Macro lighting tutorial

[rpcrowe]

This macro lighting tutorial recommends using a diffuser to modify the direct and harsh sunlight. I was thinking of Brian when I viewed the video but, decided to share it with everybody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQhrVOyE14g&t=379s

I had never thought of using the diffuser in macro photography although I use my 5-in-1 diffusion disc for a lot of my portraiture as either a reflector, a diffuser or a shade. They are really very inexpensive and a lot easier to carry around than a home made reflector made from foam-core board.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/43-110cm-5-i...wAAOSw-CpX~A5H

[Mike Buckley]

A 43-inch disc is a lot larger than I would want to be carrying around for macro photography. I keep one in my bag that is about 12 inches that would seem to be a more practical size. I've never done macro photography outside but I recently used it as a reflector for close-up photography that isn't nearly so close-up as to be considered macro photography.

[marlunn]

I dont use flash in my macro photography (99% of the time, but do have a small head diffuser to fit over it as and when used) - a limiting factor and I accept that in the vast majority of the shots I do, but I do carry a folded piece of baking foil I can unfold it to the size I want and bend and shape it to be a reflector to fit any requirement / terrain and fold it up again after - its pretty small and lightweight in the bag, for fungi and plants its great to throw light back into a shot, underside of fungi / shadow areas etc - insects tend to bog off pretty quick so not of use for them

[chauncey]

I can't conceive of the numerous difficulties involved in shooting studio macros without the benefits
of tethered software...spot-on focusing, lighting, positioning, etc. previews are so much easier with
a tethered set-up.

[DanK]

Yes, diffused light is much better, but managing a diffuser with one hand and the camera with the other while trying to move fast enough to get the capture before the bug flies away is tough, at least for people like me who can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I do use one sometimes nonetheless, but a small one. Like Mike, I carry a 12-inch diffuser.

The other way to get diffused light outdoors is with a diffused flash. the flash becomes the key light, and the harshness of the ambient light doesn't matter as much. That is how I capture most of my bug shots. It has the additional advantage that you can go in and out of shade without changing settings.

The tutorial overstates one thing. Window light can be very nice without any diffusing, depending on the directness and angle of the light and the effect one wants.

Re tethering: perhaps, but I have have done almost all of my studio work without it.

[Mike Buckley]

Dan mentioned a few of advantages of using a flash for outdoor macro work. One he didn't mention is that the flash can stop the action of animals and anything blowing in the wind.

Regarding tethering, there are certain types of studio work when I find it immensely helpful and other types when it's not at all helpful. I suppose different software is helpful in different situations but my tethering software does not help with focusing compared to the far better technique of focusing on a static subject by magnifying the image in Live View. Except when back lighting is used, my limited experience with macro shooting is that there are so relatively few lighting options due to the close proximity of the lens to the subject that being tethered while shooting macro so far has not helped me.

[DanK]

Mike's addition is important: flash stops motion. I use a fixed shutter speed and aperture, letting ETTL set the exposure and increasing ISO if I need more ambient light for the background.

Re lighting: even with a short distance between the lens and the subject, you can vary the lighting a great deal by changing the position and distance of the lights and by switching between diffused direct lighting and reflected light. I usually end up taking a number of shots to confirm whether the lighting in the image looks like what I see walking around the subject. That's one reason I use continuous lighting: I can see approximately what the effect of a lighting change is before taking a shot.

In studio macro work, I have only used tethering to enable automated control of focus for stacking, never for appearance.

[Mike Buckley]

To clarify my point about relatively fewer lighting options when doing macro work, I didn't mean to imply that there are few options, only that there are relatively fewer options. Based on my limited experience, the relatively short distance between the subject and the lens does seem to limit the number of lighting options. As an example, if I am using a 35mm focal length to display an entire subject that is the size of a bottle of wine in an image, I have the option of using front and back lighting perhaps using several light sources including a strip box combined with an assortment of flags and reflectors. That kind of setup doesn't seem practical when the scene being captured is no more than 50% larger than the camera's sensor and when a 90mm macro lens is being used.

[Shadowman]

Will check out later, hopefully they distinguish between closeup and macro, harsh shadows are beautiful for some closeups.