Lady beetle larva & wasp - 05/18/13: Moved my diffused flash to over the top of the lens. Makes it a lot easier to handle and get in small places. These were all taken with D300+105 @...

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Moved my diffused flash to over the top of the lens. Makes it a lot easier to handle and get in small places. These were all taken with D300+105 @ 1:1 f/16 & flash @ 1/8th manual. All were cropped after downloading.

BTW: 33 years ago Mt St Helens erupted. Big story in these parts....

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Nice lighting! Excellent detail.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Nice job. I tracked a ladybird larva for about 30 minutes a few days ago, and got some decent photos - BUT none of them included the front of the head and the eyes. The little devil always kept that part tucked down where I couldn't see.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

gym wrote:

Nice job. I tracked a ladybird larva for about 30 minutes a few days ago, and got some decent photos - BUT none of them included the front of the head and the eyes. The little devil always kept that part tucked down where I couldn't see.

First ones I've seen this year-- and saw four of them. They move a lot. So I got a few like you saw.... I'm liking the new flash set-up-- with the flash over the top of the lens rather than to the side. Before my flash always seemed to be on the wrong side....

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Nikonian72 wrote:

Nice lighting! Excellent detail.

Thanks. The flash over the top of the lens is working better than the Lepp bracket with the flash off to the side

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

Some very nice shots - I hope I can get close to this type of quality in the future.
I am building my "Pringle Can" flash to end at an angle tapering out from the top of the lens. I am also thinking of opening up the Diffuser end like funnel.

Yes - Mnt St Helens did make a mess of the northwest all the way into Montana for a while back then. I got some great shots of it and Spirit Lake from 30,000 ft a few years ago from a window seat both coming & going from Seattle..

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Harvey wrote:

I am building my "Pringle Can" flash to end at an angle tapering out from the top of the lens. I am also thinking of opening up the Diffuser end like funnel.
Yes - Mnt St Helens did make a mess of the northwest all the way into Montana for a while back then.

I flew over in a Cessna 2-seater in 1988. No digital, but I got some nice shots.

For my lighting I use a SB-400- it's Nikon's smallest speed light (other than the R-200s, which are part of their wireless macro unit). I have a DIY diffusion box made out of a cardboard box. I used a paper towel for the diffusion material and spray painted the inside glossy white. One of the keys of macro is to keep the subject as parallel to the camera as possible. This helps with that small DOF. Good luck!

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

For my lighting I use a SB-400- it's Nikon's smallest speed light (other than the R-200s, which are part of their wireless macro unit). I have a DIY diffusion box made out of a cardboard box. I used a paper towel for the diffusion material and spray painted the inside glossy white. One of the keys of macro is to keep the subject as parallel to the camera as possible. This helps with that small DOF. Good luck!

Thanks for the tip - I have a good sturdy tripod with a new pistol grip Ball head and 4 way rail that I am using to keep my lens parallel to the subject but I defiantly need to get my lens kit right for better DOF - I can work with the shallow for now but do not want to be stuck here.
$$ are short so I will be experimenting with set ups of current lens combinations - I am staying away from tubes right now as i had a bad experience with an inexpensive set - had to bitterly cut the base off my lens.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

Harvey wrote:

I am building my "Pringle Can" flash to end at an angle tapering out from the top of the lens. I am also thinking of opening up the Diffuser end like funnel.

Please taper your diffuser. You want a softbox, not a snoot. I made the round/snoot in the beginning, only to change for the better later on.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

fstop22 wrote:

Please taper your diffuser. You want a softbox, not a snoot. I made the round/snoot in the beginning, only to change for the better later on.

I had thought of farther than 45% closer to 60% with a trumpet/funnel end of around 6 to 8 inches wide - more oval than round. I have a good engineer to help me with the design & fabrication - paper first - then firmer paper, plastic or metal.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

fstop22 wrote:

Please taper your diffuser. You want a softbox, not a snoot. I made the round/snoot in the beginning, only to change for the better later on.

Yeah, I would agree with this. My first attempt was an oval at the end about 1.5"x2". My current box is 5-1/2"x7". I have a partially constructed one that is even larger.

I'm trying to strike a balance between the bigger size & not something so big that I can't get it into smaller spaces-- or I scare the critters away. I've decided I would rather miss the shot-- than get something unacceptable-- because, I discard these anyway. I discard a lot of shots I would have kept a year ago.... Now I need to go back through the old stuff and delete the inferior stuff

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

What I like about the ring/point light that I use, is that the point light can be positioned anywhere around the ring I want. It moves around the circumference to wherever you need it & locks into place...

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Screamin Scott wrote:

What I like about the ring/point light that I use, is that the point light can be positioned anywhere around the ring I want. It moves around the circumference to wherever you need it & locks into place.

R1C1? or something else? I can't recall whether you are Canon or Nikon or ? I have one of the R1C1 that attaches to the front of my 105. What I don't like about it: It's front heavy and I get better lighting from the DIY box over the diffusers that attach to the R200s. Perhaps you can post your set-up in the Macro set-up forum?

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

R1C1? or something else?

I use an older Lester Dine ring/point light on my Nikons. I have 3. Two are older ones that are not capable of moving the point light without unscrewing the unit on the front of the lens. The newer unit has the feature I spoke of. These units are all from older film days, but are perfectly safe on digital cameras. The newer unit has a "standard" foot, making it's use easier (the other units have Nikon dedicated TTl foot which requires that I tape over all but the center pin in order for them to operate on iTTl systems.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Screamin Scott wrote:

I use an older Lester Dine ring/point light on my Nikons.

It's the diffusion I'm concerned about.... I generally set my camera for manual flash @ 1/4 to 1/16 power using the menu on my D300. The speedlight is an SB400 and doesn't have external controls.