ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Macro photography

Macro photography is like playing with really cool toys that help you take really close-up pictures of really small things. Like, imagine a toy camera that lets you take a picture of a tiny bug, flower or even a grain of sand, and make it look really big and detailed.

To take macro photographs, you'll need a camera and a special lens that can focus on objects that are super close-up. You also need really good lighting, because you're going to want to make sure you get all the details in your photo.

So, let's say you want to take a picture of a ladybug on a leaf. You get really close to the ladybug, maybe even touching the lens to the leaf, and then you take the picture. The lens magnifies the ladybug so it looks super big in your photo.

It's like a magic trick, because you can see all the little details on the ladybug that you couldn't see before, like the patterns on their wings, the hairs on their back and the little dots on their shell. And it's all thanks to the toy camera that can take really close-up pictures!