If you are after the work of famous macro photographers to get some inspiration for your masterpieces, then you are in the right place. Armed with cutting-edge macro lenses, these creatives are opening up a whole new world of small elements of nature that we can’t see with our own eyes.
In this article, I have collected the most famous photographers who have gained popularity due to their talent in macro.
Region: Hungary
Being a Hungarian specialist in biology, Adam became interested in photography in the 2000s and eventually turned this hobby into his professional activity. Due to his former specialization, he found himself in moth and butterfly photography, as he knows a lot about these eye-catching insects.
In his works, he focuses on the right composition and tries to capture the best moments to reveal the full appeal of these fragile creatures to the viewer.
Region: Europe
Among the famous close up photographers, one cannot fail to single out Alexey Kljatov, who devoted himself to snowflakes photography. In his work, he prefers a reliable classic – the Canon PowerShot A650 paired with a Helios 44mm lens.
He is captivated by how unique, inimitable, fragile, and eye-catching each snowflake is, and that’s exactly what you can see in his breathtaking footage. He is quite popular and his work has graced publications such as NASA, CNN, Wall Street Journal, and many others.
Region: Australia
Darren lives in Australia and takes vivid close-up photos of various flowers and plants, often covered in dewdrops, as well as eye-catching fauna that inhabit his continent. In addition to his undeniable talent, carefully selected equipment helps him to become a popular macro flower photographer – he uses a macro Canon lens EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM with two different bodies, a Canon 6D Mark II and EOS Rebel T7i.
Region: Europe
If you are interested in underwater photography, then Andrey Savin is perhaps the best representative of such macro photographers. Living in the province of Negros Oriental in the Philippines since 2018, he has focused on photographing underwater life and revealing this unexplored world to the audience in all its subtleties.
Andrey has been awarded several awards in various world photo contests. As he states, his activities aim to demonstrate the appeal and uniqueness of the underwater world and call for protecting the environment and our planet.
Region: Spain
Javier Rupérez lives in Spain and shoots his close-ups in the extreme genre. It excels in capturing details that are virtually inaccessible to the human eye, and which can only be seen using a cutting-edge camera for macro photography.
Javier is popular for his footage of tiny insects that are frightening and breathtaking. His work has been published in many international publications including The Sun, The Guardian, Stern, and more.
Region: USA
Marit Hovden began her macro nature photographer career with a simple Panasonic Lumix that had a macro option. Enthralled by the genre, she bought a Sony camera a58 and Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 and began capturing vibrant, colorful photographs of water drops and other natural details.
Region: UK
Jacky Parker is super talented in macro flower photography, she shoots colorful vivid flowers, creating whimsical fairy-tale compositions from them.
The starting point of her popularity as a macro flower photographer can be considered 2005, and already in 2008, she received the title of RHS Photographer of the Year. In 2020, she also participated International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition, where she won first place in the Beautiful Gardens and Beauty of Plants categories.
Region: UK
Levon Biss stands out among the most famous macro photographers of his time for focus on natural history and the natural sciences. He recently showed off his Extinct and Endangered collection, which contains footage of the rarest insect species from the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
He implements his macro photography ideas by shooting each type of insect in different sections with different lighting to highlight the distinctive features of each insect.
It results in breathtaking shots of the insect with a well-arranged composition of more than 10,000 pictures, which creates exhibition prints up to 3 m long, showcasing the microscopic details of insects.
Region: USA
American Thomas Shahan is fascinated by the beauty and unusualness of all kinds of insects that inhabit our planet and therefore found himself in wildlife and insects photography, demonstrating to the world that they can be not only scary but also cute. His work can be seen not only at exhibitions but also on the National Geographic channel and even on “The Today Show” from 2009.
Region: America
Standing out among the most famous close up photographers for his specialization in gemology and geology, Nathan Renfro has chosen gems, stones, and minerals for his models and a ZEISS microscope for his tool.
Seeing his work for the first time, the viewers do not immediately understand that this is a photo, but they think that this is a graphic design or an artistic drawing, as they portray something completely new to them. Thanks to cutting-edge photography technologies, he was able to discover the world of rock coverings that amaze with their colors and patterns.
Region: Germany
Markus Reugels is a real expert in water droplets photography as everything freezes in his shots. Thanks to the use of the Sony a7R and Minolta 100 mm macro lens and adapter, he achieves complete control over the speed and trajectory of his models – colorful bright liquids.
His masterpieces require meticulous preparation, which begins with specific backlighting of his location using camera flashes like Yongnuo 560, and plexiglass to diffuse the emitted light to achieve softness and evenness.
The key to his success is the modification of the light sources, the reduction of the flash time, and their synchronization via the PC, which ensures the highest accuracy and clarity of the image.
Region: Europe
As a techno-musician, Ian Cook wanted to complement his live performances with eye-catching, captivating abstract images and decided that no one could do it better than him. Thus, his love for close-ups began and he managed to become one of the most popular macro photographers.
He favors the advanced Panasonic camera - Lumix GH4 for finding the right quirky items and liquids in his home. For lighting, he relies on two LED lights for photography, which do a great job of bringing out the weirdness, organicity, and depth in his shots.
Region: USA
As a creative director for advertising, Alan became interested in photography art, which then grew from a hobby into a professional activity. He specializes in several genres, including macro.
Taking close-up photos, he prefers garden photography, finding fabulous plants and trying to capture them as picturesque paintings. He has achieved great success, which is marked by several awards.
Region: UK
Being a famous macro nature photographer, Jamie is also interested in product, pet, and portrait photography. He shoots mostly insects, but you will also find food close-ups in his portfolio because through powerful Canon lenses he can see the beauty in any object and convey it vibrant and rich.
Region: Brazil
Having mastered macro on his own, Bruno Militelli focused on abstract compositions in the macrosphere. He keeps up with the times, discovering new trends, experimenting with scientific foundations, and testing various components to make even more exciting abstractions.
To do this, he uses the top-notch FUJIFILM camera - X-T3 paired with an XF 80mm f/2.8 Lens.
This genre requires studio shooting and artificial lighting, so Bruno settled on the AL-MX Bicolor LED Mini Light, which provides decent illumination.
