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Archive 2021 · Looking for a simple Macro flash bracket with arca clamp

  
 
rico
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Looking for a simple Macro flash bracket with arca clamp


Jman13 wrote:
Works pretty well, and quality of light is decent for what it is...

Looking good! Your easiest modifier for that rig is taping diffusion material (e.g. tracing paper) to the front of the lens barrel. Tweak for degree of fill.



Jul 17, 2021 at 09:13 PM
Dalantech
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Looking for a simple Macro flash bracket with arca clamp


rico wrote:
I usually shoot in the studio where placing, and controlling the degree of, specularity is a significant time sink. Silks are half scrim, half diffuser in their effect and a valuable modifier. Your needs might better be addressed with one or more sheets of full diffusion:
I build my own panels from Rosco Tought Rolux. To completely eliminate the source hotspot, you need a matte bounce card. Working space is just something that closeup lighting has to live with—or use a longer FL. My macro lenses range from 55 to 135mm.

http://makino.fi/rico/fm/diff207.jpg

2'x3' panel materials: 2-stop black scrim, 1-stop polysilk,
...Show more

I've tried so many different diffusion materials over the years it's not even funny -probably spent more money on gels and scrims than I spent on my macro twin flash. In order to get the kind of control that I want over the highlights and shadows I like to use the twin flash as a key and fill light, so I am left with maybe 5cm of distance to diffuse the flash heads.



I've used diffusion gels and those flash heads will blow right through them. Me thinks that gels are designed so that the light from the flash has a chance to spread out before it hits them. I don't have that luxury with a field macro rig. Using four layers of 1/4 stop white China silk gives me the light quality that I want, and this winter I think I'm gonna design a new set that has 5 layers of it.

Take a look at the dew drop on the male's back -I didn't do anything in post to tone down the specular highlights.



Here's how the light looks as the mag goes up from 1x to 3x and the distance from the diffuser to the subject drops:







If the light is specular (has a hot spot in it) then the specular surfaces act like true mirrors and reflect the color of the light source and not the color of the underlying specular surface. The end result is a loss of detail. FWIW: Those images are all single frames taken with the lens stopped down to F11 for the mating pair and F14 for the single critter.



Jul 18, 2021 at 06:08 AM
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