Join award-winning photographer Mike Moats for a one-day seminar on photographing nature in macro. Macro photography, or extreme close-up photography, captures very small subjects in larger-than-life size. This type of photography is an excellent way to celebrate the tiniest elements of nature, such as insects, flowers, and more.
This macro photography seminar will cover the range of topics any photographer will need to achieve striking results:
- Choosing equipment, including cameras, lenses, tripods, heads, and accessories
- Controlling light with diffusers, reflectors, and LED lights, and working with natural lighting
- Controlling depth of field with f/stops and special techniques
Using focus stacking with Helicon focus
- Creating effective compositions, and what not to do when composing
- Finding character in nature
- Using elements of design, textures, contrast, lines, light, and visual weight
- Working camera angles for blurred backgrounds
- Creating two-subject compositions
- Learning when, where, and how to find good subjects throughout the four seasons, both outdoors and indoors
This program meets in person at the Arboretum.
Instructor: Mike Moats, photographer
Age: 16 and older
Course number: P327
Instructor
Mike Moats, photographer
Mike Moats is an international award-winning, professional macro photographer from Sterling Heights, Michigan. Moats’ love of photography started out as a hobby in 2001 and has since evolved into a full-time business. In addition to creating his own images, he added close-up/macro photography workshops into the mix in 2006, and he now makes speaking appearances at photo conferences nationwide, leads intensive macro boot camps around the country, and has an online Macro Photo Club to assist photographers with their macro goals.
Recruited as a member of the Fuji Pro Talent Team in 2006, Moats is also honored to be a Tamron Image Master and a Vanguard Pro. He has won numerous local, national, and international awards. His first book, Tiny Landscapes, was released in 2008, and his images and how-to articles have been published in various magazines, in photography collections such as the North American Nature Photography Association’s (NANPA’s) Expressions book and the Pure Michigan tourism companion, and in corporate collateral. Learn more about his work at his website.
What to Know
This program is held indoors. Bring a sack lunch. Light morning refreshments will be provided.
Program Schedule
Saturday, April 13, 2024, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Arbor Room, Thornhill Education Center
