On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 17:04:36 -0500, Don Sanderson wrote: >I just read an article saying that flash was the best way to shoot macro >shots. >It cited the fact that both faster shutter speed to prevent blur and smaller >aperture for added DOF could be used. >I have several Pentax TTL units to try this out with. >Have any of you tried this? What setup did you use ? Did you LIKE the >results? >I'd always imagined the light would be too harsh to look "natural".
Don, I've tried a few setups. My major problems is usually reflections off glass or water as I'm usually photographing invertebrates which live in water. I also can't use natural light as most of them hide from light and so I need to keep it dim to have them display themselves correctly. A ring flash works well at eliminating shadows. For me, unless I was really close I would get reflections as there is light coming from everywhere. You get donut shaped highlights in the eyes and any other reflective surfaces. I used an AF080c. A single flash very close will give a soft box effect as someone has already mentioned. At a greater distance it does get harsh. I used a Sigma EF360 off camera. A two flash setup works well and gives a very natural effect if the background helps hide the double shadow. Having the light come from 2 different angles helps with this. You end up with 2 highlights in the eyes and other reflective surfaces, but people have become used to this. If you have a calendar with pictures of frogs in it you will find double flash highlights in most of the eyes. I have used several setups. Sigma EF360 and Pentax AF400FTZ. A modified AF240FT with 2nd head attached. Two AF360FTZ's wireless, via cables and one on a cable and one not. And a modified AF360FGZ with second head attached. Finally I've used a 3 flash setup using three AF360FGZ's. Only use this in a studio and only if you want fancy lighting or need lots of light. I think I was going for 10 times magnification to the image plain with the aperture stopped down as far as it would go. I've used the SuperA, Z1p, MZ-S and *istD for macro work over the years. The unfortunate thing is that my website needs updating and I have 7000 odd images to go through and no time to do it. Hope this helps. Leon http://www.bluering.org.au http://www.bluering.org.au/leon
