Peewiglet (Shirley) asks about close-up shots, and of course there are lots of things outdoors that we might want to focus on, for example wild flowers.

Picking out detail is certainly something you will want to do, but it is a little more tricky to get really good shots.

Professionals will invest in special lenses for close-up work. These are known as Macro lenses. Usually these are moderate telephotos but ones which allow you to focus at far shorter distances. If you really want to specialise with — say — flowers, then you might want to invest in such a lens. Most of us will be content with using our zooms to focus in on detail. But there are some problems.

Exposing for Detail

Often detail shots will be taken using the telephoto part of the zoom. Less light gets into the lens at this setting and so the viewfinder may look darker. Longer lens lengths mean less depth of field, and this is critical for ensuring that detail is sharp.

You may want to preserve depth of field by keeping the aperture tights, say at f11 and above. This will mean shooting at a slower speed. And remember, often your flowers or other subject may well be in shade and this will mean even sower exposure.

This is why a tripod is often used for careful composition and exposure of detailed shots. You can boost ISO levels but detail will of course suffer.

I don’t like hiking and carrying a tripod although I do have an attachment for my Pacer Poles that allows one of them to be converted to a mono pod, which can help.

Hand Held hooting at low speeds

You might want to practice this.

Most people can happily shoot at 1/60th second without worrying about camera shake. With practice you may be able to find that you can get down to 1/15th.

To shoot at these low speeds make sure you’ve relaxed. If hiking hard allow yourself to catch your breath and to restore your heartbeat. Breath deeply and exhale. Now — while exhaled — take your shot.

Some people have more shaky hands than others which is a problem. But if you can shoot at lower speeds you’ll find it useful.

Another trick is to sit down and steady the camera using your elbows sitting on your knees.

These days you can buy small, flexible tripod type fittings. The Gorrilla pod is available from backpackinglight.co.uk. This can be wrapped around a fence post or similar. But these are unlikely to be flexible enough for much close-up work. Most good camera shops will sell a range of very small tripods but these are very limited in the field. You can use a beanbag to rest the camera on a rock or something similar. These can be very successful and will be light enough to carry in the pack.

But, in most cases, you will be looking at using a proper tripod for quality.

I do, of course, shoot subjects like this. When hiking I often take pictures of flowers but rarely get close enough to capture proper detail. I do have occasional projects that require close-up work.

These are some photographs taken in South West Cork last summer. I love stone walls and hedgerows and find they offer a really interesting subject. They need careful processing but can — I think — make nice photos to hang on a wall. I’m still working on getting these ‘prints’ right, but here are some examples. They show how detail can be fascinating.