I also take real close up pictures for my work. I have prop guards and only when I am making the close up, I go vertically above where I want to drop and take the picture (use the snap down button to get the camera looking 90 degrees down), in tripod mode, snap the camera back to horizontal and SLOWLY drop down to your picture. DO A LOT OF VLOS PRACTICE RUNS WHERE YOU CAN JUDGE THE DISTANCE YOU WILL BE AWAY FROM YOUR TARGET. The advantage of the prop guards is they will protect you (somewhat) when dropping vertically down.