Had another brightish but overcast day the other day, so took the opportunity to do some natural light shots.
ISO400 Tv mode 1/200th some shots are focus stacked.
Wonderful!
I think that learning to use natural light and using it well (as you have shown) is absolute key to many of the more natural looking macros that we see today.
I will use both natural and artificial, ... but natural lighting always appeals to me more.
A matter of taste I guess!
Very nice shots! I like the peculiar bee-like fly (#3), and the next fly (#4) is very well done too. Natural light looks a little better than flash - it's softer. I wonder what aperture you could get here? When I tried, I could get only about f7-f8 with 1:1 magnification, even in good sunlight. I didn't like those results very much, so tried turning the flash on anyway, set to -1/2 stops.
Michael B. wrote:
Wonderful!
I think that learning to use natural light and using it well (as you have shown) is absolute key to many of the more natural looking macros that we see today.
I will use both natural and artificial, ... but natural lighting always appeals to me more.
A matter of taste I guess!
This is cool stuff dude!!
Thanks for the comments Michael, I'm beginning to appreciate natural light more although as you imply I do always try to get a fair amount of natural light in my flash shots if possible.
Brian V.
Igor Shuryak wrote:
Very nice shots! I like the peculiar bee-like fly (#3), and the next fly (#4) is very well done too. Natural light looks a little better than flash - it's softer. I wonder what aperture you could get here? When I tried, I could get only about f7-f8 with 1:1 magnification, even in good sunlight. I didn't like those results very much, so tried turning the flash on anyway, set to -1/2 stops.
Thanks Igor
Apertures were from F5 to f7.1 but many of the shots are focus stacked to make up the DOF. Think as I've said I don't like doing natural light shots of bugs in strong sunlight- the contrast and reflections are too much.
BTW #3 is a hoverfly- lesser bulb fly, Eumerus sp.
Stan Otokpa wrote:
Amazing shots Brian, the first is my favourite by far. Incredible detail! Whats your setup fand technique or that shot? I assume it was focus stacked?
Thanks Stan
I was using my 350D and sigma 105mm Ex with 33mm of ext tubes. Camera in Tv mode 1/200th, -2/3 EC shots taken at F6.3. Yes the damselfly pic is hand focus stacked from two shots. Nothing else used apart from my bean pole that I use to help stabilise the camera.
