Newbie here with disabilities and needs advice.
zensu
Loc: Montgomery, AL
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with amateur photography since I was a kid with a Brownie camera, a Kodak Fiesta to be exact, and I've enjoyed my hobby for msny decades mostly with 35mm film cameras. I transition to digital when I retired some 5 or 6 years ago. I was retired early because I was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and just couldn't work as a draftsman anymore. This has impaired my abilities to a certain extent particularly my mobility. As an amateur I always enjoyed many types of photography but I now am mainly shooting on a tripod capturing abstracts and macro. I have a great camera and lenses, OMD EM1 MK II and 7-14mm and 12-100mm with the 60mm macro, so I am blessed to have such wonderful gear. I am not a rich man so I had to pinch my pennies to acquire this gear. As I am getting more sedentary I think I would like to explore shooting more with artificial light, flash to be specific. I would like to use my introduction to get advice on which flash system to invest in. I have a wealthy relative who has said he would like to buy me a flash sytem for my upcoming birthday! I am thinking of a couple of Olympus FL700WR Flashes for light painting in abstract photography but I would also like to use some lights for macro work, hence the Olympus FL800WR macro flash. I know he would buy me both but that would be greedy of me and I don't want a lot more gear cluttering up my camera case. I'm leaning toward the two Flashes , FL700WRs, because they could do double duty as general fashes and macro work. What do you guys and gals think. Please be honest.
Thanks to all
Bobby
Welcome. Have fun posting.
Welcome. I too, have disabilities that led me to "retire" at 60 last year. Please, post and learn as I am.
Bob
Welcome to UHH. I can't help you with the gear you have mentioned, as I don't shoot with Olympus, but I am sure others can offer advice. There are quite a few Hogs that use Olympus gear here.
zensu wrote:
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with amateur photography since I was a kid with a Brownie camera, a Kodak Fiesta to be exact, and I've enjoyed my hobby for msny decades mostly with 35mm film cameras. I transition to digital when I retired some 5 or 6 years ago. I was retired early because I was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and just couldn't work as a draftsman anymore. This has impaired my abilities to a certain extent particularly my mobility. As an amateur I always enjoyed many types of photography but I now am mainly shooting on a tripod capturing abstracts and macro. I have a great camera and lenses, OMD EM1 MK II and 7-14mm and 12-100mm with the 60mm macro, so I am blessed to have such wonderful gear. I am not a rich man so I had to pinch my pennies to acquire this gear. As I am getting more sedentary I think I would like to explore shooting more with artificial light, flash to be specific. I would like to use my introduction to get advice on which flash system to invest in. I have a wealthy relative who has said he would like to buy me a flash sytem for my upcoming birthday! I am thinking of a couple of Olympus FL700WR Flashes for light painting in abstract photography but I would also like to use some lights for macro work, hence the Olympus FL800WR macro flash. I know he would buy me both but that would be greedy of me and I don't want a lot more gear cluttering up my camera case. I'm leaning toward the two Flashes , FL700WRs, because they could do double duty as general fashes and macro work. What do you guys and gals think. Please be honest.
Thanks to all
Bobby
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with am... (
show quote)
Bobby,
Welcome aboard. I am a Nikon guy and when I got interested in Macro, I purchased a Macro unit that Nikon designed for that type of photography. I would suggest the same for your Olympus.I also had a Nikon general flash for portraits. Have fun and look forward to your images.
Stan
I don't know that I wouldn't look for constant lighting for macro instead of flash. For ocf I have switched everything over to Flashpoint from adarama ad200 and ad600. I've been pleased with them.
I was a CAD Draftsman for ten years.
olemikey
Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida
zensu wrote:
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with amateur photography since I was a kid with a Brownie camera, a Kodak Fiesta to be exact, and I've enjoyed my hobby for msny decades mostly with 35mm film cameras. I transition to digital when I retired some 5 or 6 years ago. I was retired early because I was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and just couldn't work as a draftsman anymore. This has impaired my abilities to a certain extent particularly my mobility. As an amateur I always enjoyed many types of photography but I now am mainly shooting on a tripod capturing abstracts and macro. I have a great camera and lenses, OMD EM1 MK II and 7-14mm and 12-100mm with the 60mm macro, so I am blessed to have such wonderful gear. I am not a rich man so I had to pinch my pennies to acquire this gear. As I am getting more sedentary I think I would like to explore shooting more with artificial light, flash to be specific. I would like to use my introduction to get advice on which flash system to invest in. I have a wealthy relative who has said he would like to buy me a flash sytem for my upcoming birthday! I am thinking of a couple of Olympus FL700WR Flashes for light painting in abstract photography but I would also like to use some lights for macro work, hence the Olympus FL800WR macro flash. I know he would buy me both but that would be greedy of me and I don't want a lot more gear cluttering up my camera case. I'm leaning toward the two Flashes , FL700WRs, because they could do double duty as general fashes and macro work. What do you guys and gals think. Please be honest.
Thanks to all
Bobby
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with am... (
show quote)
Hard to pass on someone gifting great strobes/flashes. If that doesn't pan out: Check these out = LED Photo/Video lights...very versatile, inexpensive....just picked up a Neewer brand CN-160 for $22 delivered from Amazon, have till Jan 31 to return...but I think I'm going to get another....will light a large room, or dim down to a glow.
I find macro photography to be a wonderful indoor activity with the amount of subjects only limited by one's imagination. I shoot several macro/micro sessions each day from the comfort of my home. I started out using speedlight flashes however keeping batteries charged or replacing them was a pain in the butt.
I tried using a monolight studio flash for a while although it would overheat with the number of shots that I would use in my focus stacking sessions so I gave that up too.
Then I moved to constant light and that has been working out fantastically well. The $14.00 IKEA LED gooseneck desk lamps are a favorite of macro photographers that you will see when you search online for macro photography setups.
I use a variety of common items to diffuse the light such as translucent drink cups, condiment containers and white paper towels and thin sheets of packing foam. You can see how simple the setup is that I place the specimen in and I can change the color of the background with pieces of colored paper in the back of the drink cups placed behind the subject.
It's would be difficult for me to find a wondrous hobby for anyone with mobility issues than indoor macro photography.
Welcome to the Hog, Bobby. enjoy.
I second...constant LED light!
zensu wrote:
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with amateur photography since I was a kid with a Brownie camera, a Kodak Fiesta to be exact, and I've enjoyed my hobby for msny decades mostly with 35mm film cameras. I transition to digital when I retired some 5 or 6 years ago. I was retired early because I was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and just couldn't work as a draftsman anymore. This has impaired my abilities to a certain extent particularly my mobility. As an amateur I always enjoyed many types of photography but I now am mainly shooting on a tripod capturing abstracts and macro. I have a great camera and lenses, OMD EM1 MK II and 7-14mm and 12-100mm with the 60mm macro, so I am blessed to have such wonderful gear. I am not a rich man so I had to pinch my pennies to acquire this gear. As I am getting more sedentary I think I would like to explore shooting more with artificial light, flash to be specific. I would like to use my introduction to get advice on which flash system to invest in. I have a wealthy relative who has said he would like to buy me a flash sytem for my upcoming birthday! I am thinking of a couple of Olympus FL700WR Flashes for light painting in abstract photography but I would also like to use some lights for macro work, hence the Olympus FL800WR macro flash. I know he would buy me both but that would be greedy of me and I don't want a lot more gear cluttering up my camera case. I'm leaning toward the two Flashes , FL700WRs, because they could do double duty as general fashes and macro work. What do you guys and gals think. Please be honest.
Thanks to all
Bobby
Next week I turn 67 and I've been involved with am... (
show quote)
Bobby,
Welcome to the Hog.
I can't help with the lighting, but given your interest in abstracts and macro, I would highly recommend that you look into the work of photographer Charles Needle. I recently attended one of his creative macro photography workshops and a separate lecture. He opened up a whole new world beyond just ultra sharp images of bugs and stamen. I got some great ideas for indoor projects that I hope to explore this Winter.
http://www.charlesneedlephoto.com/creative-macro-photography.html
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