Macro flash lighting questions

Zarathustra

When trying to do (almost) macro shots with hand held off camera flash I am having a hell of a time finding a proper balance between the key light and the sun. Part of the problem is that I can't seem to hold the flash at a consistent distance from the object especially when I'm trying to track a bee that must have found a stash of meth somewhere. All of the flash brackets that I've seen hold the flash directly above the axis of the camera which I don't necessarily want.



The light is totally flat without the contrast that two lights would provide.

Thanks in advance!

i_worship_the_King

How about on of these:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/r1c1.htm

or something similar?

Zarathustra

It looks like a great kit but unfortunately I'm shooting Sony for the time being and won't be throwing any money at equipment until I can get transitioned into Nikon.

ivar

Have a search in our Macro forum.

I found this thread that might be interesting for you; there are others, also

pathfinder

Mount your flash off camera on a small lightstand or tripod, ninety degrees to your shooting axis, and use the flash or the sun as your key light. This is easy to do in the Canon or Nikon system since we can fire the strobe wirelessly with ETTL/iTTL with the camera in Av or Manual mode. I use a small softbox with an EOS 550ex for just this purpose.






I am not familiar with the off camera flash controls available in the Sony system. You can certainly trigger your flash in Manual if the Sony accepts a PC cord, but shooting moving insects in manual flash can be challenging.

Zarathustra

Thanks for the suggestions! I've been using my flash strictly on manual. I know that it has both pre-flash TTL and a Sony proprietary ADI but after three months shooting with it I have yet to try either one. The joys of being stubborn and figuring that it is the best way to learn my equipment. I'll give it a try in the next few days (I'm going to have some time off for oral surgery (yea me!)) and let you know if it works well for me. I'll also try the Exercise #4 and see what I can whip up. Thanks again for the help!

Zarathustra

Just to let you guys know, I put my flash on TTL for the first time since I got it and I feel like I'm cheating! I can't believe that it never occured to me to do that.

I think that I'll keep using manual for most stuff since I love the control that it gives me but for stuff that is chaotic and constantly changing and close-ups that I have no control over TTL kicks some serious ass. I haven't done anything postable yet, just some quick test pops since I've been really busy with my real job, but I wanted to thank you all, especially Pathfinder, for the help.

P.S. DG really needs a :dumbass smiley. That head scratching guy doesn't even begin to convey the depths of my stupidity on this one.

pathfinder

Glad to help. I agree that ETTL can be a great help with chaotic, moving subjects.

Now get out there and grab a few macros.