This is my preserved Pygmy Grasshopper which is a cute little bugger with its bumpy texture. I staged it for a focus stacking session for an experiment in illumination to see how..and if..the microscope 144-LED variable intensity ring-light would perform on my macro rig when using the 5X power microscope objective as the camera lens.
Any lighting used at extreme macro must be diffused for both it and the subject are close to the end of the lens and because the intensity of illumination varies with the square of its distance, being so close it is at its most intensity when illuminating the subject.
So...attached are my initial efforts at diffusion which includes the ring-light attached to the microscope objective and a styrofoam bowl placed against it with a hole cut out to firmly fit over the lens. Additional lights are staged behind the bowl to cancel any left or right shadows and a LED lamp with a piece of vellum paper is placed over the subject and slightly behind to act as a rim light.
Of course this is all subject to change, which of course it will, which is the enjoyable part of experimenting.
Amazing setup and results!
That is a fine stack, sippy. And wow what a setup.
Your setup is mind boggling to me as I find it difficult to comprehend anything that is more complicated than a shovel.
QD beat me to it - what a great set-up you have. I can see why you need multiple lights and strong diffusers. I don't know how some photographers could use flashes that way.
With all the equipment it looks like he/it is on life support in the Bug ICU... Very nicely done... I always appreciate your posts...
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