Macro photography is the art of taking photos of tiny objects – or at least get in very close when you take photos of bigger things. To get good macro photos, you need a camera that is capable of focusing up close. Not many camera phones do this, but the Nokia N8 has this genre of photography down pat.
If you go closer to your subject than about 30 cm, switch your camera phone to its macro mode, signified by a little flower – for photographing flowers, you see. This changes the way the focusing on your lens works: Instead of looking for your subject at the usual distance from the camera (from about a meter to infinity), you will have told your camera to focus much closer instead.
When you are taking photos with your camera phone in macro mode, the camera is much more sensitive to motion. If either your camera or your subject moves even slightly, your photos will come out blurry – so be sure to keep everything as still as possible.
Focusing can be a challenge when you are working with macro, because you get very limited depth of field. The auto-focus on the Nokia N8 is very good, so just make sure you don’t move your phone closer or further away from your subject after it has found its focus.
The magic of macro photography is that you take a look at the world quite unlike anything you’re used to. Experiment, have fun, and keep your eyes open: in the world of macro, the best photography opportunities could be hiding in plain sight!