Various bug2

Couple of shots from only one or two days ago.
Comments and feedback is appreciated greatly,
thanks for watching!

#1. Mason bee (Osmia rufa)

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Lovely mixed bag Frank, although the sunlight is a bit harsh on a few.

great variety, however George is right about the light, whats your set up Frank?

I've shot all of these with my 600d and 100mm macro. They are all made with natural light; ISO-100, 1/125s and f/7,1.

This is my setup when using flash (when shooting I have the Lumiquest mini softbox with some extra paper for a better diffusion.

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I always have a hard time with NL macros; you got a very good set up, have you ever used the flash as fill light? this will help you get rid off the harshness of the sunlight check out this sample, not the best sample but here you can see the shallow aperture and how the flash smoothes the sun light, you still can see some sunlight highlight in the dragons eye.

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Lovely series- agree with comments on harsh light in some - a polarising filter can help with strong natural light shots.
Brian v.

Thank you all for the comments! Appreciated greatly, so either I can use my flash for some fill light or a polarising filter. I shoot with a 430exii, have you got any idea what setting/option would-be most sufficiënt?
Thank you in advance.

Great shots, one day I will learn ow to do this.

nice variety frank.great advice from all.keep experimenting,and you,ll get it right.

Lovely series Frank.

I often use high speed fill-in flash for sunny days, about -1 stop is a good starting point. Best not used with metallic paint jobs like that ruby tailed wasp though.

Thank you all, thanks lester, ill put your comment to the test as soon i have time to make some more shots.

Yeah frank -1 stop and go from there, your flash output should be around 1/4

Thanks mate as im shooting ettl mode now.

As im not really into my flash yet I have a question regarding the setup.
There are a couple of options but im not sure wich to use.

I can either put it in Manual flash mode and set to 1/4th;
Or use the High speed sync (FP-flash);
Or I can use flash compensation and set it to -1 stop.

Sorry that I ask for so much help but i really would appreciate it, thank you.

you need to set up the flash in manual mode at 1/4 and also the camera flash compensation to -1 and go from there. the High speed sink will limit your aperture. is better to start at 1/4 and control the amount of light by opening or increasing your aperture

Lovely captures!