I'm struggling a bit here. I'd be interested to hear what others do.

Whenever I shoot macro/close-up indoors I always use studio flash, with no problem. Outdoors is a bit trickier, especially when you have a bright background that you want to dim, but keep the subject well exposed. I find it better to get the flash off-camera by using a mounting bracket on my normal studio flash stand (see image below), and an Elinchrom Skyport transmitter to fire the flash. It works very well, apart from sometimes having to wait for recharging. My flash is a Nissin di866 flash details, which allows a direct plugin for the Skyport. I only use manual mode for shooting with flash. I use a variety of diffusers. The one shown is a Gary Fong diffuser, but i often use a pop-out diffuser that you get with reflector panels Pop out diffuser

This was the set-up this afternoon.


The image exposure settings at matrix metering (without flash) was 1/160 f/5. But that left the background quite bright. So I reduced the exposure for the background by switching to f/7, which left the flower underexposed. By switching on the flash at 1/32 power, I got what I wanted. I actually took 3 manually focussed shots and stacked them as I wanted the stem in focus, as well as the flower, but not the background which I wanted kept blurred.

Final result - it's a Day Lily.

Nice job ;-) Liked it

Sent from my GT-S5570I

Very nice! I haven't tried stacking yet. Something else to tryout.
Phil

Lovely result !

A bit too much work for me though. I would have just shot fill flash in Av or Tv mode with the flash bracket mounted on my camera and in TTL mode. I could then vary the overall exposure using Exposure compensation (say -.66 to darken the background a bit) and then use FEC to brighten or darken the subject.

Brian v.

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus Very nice! I haven't tried stacking yet. Something else to tryout. Phil

I can recommend Helicon. Photoshop will stack, but it often gets images mis-aligned on the edges. Helicon always seems to work. You can also use it for landscapes where there is extreme focusing needs. I have the Pro version which is $55 a year, but to be honest the Lite version is more than enough for most needs at $30 a year. There are also other stacking programs on the market. Helicon page Stacking is quite good fun, when you get the hang of it. Brian seems to be the main man!

Originally Posted by Lord Vetinari Lovely result ! A bit too much work for me though. I would have just shot fill flash in Av or Tv mode with the flash bracket mounted on my camera and in TTL mode. I could then vary the overall exposure using Exposure compensation (say -.66 to darken the background a bit) and then use FEC to brighten or darken the subject. Brian v.

It seems a lot, but it only takes a few minutes to put the light on the stand and plug in the wireless trigger. It's then very easy to wander around the garden taking different shots. I've just bought a second flash to go with the Nissin. It's a cheap Yongnuo (YN460). It's not much good as a main flash, but it's great as a slave light working on wireless remote, providing backlight or sidelight in addition to the main flash. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...ls_o02_s00_i00 (read the reviews) Costs just £30, but it's actually very good quality and simple to use. Amazon do a diffuser to go with it for a total of £35.

I would say the image came out great ,but why need flash?
Flowers look better with natural light surely
I would just shoot av with a high ISO & slow shutterspeed of say 1/30 th handheld if flash had to be used

Originally Posted by GOLDENORFE I would say the image came out great ,but why need flash? Flowers look better with natural light surely

Not sure I agree with that one. They can look different between natural and flash light, but I wouldn't say they look better with either.

The advantage of flash is that you can often get a faster shutter speed, which is quite important with all the wind we have been getting. You can also isolate the flower better against a bright background. I did that in the above example, but a much better example is the one below where I just exposed for the sky then shot from underneath with flash on a low setting (it would have been in silhouette otherwise). You can also get a much more creative effect with flash by changing the intensity and direction of light, and that can affect the mood. Finally, you can avoid harsh shadows caused by bright light, by flashing the shadow areas. That's a really common problem with a lot of floral shots posted on forums.


worms-eye view by macro meister @ www.robmarshall.net, on Flickr