19 Reasons Why Point-and-Shoot Camera Owners Should Shoot Macro Photographs

A friend of mine — who owns a DSLR and a point-and-shoot camera — said shooting macro photographs with point-and-shoot cameras is easy.

He said that unlike shooting other types of photographs, in which you need to think harder about composition, lighting, aperture value, ISO, shutter speed and so on, shooting macro photographs is pretty much a straight forward affair, according to him.

You just point your camera and shoot, he said. “As long as the camera is close enough to the subject, you can have your macro photographs.”

Nature's nature

Well, that was what he said. I wanted to argue with him but seeing that he had already formed a certain kind of opinion about macro photographs, I don’t see any point in trying to convince him that macro photographs are more than just pictures taken by pointing and shooting at close range.

I rather tell you why you should shoot macro photographs alongside landscape or portrait photographs.

Without further ado, here are the 19 reasons why you should shoot in macro:

Tiny green insect

01. It’s easy to shoot in macro: Like what my friend said, it’s easy to shoot in macro, just point and shoot.

02. Macro mode readily available: all point-shoot-cameras come with either a macro or super macro features or both.

03. Shoot ‘em up close: You can get real close to a subject with point and shoot cameras, sometime as close as zero cm.

04. Macro mode easily accessible: nearly all point-and-shoot cameras are equipped with a dedicated button for shooting in macro or super macro mode.

05: Amazing details: macro photography highlight details on tiny subjects like flowers and insects which cannot be seen with our naked eyes.

Red ant... narrow depth-of-field

06. Sometimes, shooting macro photographs is the only way forward: you cannot photograph insects from a mile away.

07. There are more tiny creatures than big-sized creatures: the only way to photograph tiny creatures is up close.

08. Macro photography is not as easy as pointing and shooting: there are challenges to be overcome when shooting in macro like the issue of depth-of-field.

09. Macro photography is not less challenging: you still need to think about composition, ISO, aperture value and shutter speed even when shooting in macro, especially if you are using high-end point-and-shoot cameras which give you plenty of control.

Water lily

10. Frustration and reward: Shooting in macro can be very frustrating because of the challenge of keeping a subject in focus, but if you can get one good shot of it, it can be very rewarding.

11. Finding a subject for macro photography is “easy”: just look around and you’ll find one.

13. Conversion lens readily available: you can also attach super macro conversion lens to point and shoot cameras which allow super-duper magnification of a subject. The down side is, not all point-and-click cameras support conversion lens.

14. Wide audience: a lot of people are fans of macro photographs.

15. Satisfaction: you can add “dimension” to your photography hobby.

The eyes are the keys... get it in focus and you are alright

16. Learning process: you will know the “limitations” of point-and-shoot cameras in shooting macro photographs and learn how you can overcome them when you upgrade to a DSLR.

17. Selective focusing: you can use the narrow depth of field to your advantage by keeping only certain parts of a subject in focus and blur the rest.

18. And god created tiny creatures and man created tiny objects: a lot of subjects are best photographed up close.

19. Because of this blog: you can share all your experience here at Macro Photography Blog which discusses point-and-shoot macro photography