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martys

martys

Member Since 24 Nov 2013
Offline Last Active May 10 2015 08:31 AM
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#10109 Innovative macro flash technique

Posted by martys on 26 November 2013 - 07:11 AM

Macro photography utilizing DSLR built in flash.

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DSLR pop-up flash lighting will throw its light over and above most near macro subjects.

I've found  an innovative method using my Nikon DSLR pop up flash to effectively light up macro subjects. 
I use a 3 x 5 fresnel lens,...the kind used to magnify small type in phone books and such and readily available at any stationary or office supply store.

 

I hold this fresnel lens by hand at the front end of my lens, in direct line with the cameras pop up flash,...As I tilt the fresnel lens forward at an angle it re-directs the DSLR flash output "downward" onto my subject,...otherwise my flash shoots above and over my macro subject,......missing it entirely.

 

 It doesn't take long to get the nack of doing this,...nice with digital since you just delete your bad test images as you get the feel of it.

 

Exposures can be manipulated using various shutter speeds and/or f stop combinations as typical with strobe work.
Give it a try,...it's definitely inexpensive if your camera has a pop up flash.

I'm sure there could be many other clever variables to this approach.
It actually works out quite well.

I've attached an image of a bumblebee on a thistle,....as an example to illustrate what can be done.

Hope some find this method interesting.
Marty

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  • BumbBee7361ss.jpg



#9986 Pass along my mishap in hopes of warning others (long read)

Posted by martys on 25 November 2013 - 02:49 AM

This past March  I was photographing at      Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec, Maine.       

Had been at this particular vantage point  for almost two hours photographing 10-16 foot seas crashing into Gulliver's Hole a beautiful scenic point there. It was windy off and on but not as bad as I'm accustomed to seeing,....sooooooo I thought.

The spectacular conditions that day was a big adrenaline rush.   

I had worked my way out onto an isolated and precarious location with a fantastic viewpoint,...I've worked it many times previously with no problems,....the narrow ledge wasn't even 3 foot wide and about 45 feet above the rocks and crashing ocean. Had been shooting elsewhere as well for several hours and just about to relocate once again. I had just removed my 32GB compact flash card that was now full with my mornings work.

Then,...............I had a rude awakening I'll not soon forget,.... when I turned for a second to grab something out of my camera bag,....I heard the tripod crash to the ground,...as I turned and I saw the 500mm  Nikkor lens with my D300 attached,... snap off the tripod mount and drop virtically down out of sight  into the rocks and into the ocean below.
The sound  a camera and lens makes as it smashed its way down against the rocks is a sound I hope to never ever hear again. It ain't pretty.

I was in total disbelief,...in just one  split second,...everything was gone (except my tripod).

Had the 500mm  casting not sheared off at the lens collar,...the tripod would have gone too.
At that point though I was totally and completely demoralized and sick to my stomach. All I could do was sit there and talk to myself over and over,...(lots of adjectives)

So I pass this along surely not to brag, but in hopes that others might learn that these mishaps can happen to you,......PLEASE learn from my  poor judgement and costly $$$$ mistake.

I never ever thought it would happen to me. 

Watch your    equipment very carefully,...no matter how secure you think it is. sitting there exposed to the forces of nature,...gravity is fast.

I never, never thought in all my years of being a photographer that I would be the recipient of something like this. I have always erred on the side of being toooooo careful and always observant of potential dangers,.......

But not on March 7th, 2013,....I paid dearly in a split second,...thinking all was secure with my equipment.
Too late to get the moment back,....the horse was already out of the barn.

Anyway,....I wanted to share that with all who take the time   to read this post....be careful,...IN ADVANCE,..feeling secure, that these things only happen to others???....think again.

Yes I had it insured,...or I should say "under insured",....had recently decreased the insured value,...why,...because something this catastrophic would never  happen to me,...and I saved a few dollars,.......yeah right.

Thanks for reading this and I hope it awakens in you,...the same  false sense of security I thought I had.

Ive posted an image here of where it happened,...as a visual,.....so you can see the crime scene.
The narrow outcrop I was  on,...is just to the left of the   tree on the right side of the  attached image,...thats where I was standing and had the tripod set up.

Were the   images worth the cost of the loss,......not unless I got paid big $$$ bucks for the images,...didn't happen and totally unlikely.

It helps to laugh,..........now,...not then.

Be well ,....and that includes your camera gear.

 

 

Looks like the image didn't attach,....will put it up in my gallery instead.   

Martys




#9913 Male Mosquito

Posted by martys on 24 November 2013 - 10:46 AM

Male Mosquito,....This guy won't bite you.

 

Nikon D300, 105mm macro, T3 & T4 close up lenses, PK13 ext tube, on tripod.

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