First try at macro (5 pics)

Well i got bored today, so i decided to take a walk around the garden(with the camera of course) and this is what i ended up with.
400d + 18-55 kit lens reversed + 430ex flash. a tiny bit of pp(some saturation) and a little bit of sharpening

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Nice pics I really like the second shot. The 1st and 4th pics could maybe us a small dose of levels or curves to brighten up the mid-tones.

the shots are good but the lighting is letting u down.are u using a defuser?

thanks guys.
nah no diffuser just an on camera 430ex set to manual. i'll definatley look at getting a diffuser of ebay.

nick400d wrote in post #4080042
thanks guys.
nah no diffuser just an on camera 430ex set to manual. i'll definatley look at getting a diffuser of ebay.

dont bother make one your self.what evert u do dont get the sten fen..they dont work.

thanks for that, was about to waste some money on one
i'll just try find a small cardboard box and stick a few layers of tissues over the front. that might work.

nick400d wrote in post #4080226
thanks for that, was about to waste some money on one
i'll just try find a small cardboard box and stick a few layers of tissues over the front. that might work.

A piece of paper towel held on with a rubber band works fairly well.

nick400d wrote in post #4080226
thanks for that, was about to waste some money on one
i'll just try find a small cardboard box and stick a few layers of tissues over the front. that might work.

get a 2L juice bottle..cut the end of and use the spout to rest snug against the flash..u know what i mean?like a cone..smallest part on end of flash and the biggest end at the end of the flash where it fires going past it a few inchs then elastic band and 1 layer of white toilet paper.

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I agree with the people here. These are nice shots but the lighting is troublesome. This is what I use: http://www.diyphotogra​phy.net …diy-flash-mounted-softbox. It works like magic!

You've done a reasonably good job considering - well done. I agree with the diffuser - the sto-fen is not the best for macro diffusing. That said, it's good, but it's designed for people portraits, not bug shots. Put a VW in a F1 race and you won't get good results either. I'd recommend what macro junkie has done - it's LordV's (Brian) Coca cola diffuser. Yes, made from Coca Cola cans. Do a search on coca colar for the user LordV and you'll find instructions on it. Takes around an hour at most, works well.

Dave

thanks heaps guys! i'll try make one of those coke can diffusers and give that a try.
thanks again!

Nice shots, I'm partial to 1 and 2 myself.