Examples of macro flash photography

[AlphaZeroOne]

Hi. Been ages since I last visited WAB. During the interval I have been trying to hone my amateur photographic skills with some small success (at least I think so). I read on this site earlier a quote about owning a guitar doesn't make you a guitar player! This is so true for photography too. If I have learned anything over the last year or so it is that to become even a fairly proficient photographer will take much more then owning the best equipment, camera and lens. It takes a deal of effort to practice and learn from the multitude of mistakes and to soak up the pages of advice on sites such as this.

I had intended to concentrate on photographing wild birds but experience has already taught me that to achieve anything close to some of the astounding shots to be seen in these forums takes much planning and are rarely a result of good fortune of being in the right place at the right time.

The weird thing is that I seem to have achieved little in the way of results with birds but have had some really good results taking landscape photos. The irony here is that I have always thought of landscape as being dull and boring!

Anyway - to the point of this thread. I am now the proud owner of a Sigma EM-140 DG macro flash. I am really excited at the prospect of using this flash combined with my Tamron 90mm macro lens. I know that this flash as been given 1 review but I am very interested in learning about anyone else who have used this combination. I would really appreciate seeing any photographs that you may have taken especially using the 'modeling' mode of the flash.

Thanks in advance.

[glsammy]

I've used it quite extensively this year, both for insect shots, for which I find it superb, and also close up water reflection shots. You can get a really good adjustable level of flash. My intention when using it with insects is to try and make it look as though flash hasn't been used. The fact you can adjust the levels of the two strobes independently is very useful, to allow natural looking shadows, if you want them.

Here's a few examples:





Water Close ups:





I've not tried the modelling mode. I'm not even sure if my camera supports it.
I have done High Speed Sync, and Multiple exposures:

This is one such shot:



That's the same water droplet, moving down the grass.

Overall I'm more than please with the unit. It's a very versatile and useful tool.

[AlphaZeroOne]

Hi Graham

Thanks for sharing these. I was hoping that you might come up trumps - I think that you wrote the review. These are great results - something for me to aim for. Which lens did you use?

Thanks again

Steve

[nutmeg]

I recently got this flash, after reading good things about it on here, but haven't got to grips with it yet - so haven't used it much at all. The booklet that came with the flash just confused me

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by AlphaZeroOne

Hi Graham

Thanks for sharing these. I was hoping that you might come up trumps - I think that you wrote the review. These are great results - something for me to aim for. Which lens did you use?

Thanks again

Steve

All with my Sigma 150mm Macro. The water reflections also had an extension on, 13mm if my memory is correct. It's possible the Darter shots had the Kenko 1.4X on as well. I'd forgot to take note at the time I took them, but seeing as it's an almost permanent attachment on that lens during the insect season, it's a pretty safe bet it was on that day.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by nutmeg

I recently got this flash, after reading good things about it on here, but haven't got to grips with it yet - so haven't used it much at all. The booklet that came with the flash just confused me

Booklet? What's that??
You can't beat switching it on and pressing a few buttons to see what happens! That's my scientific way of learning how to use something!
Don't be afraid of it, it wont break anything, just use it, look at the results, if they're not right adjust it and try again. I usually shoot on manual mode, not on the auto mode, as that forces me to actually learn what's going on. You can't beat practical experiments, beats reading an incomprehensible booklet any day!

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Booklet? What's that??
You can't beat switching it on and pressing a few buttons to see what happens! That's my scientific way of learning how to use something!
Don't be afraid of it, it wont break anything, just use it, look at the results, if they're not right adjust it and try again. I usually shoot on manual mode, not on the auto mode, as that forces me to actually learn what's going on. You can't beat practical experiments, beats reading an incomprehensible booklet any day!

That's the way I'm going with the Canon 580EX11 flash I just bought. Read the booklet about three times and not much wiser other than how to switch it on and off so just experimenting with various settings and hoping I get to grips with it in the end
Roger

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Ollie

That's the way I'm going with the Canon 580EX11 flash I just bought. Read the booklet about three times and not much wiser other than how to switch it on and off so just experimenting with various settings and hoping I get to grips with it in the end
Roger

Hope you guys don't mind a Nikonian chipping in with a "me too" post but that's me to a T with the Nikon Creative Lighting System. It's extremely versatile kit but can be quite complex to use so I'm just experimenting with it and seeing what works and what doesn't. It's helpful to have a subject that will sit still for a while why you try different set ups, like this ladybird did for me this afternoon...



This was taken with an off-camera flash to the left of the subject, another as a back-light and a lens mounted flash as a fill. It was also shot number 23 after trying all sorts of different combinations and I'm still not really happy with it as all the colour has been washed out of the ivy leaf. More practicing needed!

Dave P.