Macro help

Hi all,

Over my last school year, I have been experimenting with macro photography in my AS photography coursework. I have been very pleased with the results I have had, but - using a set of studio lights to capture the shots - I did not have the flexibility I desired. This year, I am once again looking into (wildlife) macro photography, and I feel that it is time to invest in some more practical equipment.

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I prefer the lumiquest softbox myself, with a flash bracket setup its large enough to give good diffusion, whilst also being small enough not to be a problem when working handheld. I've not used the bracket you link to myself and I recall reading a thread recently around here about a user having problems with that bracket and a battery grip on his camera body. Myself I've been using a cheap bracket of ebay, sadly it had to be firmed up with extra metal otherwise it wobbled terribly. Provided however that you can get a bracket setup similar to what LordV displays in his tutorial (stickies) on the site here you'll be well set for a good mobile lighting setup.


I will also draw your attention to the Raynox series of Diopters (often nicknamed macro filters). They are not highly priced and yet will let you get even more magnification out of your setup should you so desire it - myself I've been using a DCR 250 (+8 diopter) to get a shot like this:
http://www.flickr.com …in/set-72157616267149294/
there are higher and lower powered diopters - the higher the power the more magnifiaction.

As for interesting species try hanging around a horse stables- horse flies are (if nippy) highly interesting with their multicoloured eyes. As for exotic species its a grey area for me - just ensure that any you import are kept well and not released (though I'm sure I don't need to tell you).

Should work fine - you will obviously need an off camera flash cord as well. Main point with the bracket is to get the diffuser head as near to the end of the lens as possible.
Not sure what Lumiquest diffuser you are planning on but think their softbox diffuser is best for macro.

Brian V.

I think between October and January is a difficult time for macro subjects. October and possibly November might be ok for some insects, but you might struggle to find some "really interesting" subjects.

While the weather is decent, you could visit a couple of the RSPB reserves along the Kent coast (Elmley on Isle of Sheppey and Oare Marshes, Faversham) as the habitat around those two is very varied and might throw up some interesting subjects if you hunt around. Rye Harbour Nature Reserve at the reed bed end could also produce some interesting subjects.

Fungi is a very interesting subject to photograph. You could also try to find some lichen species.
Snails and slugs are great to photograph.
Springtails are a challenge as they are tiny - 'Racketman' has photographed many of them.

Re the Softbox, I use the Lumiquest Softbox and have it velcroed onto the end of my 580EX flash unit. I mostly use the flash on the hotshoe as I find the bracket makes the whole thing very heavy and not very practical for lugging about.

Linda

Thank you all for your advice!

The equipment arrived today and I couldn't wait to test everything out, so I thought it was about time that I took some shots of my ghost mantis pair:

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