Todays mix from my lunchtime walk

Here's some shots from today. Tried a new ebay diffuser my colleague had, but it turns out it sucks for macro (still waiting on my lumiquest mini SB) :P

Still, here's some results (click for bigger):

#1

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/4663432​278/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/4663432​288/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/4663432​302/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/4663432​270/

Nice shots..the light looks pretty good to me..esp the first 3.

Thanks

It was one of these diffusers.
Maybe I'm too picky about it, or maybe shiny black beetles are just too hard to light properly at 1:1 with just one flash, but I the light too hard on those bugs.
Then again, the outcome was OK and I was able to apply some fill light and recovery in lightroom. It does show some nice texture on the head anyway.

some nice shots

Wow, number 3 is amazing.

Good ones- light does not look too bad !
Brian v.

....I want a macro set up now....hehe. Great shots. I love #3 especially.

Here's two more from today. I feel like I'm getting the hang of it finally. Got things down to around a 10% keeper rate (with something like a 30% rate of technically correct and sharp shots). That's TOO bad to average over 2 weeks time, right?

Unfortunately all the bugs were in hiding today, so I didn't get to shoot too many.

I used the same diffuser as last time, but with the bracket back in it's normal position (had it reversed last time). This way the flash was about as close to the lens, but sitting in a much higher position, giving me more even light. I got it in the perfect position for a mini softbox now, at least when shooting verticals...

#A1

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/4668445​809/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/4668445​025/