Macro Photography vs Close Up Photography

When you enter the world of macro photography, you will hear many debates on macro photography vs close up photography. While they are very similar, you should be aware of the differences between macro photography and close up photography.

The difference between macro photography and close up photography is based on technicalities.

Up until now, we have steered clear from this debate to avoid causing any confusion. However, it is important to keep in the back of your mind the differences.  From a technical viewpoint, macro photography and close up photography are different.

Macro photography generally requires a 1:1 or higher ratio between the object image that you are photographing and the real object. What this means is that if you are photographing a bee that is 1 inch in size, this bee will appear as 1 inch or greater on your camera’s sensor. If the object image is smaller than the real object, this will then be categorized as close up photography.

Whether you achieve the magnification ratio of 1:1 or higher is going to be dependent on the macro photography equipment that you use. To spare you from all the technicalities, we will discuss this in more detail in a future post.

While it is important to know the technical differences between macro photography and close up photography, we believe that it is far more important for a photographer to get out in the field, shoot, learn and enjoy themselves. So, please don’t let the macro photography vs close up photography debates confuse you or stop you from entering the macro photography world.

Please post below and let us know where your macro photography adventures take you!

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