Cicada

[DickyOZ]

I've been trying to find a cicada hatching for a couple of weeks now. Every morning the discarded husks are hanging from leaves, vines or shrubs but the bird has flown so to speak. I've tried looking at all hours of the night to no avail. This morning the adult was still around and allowed a few shots. 60mm Macro + flash.


I had never noticed the hairs in front of the eyes before.

McDonald's?


Note the three dish-like receptors on the forehead - microwave or IR?

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[DanK]

I like the third the best--a more interesting perspective than the other two.

Are you diffusing your flash? The flash looks somewhat harsh.

[Geoff F]

Very good detail.

[IzzieK]

I prefer #2 -- I like that M a lot...and the two feelers at the front -- at least that was visible...what an ugly creature...!

[DickyOZ]

I like the third the best--a more interesting perspective than the other two.

Are you diffusing your flash? The flash looks somewhat harsh.

Thanks for looking Dan. I haven't got a diffuser, so I agree the flash was very harsh. I even got the shutter at 1/125 instead of 1/320 for the flash. (must pay more attention to detail!) I will try making a one out of various plastic bits I have in the workshop and see what works best with the standard Olympus flash that came with the E-M1. I did try focus stacking but the leaf was just not staying still enough.
This was without flash, but at 1/60sec it wasn't going to be too sharp because of the breeze.

[DanK]

Hi Richard,

Most people I know use home-made diffusers. If you look at this recent thread, you'll see a photo of my current standard flash rig and a link to a good macro forum where I found two others that I used to some degree as models. You can find them here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=189001, http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=196571. the keys are keeping the light close and having a large surface. People use all sorts of things for the actual diffusing surface. Currently, I use the flash's built in diffuser and two sheets of backing parchment paper (held at the far end of the diffuser, away from the flash.) Paper towel also works well.

Dan

PS: Just saw Tobias's flash rig in this new posting: Mantis. A different arrangement, but exactly the same principles.