Lighting Comments please....

garyt · October 20, 2007

Being new to this and after posting for a couple of weeks now, and getting a bunch of comments about harsh lighting,

I spent some time last rainiy night working on my homemade diffuser, in a controlled enviroment on the table. After making a couple of "tweaks" to it, I think I resolved the issue,

and I tried it again this morning on a fly I found on a wet leave. Lighting comments would be appreciated. No post processing on this picture (yet). Thanks

Skippy · October 20, 2007

garyt wrote:

Being new to this and after posting for a couple of weeks now, and getting a bunch of comments about harsh lighting, I spent some time last rainiy night working on my homemade diffuser, in a controlled enviroment on the table. After making a couple of "tweaks" to it, I think I resolved the issue, and I tried it again this morning on a fly I found on a wet leave. Lighting comments would be appreciated. No post processing on this picture (yet). Thanks

The lighting on this shot looks fine Gary.
I'd say most people who do MACRO and use Flash usually have problems,
including myself.

Many bugs and plants are reflective, so no matter how much you try and tone down the flash so it wont blow out,
sometimes it's just not possible.

Using a defuser really helps to deal with the problem.

I'm learning to use a new Twin Head Flash, the difference being this one has two heads that can be moved up and down,
and tilted as well, so you can move the light where you want it.

Two very important things to remember when doing MACRO's are
FOCUSING and LIGHT.

Also another thing that shows up when you processing is just how dirty the sensor is, yours is showing it needs cleaning

I brought an Invisible Dust Arctic Butterfly, while on the Dgrin Shoot.
I used it a few times during the trip, because of the amount of times I changed the lenses.

Yesterday after trying to do extreme MACRO's I noticed that all I have are two tiny spots that I wont even bother with

I pays to experiment as you are, and find what works for you

.... Skippy

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garyt · October 20, 2007

Skippy, Thanks for your comments. I spent almost three hours taking pictures of Brians' screws last nite while I adjusted my homemade diffuser. I finally felt good about the adjustments and couldn't wait for the rain to stop so I could try it out. The fly was my 1st go at it. I was really pleased with the outcome. Even I can see the difference.

It is hard to tone down the shiny stuff, but I have a better handle now. I never even noticed the dirt, as I was to busy watching the lighting. I did get several comments about it though. I'm not sure if it was the sensor or the lens, but I cleaned both, and as you can see from the wasp, it looks much better. I was on vacation last week, so I did change lenses a few times. You hit the nail on the head with FOCUS & LIGHTING. Anyway, thanks for the comments.