First reasonable flying insect shot with my setup - similar to Frans (fotoopa) but without building my own electronics! and not portable, shot in a garage studio consisting of cardboard box, using a cross-beam laser trigger. Aperture f/14 (a bit more info at www.bradsteels.com)
I used two 580EX flashes set at 1/64 for camera right and left front lighting, and a 430EX set at 1/8 for BG lighting. The camera was set to bulb mode and I have an external shutter (Copal #1) on the front of my 100mm macro lens with a 6.5 ms delay between shutter and flashes - the whole setup is triggered by my StopShot (www.cognisys-inc.com). Really impressed with the flexibility of the StopShot as a timer / trigger... I am definitely the limiting factor. (And feeling quite humbled I can't believe what Stephen Dalton accomplished decades ago using film!)
The work req'd to get a semi-decent photo was unreal. My setup needs to be improved, since this shot is cropped heavily and lots of times he flew out without triggering the system. Future work will focus on trigger setup to ensure the bugs don't miss the lasers (and fly out without triggering the setup, because then I have to catch them again or look for more bugs). I also need to establish a clearer path for flight - he was reluctant to fly since he kept crashing into my tripod / flashes / trigger setup... He was released apparently unharmed after the photo shoot.
DOF is reasonable due to the size of this critter - about 2 in long. Comp needs work since I'd like a soft OOF coloured BG also.
Brad you may already have seen this Guy- "http://www.flickr.com/photos/13084997@N03/sets/72157610450102014/ " using a similar system ? As a complete coincidence- I used to work with him in the same development dept
Brian V.
Thanks Brian, and yes I have seen Linden's photos - he's doing some great work! In fact we have been sharing ideas on Flickr on and off for a while now. Small world with this internet thingy, eh?!
