9 replies to this topic

[M.Beier]

A while ago I was given a 105mm AFS Micro, finally I got the chance to play with it and had luck with finding an insect... I've had the issue that when ever I went out with it, nothing to take pictures of, and when I left it at home, I found something I wanted to do pictures of..... 

Anyhow, my weak start
Attaching the cropped versions, as of the 20MB file limit...

Note all pictures are 100%, no downscaling

 

Pretty happy with the D800E and lens, the flash sure as hell made things easy... Yet the flowers require even higher aperture then lens can provide at good quality.

 

Please feel free to feedback advice, especially on how to get even closer to the animals and yet, maintain AF

Snap, forum cropped some of the pictures down.... 

Image4 should be 1200*1800 hmm

Ok ok trying flickr link

Macro | Flickr

Attached Thumbnails

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[Ron]

You need to dial back your flash a bit... I'm seeing a lot of blown out highlights and general over exposure. Are you using the flash on camera? If so, I would suggest moving it off camera using either a iTTL cord (SC28/29) or radio triggers. It would also help if you diffused your flash some.

 

What were your camera, lens and flash settings?

 

--Ron

[M.Beier]

1/60

F8

APS-C Single point

ISO-50 to 400

 

And yes, flash mounted on cam, and pointed directly against object, to allow low ISO despite poor lighting combined with high aperture.

 

Later I changed speed to 1/200 and F9

 

Some pictures were F11 as well (but at 1/60 before I went in M setting)

[Ron]

Set your metering to center weighted, and use either manual or aperture priority mode. Try using ISO 100, and a camera setting of f/16 @200th to start. Adjust your aperture from there using your red, green, and blue histograms as a guide. Try to keep from either blowing out your highlights (very bad and mostly unsalvageable) or blocking up your blacks (usually at least somewhat salvageable and far more preferable to losing detail in highlights.

 

And, by all means get that flash off camera!  You can set your flash to either iTTL, Auto or even manual. Try all three settings.

 

--Ron

[M.Beier]

Was set to center weighted, started with aperture priority, later changed to manual to exceed 1/60

 

Next attempt should be

F16

ISO 100
1/200

I fear it'll become a bit dark

 

Ahh, correct, I didnt use histogram, the shots were done within 5 min, max.

Regarding the flash, Yongnuo 568EX, I hadnt tested off the camera, is that even possible - thought I needed a radiotrigger??

Setting was iTTL and auto focal

 

But mind me asking, how do I hold all 3 things at once?

With macro pics, I hold cam with right hand, left hand supporting the lens, and the objects are moving, so I'm hunting around trying to catch up - hmm

 

By the way, used the JPEG files to upload, no post-processing applied - not sure if that is a huge negative as for macro.

[Merco_61]

The 568EX should be AWL-capable from what I have read (iTTL remotely controlled by the built-in flash). 

[M.Beier]

Auch, now I have to study what exactly that means

Flash has been in the shoe on top of cam, iTTL setting with Auto Focal (which obviously adjust it to 105mm with the given lens) - what else do I need to set, or do different? Pardon that I got a bit confused - I'm a rookie with flash, obviously

[Merco_61]

It should have an optical TTL slave mode, I don't know what they call it but it should be there. To set the built-in flash as master, just follow the steps on page 304 and 305 in the camera manual.

 

AWL is advanced wireless lighting, a subset of CLS (creative lighting system).

 

It is the cheapest way to get the flash off the camera as you won't need any extra equipment for it to work.

[M.Beier]

Does that mean that built in flash along side the 'real' flash will both fire?

[Ron]

As Peter says, you should be able to use your built in flash to fire a secondary off camera flash. As lone as your secondary flash is iTTL compatible, it should work. No additional equipment necessary. And yes, both flashes will fire. iTTL should take this into account when it calculates exposure and balance things so that your off camera flash is your main light. Additionally, your onboard flash can be dialed down to give some or very little extra light.

 

As far as juggling two or three things... well, welcome to the wonderful world of macro photography.

 

If at all possible, I mount my speedlights on light stands and use either lightboxes or umbrellas to soften the light. Naturally, you can't always do this in the field. In that case, I have a small portable lightbox that I use with my system to throw a large soft beam of light towards what I'm photographing. Depending on circumstances, it may be necessary for me to hold both the flash/softbox and work the camera at the same time. If your subject is moving due to wind, you might want to look into a wind block or other such device. Sometimes, I use a piece of white foam core board to act both as a wind break and a light bouncer to throw a bit of fill light on the side of the subject opposite my off camera flash. Of course there are many, many variations on what you can do to mitigate the effects of wind and subject movement.

 

--Ron