A couple of dragonfly heads -I needed to test out my diffusion. Between these shots, and a set I took a few days ago, I'm completely redesigning my diffusers and will probably move the Kaiser adjustable flash shoe from changing the angle of my key to changing the angle of my fill. I like the level of diffusion, I just don't think I nailed the angle of the light...

Tech specs: Canon 40D (F13, 1/250, ISO 100) + an MPE-65mm macro lens (@ close to 3x) + a diffused MT-24EX (-2/3 FEC).

Here's a comparison shot where I think I got the angles right:

I could be wrong--I'm often wrong--but in the first two frames, it looks like the fill is 'stronger' than the key? Is the comparison shot with the same setup? Because it looks to be a completely different thing...second frame looks more 3D than the first two. My $.02 All three lovely shots, even so, my friend.

Kenny

You're right Kenny: In the first two frames the fill is at a steeper angle than the key, so the light from it is more prominent. In the third image I'm holding the camera at an odd angle to get a vertical composition so the "fill" is at the top and the "key" is toward the left. So what I'm getting from the three images is that I need to stop using the Kaiser on my key (just connect it directly to the flash mount) and either use the Kaiser on my fill or just stop using it altogether.

Also I recently redesigned my Puffer diffusers to get the one I'm using on the key further from the flash head, and in the process I also redesigned the top and bottom reflectors on both key and fill diffusers and it made a big difference in the level of diffusion I'm getting. So now I've got two new Puffers coming in the mail and I'm going to create a whole new diffuser set for both flash heads.

Diffusion looks good but think the light looks maybe a bit too even on these ?

Brian v.

LordV wrote:
Diffusion looks good but think the light looks maybe a bit too even on these ?

Brian v.

It does look almost flat...

Could you please post a pic how these new diffusers looks?..

3dmb wrote:
Could you please post a pic how these new diffusers looks?..

You'll have to give me a couple of days -I'm still in the "experiment" stage and I'm not ready to release anything yet. I'll probably have a blog post up by this next weekend with a video of what they look like and a parts list if you want to build a set yourself.

light in last frame does look better, but could the slightly different angle on the eye affect the lighting making it appear more 3 dimensional?
phil

Goldenorfe wrote:
light in last frame does look better, but could the slightly different angle on the eye affect the lighting making it appear more 3 dimensional?
phil

Absolutely -and I think that's exactly what's happening, and the reason why I'm taking another look at how I position the flash heads.

Wow, looks cool, I'm wondering though, is that a living or dead insect?

skyvan wrote:
Wow, looks cool, I'm wondering though, is that a living or dead insect?

I never photograph dead insects. Those images were taken early in the morning when the dragon was still too cold and wet, from the dew, to move.

Thx for the tips.

CharChar wrote:
Thx for the tips.

More on my blog and my tutorials at Deviant Art.

3dmb wrote:
Could you please post a pic how these new diffusers looks?..

See this blog post.

I build nearly the same diffusers as at your first video. But second video looks very interesting, thank you! I'll try to upgrade my diffusers till another macro season

I like #1 the best, and #3 is good too. I'm still trying to decide about #2...the focus and the light are not as good as #1 and #3. You got amazingly close!

Thanks 3dmb and Dpic_arctic