Curve_in Loc: Virginia

Before I found this part of the forum, I was happy with my macro shots. Now I want see lots of areas for improvement. Tiny flowers are what I have liked to shot in the past. I like it more if I can do the shot without cutting the flower, so the challenge most of the time is low light in the morning and wind during the rest of the day. I used a white bit of cardboard to highlight the top bits. I'd like to have more DOF. What would help the most? I think a flash/softbox for more light and a smaller f-stop would help, but then I think the 40mm lens would be too short.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

As I see it, you have two choices:
1.) Add more light via a diffused flash or
2.) focus stacking.

I have done this in the field with wild flowers. Keys are: tripod, isolation of flower from any breezes & focusing stacking software.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Hi Kervin. Glad you found the forum.

What you are describing is exactly what I am doing. You can get a lot of good ideas here. I know I have.

Here are some observations from my experience. The increased depth of field from smaller apertures when shooting close ups of wild flowers is marginal at best, and then you lose shutter speed or have to shoot at a higher ISO. I just shot a couple hundred close ups of a cut flower today, and the shots from f/8 through f/16 are the sharpest. While f/22 through f/32 give you a very slightly greater depth of field that puts a lot of the subject into a"gray area" that is not in focus but at the same time is not pleasantly blurred either. At f/8 or f/11 the parts of the bloom that are not in focus are nice and soft and the part that is in focus is very sharp and jumps out. The image can appear to be sharper, even though the depth of field is less.

So you want to creatively use the shallow depth of field, or look at focus stacking. The smaller sensor on the little "bridge" cameras have a greater depth of field at relatively wide apertures, too, but you sacrifice other things going that way.

Those are just my observations, and everything you need can be found here. I certainly don't have all of the answers and I have found the folks at UHH tremendously helpful and knowledgeable.

I will post an example of an f/8 close up of a 2" wide bloom. (It is a 1:1 true Macro I took today, resized and slightly cropped for composition.)
Mike

(Download)

Macronaut Loc: Redondo Beach,Ca.

Mike, is your sensor really dirty? I'm wondering what all those spots are?

I like what you did with the shot though :thumbup:

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Take a look at paged #4 & #5 of Macro Set-Ups: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-32754-4.html You will see several set-ups with macro lenses in the 85-mm to 105-mm range, and speedlights with softbox diffusers. After most of us tried different lenses & illuminations, we all arrived at these similar set-ups independently (some of us kicking & screaming). There are other viable options, but one cannot argue with success.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

No they are tiny bugs - mites maybe?
Mike

Macronaut Loc: Redondo Beach,Ca.

Something like that is what I thought at first but, some of them do not look like they are actually on the petals. Probably my eyes :wink:

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

The 5D II has a lot fewer sensor dust issues than the 20D I was using for a while. The "sensor clean" function on the 5D works, I guess?
Mike

Curve_in Loc: Virginia

Thanks for all the help.
I'm going to look into more light. I use a tripod for stream shots, but I don't think i can deal with carrying a tripod and lighting equipment on the same hike.

I was thinking that i needed more DOF but from what you said, maybe having parts of the image sharper might be better.

I took a look at the setups. I think an L-bracket, flash and diffuser is going to be the ticket.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Wild flowers are a big challenge - lighting, wind, bugs, etc. I am keeping quite busy making all possible mistakes.
I tied a white plastic bag over the Speedlight, as per a suggestion here, and it works great as a diffuser. I got the flash off of the camera and I set it manually, again as per suggestions here, and that works great. I have been practicing handheld shots from Nikonian72's suggestion so I don't have to lug the tripod around, and I am getting better at that.
Mike

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

I strongly suggest using a softbox diffuser. The most important characteristic of a diffuser is to increase the size of the light source, which softens shadow edges dramatically, yet preserves subject 'roundness'. 6x8-inch seems to be a quite successful size for hand-held macro-photography. A plastic bag does not much increase illumination size.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Yes, I actually use the softbox diffuser you recommended and then put a bag over it sometimes to soften the flash more.
Mike

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Most speedlights have a pull-out/drop-down plastic diffuser in front of flash lens. My FotoDiox 6x8-inch softbox diffuser has an additional white cloth strip inside the softbox, that can be stretched from one side to the other, attaching to a small Velcro patch. These two internal diffusers even the light before reaching the 6x8-inch face, so the corners are as bright as the center.

A-PeeR Loc: Houston, Texas

I'll interject my two bits, stopping down, careful focal plane selection and softbox diffusion make for good wildflower shots with nice DoF. If you keep aperture wide enough a pleasant blurred background is acheived as well. Positioning the softbox directly over the subject at low power with the flip down flash diffuser can produce very nice results and it is hard to tell flash was used. For flat flowers simple handheld stacks, 2-4 shots, is within the ability of most macro shooters with some practice. Here are some examples I did a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-198223-1.html

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Those are great. Are they stacks?