flash diffuser for macro

[mark4583]

I have a older Nikon ring light that I have been experimenting with on a D750 with a Nikon 105mm 2.8 D Mac, the exposure seems pretty good but the image seems flat, so I thought I would experiment with the SB-800 with some sort of diffuser on that, maybe a small soft box type? any thought? this would be for hand held shooting creepy crawlers and such.

[Shadowman]

Doesn't your flash have a reflection board that can also be used as a diffuser?

[DanK]

Mark,

I think you may be conflating two things: flatness and harshness. The flatness is because of the position of the lights, and diffusing won't change that. Diffusing helps avoid harsh lights, unwanted reflections, etc.

The most common approach among the bug photographers I know is to put a diffuser in front of a regular flash and then position the flash so that it is very close to the front of the lens. The closeness makes the light source large relative to the critter. Unfortunately, this usually involves some DIY work to build either the diffuser or the bracket to hold it.

Here are two photos that show the usual way I do this:





The diffuser body is made out of a soda can, with cuts made so that I could narrow it at the flash end. If you search on the web for coke can diffuser lord v--lord v being Brian Valentine, a superb macro photographer--you can probably find instructions. If you do this, just be careful: the cut aluminum is very sharp. That's why mine is completely covered with gaffer's tape.

I flip on the flash's wide angle diffuser. Then I add diffusing material to the front. You can buy diffusing material by Manfrotto, but I usually use a couple of sheets of baking parchment paper.

I have a bracket by Wimberly, but I usually use my home made one, which I constructed from a straight bracket and two mini-balls. Here's what that looks like:



Here are a few examples of the lighting it produces.

[Stagecoach]

Here's one of my favourite 'grab it quick' ones on my SB-600, it has a cardboard extender tube now so it can be moved forward for when using tubes or a TC on the lens.

When I have the time I can also mount the flash to the side of the camera and change the light angle. The diffuser material can vary.



and an image shot a couple of nights ago with it of a not too cooperative model as after three shots he flew off, landed a few feet away and became a decent meal for one of my house lizards

[mark4583]

thanks for the info and nice shots, is there a F stop you like to shoot at or will it depend on the subject?

[DanK]

I generally shoot bugs somewhere around f/13. That's nominal aperture. Effective aperture is much narrower at macro distances. Some Nikons report the effective aperture, but my Canons don't. This is small enough to cause some diffraction, but the impact of the diffraction is trivial compared to the impact of the greater DOF.

I use TTL flash and typically shoot at 1/125. I vary ISO, usually only within a range of 100-400, to adjust for variations in backgrounds. If the background is relatively far away, it won't be illuminated sufficiently by the flash, but by increasing ISO, you make more use of ambient light.

both of the images I posted were taken with a 100mm macro and a 36mm extension tube. That's my default when I go looking for bugs. With an internally focusing macro lens, the effective focal length decreases as you approach minimum working distance. Mine bottoms out around 70mm in terms of effective focal length, so a 36mm tube gives me very roughly 1.5:1 magnification.

[Stagecoach]

thanks for the info and nice shots, is there a F stop you like to shoot at or will it depend on the subject?

With my Nikons I generally shoot macro between f/16 to f/25 which is the 'effective' aperture as displayed on camera. There's lots of hype about diffraction but in most cases the gain in increased DoF far outweighs any 'theoretical' loss in IQ.

[rpcrowe]

This is one of the rigs that I use. Generally, I am hand-holding it in order to follow the little creepie crawlies as they scamper from place to place. I mounted the rig on the tripod in order to photograph it...



This is an old image. I now trigger the flash with a Godox radio trigger which eliminates the need for the Canon off-camera sync cord.



When I am shooting inanimate subjects, I will have the camera tripod mounted. I then use off camera flash triggering the camera with a cordless shutter release and trigger the flash with a remote Godox trigger. I may use one flash or two or more, depending on the subject. I will modify the flashes with any sort of modifier that I use for any other type of photography - such as a softbox or a shoot though umbrella.

I would use TTL for hand holding and manual flash for tripod mounted work.

I will normally use around ISO 400 for my Canon cameras but, might go up to ISO 640 with my Sony A6500 since it seems that level of ISO can produce clean images on the Sony. I most often have my Canon lenses set at f/11 but, the cameras do not record the equivalent f/stop. I have not shot macro with my A6500 but, have some extension tubes and a bellows that I will be using soon. I don't know if the camera will record the equivalent f/stop when using my Sony e-mount lenses and extension tubes and the bellows setup I have is an M42 manual rig - so no EXIF data will be recorded.

I also have a cheapie ring flash which can fire portions of the ring when I so set it. That way the light is not totally flat. It does work...



I have not tried macro focus stacking but it should be breeze with the Canon 6D Mark-2 and its touch screen focus and shoot capability.

[xpatUSA]

Here's one of my favourite 'grab it quick' ones on my SB-600, it has a cardboard extender tube now so it can be moved forward for when using tubes or a TC on the lens.

When I have the time I can also mount the flash to the side of the camera and change the light angle. The diffuser material can vary.

Nice rig, Grahame.

[Tri Danimal]

What techniques do you guys use to get close but still not disrupt the critters?

[DanK]

What techniques do you guys use to get close but still not disrupt the critters?

There aren't many secrets. I fail a lot of the time.

There are a few general things, like moving slowly and avoiding a lens hood, but one has to be prepared to fail a lot of the time. Some critters are truly stationary unless you mess up (orb spiders), and others lack the ability to get away quickly (caterpillars). Flying bugs differ a lot in terms of how skittish they are. For example, if you just hold still a bit after getting more or less into position, a lot of species of bees and wasps won't pay much attention to you unless you move suddenly or get too close (or get close to their nest). Some others, like many species of damselflies and dragonflies, are more skittish. For example, the echnicea on which this native bee was sitting was blowing in the wind, making it nearly impossible to achieve focus, and I was able to get more than 40 shots off before she left. It was fortunate, as only one or two were in focus.



I don't know why this is, but some bugs are more skittish if you approach from above. This is definitely true of some damselflies and dragonflies. I used to own a cabin on a lake, and the dock was a favorite of these critters. I spend a lot of time inching forward on my stomach to photograph them. I actually wore down the aluminum ring of a protective filter that way.

You have to be ready to shoot fast, so I try to have the lens focused at about the right distance, and then I rock back and forth on a monopod to try to achieve focus.

One variable is your lens. If I remember correctly, Geoff uses a 180 mm lens. I use a 100mm. Using Canon lenses for illustration, at maximum magnification, minimum working distance (from the front of the lens--minimum focusing distance is distance from the sensor) is 240 mm for the 180 mm lens and only 146 mm for mine, which is a considerable difference. The longer lens, however, is a lot heavier (and more expensive). Again using Canon as an example, my lens (which is not all metal) weighs 625 g, while the 180 weighs 1090 g. That's a big difference when you are trying to control minute movements, at least for someone as clumsy as I am.