If you have ever wanted to take incredible bug portraits like Thomas Shahan or shoot through water droplets like Steve Wall, then you might be on the path to improving your macro photography. Here are seven of the best free tutorials on macro photography on the internet.

Photo by Viamoi.

Marcin Klysewicz’s Macro Photography Tutorial – This is a fantastic short introduction to macro photography from somebody who walks the walks. Even if you’re not looking for a tutorial, you’ll probably want to check out Macin’s great example shots.

Marcin Klysewicz’s Macro Photo Tutorial, Part 2 – Obviously Marcin is a perfectionist and this second instalment on macro photography over at the Pixalo community has a lot more detail and even more great examples. Definitely worth a follow up read after taking a look at the first tutorial. Don’t forget to check out Marcin’s website too for some great galleries of macro bug photography.

Photo by Macropoulos.

Reversing Lenses for Macro Photography – If you don’t have the budget to buy a top of the line macro lens, then you might want to consider the technique that involves a (cheap) reversing ring and using a combination of lenses that you already probably own. It’s a much cheaper option and gets equally spectacular results.

Reverse Lens Macro Photography Tutorial – This is a more detailed tutorial that the lesson above and has some great example illustrations and an interesting discussion in the comments section.

Video Tutorial: Basic Introduction to Macro Photography – If you remember things better when it’s explained to you, then this video tutorial by Peter Madely is for you. He talks about everything from composition and depth of field through to lighting. It’s a great wrap up and well worth watching.

Macro Underwater Photography Tutorial – This tutorial talks specifically about macro photography in underwater environments and discusses everything from preparation and subject selection through to “underwater etiquette” which we guess is relatively important when you’re running out of oxygen to breathe!

Photo by Spacepleb.

Macro Photography by Photo.net – The folks over at Photo.net always produce great tutorials and this one is no exception. Philip Greenspun gives a detailed tutorial on ‘how to take pictures of small things’ that is well worth a thorough read. A few more examples would have been nice, but the depth of information makes this tutorial well worth the read.