I have a question in regards to the next competition. I would like a refined definition for close up photography, does this include macro, or is this macro, dumb question, but i would rather look dumb here then at the competition. I dont see a macro category.

"Per the definition on our web site it is: CLOSE UP - Photographs of small sub­jects or close up views of sections of large subjects." dgoodno

Let me play the dumb amateur for a moment (not a long stretch). This may be quite obvious to the experts who've been around long enough to have been in competitions where the subject is "Close-Up Photography." But for the rest of us this still seems vague. For example, one might call a photograph of an entire elephant a close-up of a zoo (a section of a large object). The logic is there but it may not be the logic that expert photographers use.

I did a Google on "close-up photography" and found many hits. As best I can tell a macro-photo is a close-up photo but a close-up photo may not be a macro-photo. If the subject is small enough that the image projected onto 35mm film is larger than the subject itself then it is a close-up photo. If it is part of a flower, rather than the whole flower, then it is a macro photo. If the photo is of a single window in a skyscraper then it is not a close-up because the window is larger than the 35mm film. However, there does seem to be some grey area when the subject and the image on the 35mm film are about the same size. For example, a butterfly may be larger than the film and still be a close-up if it fills the frame.

You might want to start with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_photography and
http://www.tcinternet.net/users/nmolson/closeupphotography.htm.

I'm going to guess that whoever does the judging will want to see something small, like a bug or the inside of a flower, but not a microscopic view of bacteria. They'll probably be more impressed with bright colors and odd shapes which are recognizable as to where they came from while rejecting anything they can't recognize immediately.

Again, I'm far from an expert photographer so if I've said anything that is not correct then I hope the experts will point out to me where my internet sources have led me astray.

Glenn,

I don't disagree with what you said but the LPA rules for "Close up" is the same as for the AV Fair and it gives you a lot of leeway!