The natural world is filled with amazing textures and designs that we often pass by, until confronted with something completely unusual. By playing with light and looking for colors and contrasts, we can find amazing textures and natural designs all around us. Famous photographers have been doing this ever since cameras were first produced, and now, anyone with a camera and a desire to shoot abstract photos or work on photographic artistry has the ability to produce some incredible images that capture these designs, textures, and colors. Underwater, creatures such as sponges and corals lend themselves perfectly to this art; even simple algaes take on a whole new and beautiful look when viewed through an extreme macro lens.
Intense Focus is the Goal
From a distance, the world has an interesting three dimensional look; but, when we come up close to our subjects and view them up close, we discover amazing things. If you focus on perspectives smaller than what your eyes normally perceive, you can come away with an amazing kaleidoscope of colors, not to mention a palette of textures and designs, even in water where low visibility can hamper the effectiveness of most standard shots.
By getting as close to your subject as possible, often to the minimum working distance your camera setup will allow, you can capture incredible textures even in murky water. Most extreme macro photography shots are taken from a distance of only a few inches, with composition being the key to success.
Composition Tips for Extreme Macro
First, keep in mind that light is important, especially since the way shadows fall can have either a dramatic artistic effect on the way a piece turns out, or they can completely ruin the outcome.
Second, explore your options by turning the camera and shooting from slanted angles to alter the depth of field seen, or to create unique perspectives. For example, if you shoot a piece of mushroom coral, which has tiny channels running parallel to one another, and you compose your shot so those channels are positioned diagonally rather than straight up and down or from side to side in the frame, your photo will be much more visually rich.
Third, compose your shots using the viewfinder and try your hardest to get the shots that appeal to you most right there on site, instead of opting to crop later. While cropping can definitely be an option, you can get much better detail when you capture a full frame image you have carefully composed.
Last, but certainly not least, play with your light. Try using a ring flash paired with strobes to get rich colors, or, if you're going for texture and want to create interesting shadowed effects, try offsetting your strobes to produce greater depth of field, unique shading, and intense shadowy shapes.
Some subjects to try include corals and sponges, sea anemones, sea cucumbers, and sea pens, fish fins and tails, algaes, tunicates, and more. Find a subject with an interesting color pattern or texture that appeals to you, and get to work, covering it from all sides, getting up underneath it if possible, and working on angles. Spend some time working on your techniques, and you'll find that after a short time, colors and shapes really pop out to you, making the decision about what to photograph a whole lot easier.