work with the lens reversed..

      Reply
  9. Meezer'sMews&TerrieristicalWoofs says

    04/03/2021 at 7:07 am

    We love seeing our pics that *she* takes with her in the camera zooming feature. Yup, the flower mode. She made the dragonfly pics last summer with that feature and most of the bird pics. And yes, cropping is a very useful tool!

    Reply
  10. Brian Frum says

    04/03/2021 at 2:36 am

    That’s pretty amazing, we didn’t know any of that at all!

    Reply

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