Macro/Close-Up/Master Flash + Slave Flash

I'm trying to work with all these things, this is what I did today. With a Sigma 530 Super Flash on the 40d, and the canon 430EX as a slave to the Sigma. I turned of ETTL and set the powers manually. Think the sigma was at 1/8 and the canon at 1/32, but the canon was closer so that would even it up a bit. In fact from shadows looked like the Canon was close enough to have just a bit more power.

No edits yet, just straight of the camera exported/resized with dpp

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/karldenby/29416​50921/

Why have one sharp and the other out of focus? I see no point in that, whatsoever.

Robert_Lay wrote in post #6497196
Why have one sharp and the other out of focus? I see no point in that, whatsoever.

Bob, don't you know, one is "dreamy".

Yeah the lighting looks fine for macro work.

The lighting ratio looks OK, but I'd clone out the flare in the top of the tubes. Actually, I'd have had the light hit some white/gray cards at the front right of the shot. I prefer to put the reflections I get where I want them to be. Look at the knife & Browning threads here:
FAQ - Studio Lighting

I don't mind that so much, but I'd have moved the OOF one farther back. Unless you need space for text, why even shoot that as a horizontal? Go vertical & move in on the important subject. And straighten it's pins at the bottom.

Curve your bottom paper up so there's not so sharp a line where it meets the background. And the colorless background with the colorless subject is a bit blah? Maybe a deep blue background would help.