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Butterflies: EF 100mm w New Flash Diffuser

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Mike and Julie,

Thanks for the compliment. Sure appreciate it.

Yes, I have used the Stofen and do like it for bounced flash. I keep it in my gadget bag and am ready to use it all the time. But it is not as good a softbox as the PhotoFlex or the Lumiquest. Try one of these next time you need flash but cannot bounce the flash (outdoors, ceiling too high, etc).

ALl the best,

jim

wrote:
Mike and Julie said:
Jim, awesome pictures as always. Have you used the omnibounce to
diffuse light? and if so, do you like this difuser better? I may
have to buy one.

Mike
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pineapple,

Thanks for the welcome and the nice compliment. Sure appreciate it.

Yes, I have used the Stofen. It works better than a naked flash gun, but not as good as the PhotoFlex or the Lumiquest. I still don't think I have prefected the flash lighting for butterflies, but I am getting closer. My next try will be to get the flash off the hot shoe.

All the best,

jim

wrote:
pineapple said:
Nice to see you posting pics again and what great butterfly pics
they are.

I have recently bought the Stofen Omni bounce that simply clips
over the end of the flash but havent had a chance to try it out yet
  • have you tried this little piece of equipment at all with your
combo of 100mm plus flash?

--
Linda
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Great shots!

Were these shot handheld?

I just received my 100 mm macro today. This weekend I will be visiting the Nature Museum in Chicago to attempt my first Butterfly macros with it. I also have the MR-14EX ringflash that I had won in the Canon Digital Rebel contest several months ago.

Any tips or suggestions are appreciate.

Dave
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Dave S,

You will love the 100mm macro. I have the MT-24EX and have really struggled with it. I thought once I got that flash, my macro lighting woes would be behind me. When I honestly took a look at my butterfly work, the stuff with a single flash gun (550EX) were really better than with the MT-24. Trust me, I tried everything I could think of to get good results with the MT-24, including making some booties to act as a diffuser ~ all to no avail.

I wanted to get the PhotoFlex diffuser after seeing it used for portraits during a wedding, so I tried it for macro on this shoot. I was overall pleased. Still having to do lots of FEC on the flash, but I was also having to do lots of that with the MT-24 too.

As for advice before your shoot, certainly shoot manual mode, select f11 to f13, shutter speed in the 1/125 - 1/160 second range. Know how to engage the FEC feature on the MR-14. Set your camera to show the histogram and blinking highlights thumbnail after each shot. Make exposure adjustments with the FEC!

What I find is mostly white subjects need positive FEC and mostly black subjects need negative FEC. Be particularly careful when shooting a dark butterfly with white spots ~ it is VERY easy to blow the highlights in these white spots. I shoot RAW and expose to the right.

Focus carefully. I use both manual and auto focus equally well. With either technique, make sure the eye is the item of sharpest focus. If the eye is out of focus, the shot will be ruined. With autofocus, do frequent half-presses until everything is perfect, then click off your shot. Any hesitation and you will have weaved out of the area of sharp focus!

You can use a tripod for some species, but it is a pain in the butt. Better to hand-hold, so you can get better angles and compositions. Very few of the species will sit still for very long.

Most importantly, have fun! Your camera rig will get lots of attention in the butterfly house. Try to get there when the venue opens ~ the butterflies are less active early in the morning. As they warm up, they get faster and are harder to catch in a flattering pose. Also, my curator releases new hatchlings in the early morning, which make good subjects as they wait for their wings to dry to take first flight.

Looking forward to seeing your results!

Good luck,

jim

wrote:
Dave S124201 said:
Great shots!

Were these shot handheld?

I just received my 100 mm macro today. This weekend I will be
visiting the Nature Museum in Chicago to attempt my first Butterfly
macros with it. I also have the MR-14EX ringflash that I had won in
the Canon Digital Rebel contest several months ago.

Any tips or suggestions are appreciate.

Dave
--
http://www.pbase.com/dstearn
http://www.stearnphotography.smugmug.com
Use my Smugmug coupon code UHrOf320mMf7k to save $5.00 on your
membership.
Click to expand...
--
Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3
 
So nice to have you back on here with your very sound advice. I find it so helpful because its good honest advice.

As you commented above about thinking your macro woes were behind you once you had an external flash, I couldnt agree more lol. I purchased my flash in October (the 580) and it has improved the shots no end but it really is a case of getting to know how to use the fec to best advantage for any given subject and even if you move a little that can alter it yet again lol.

I also quickly learnt that if you hesitate too much you lose the shot you want.

The macro season is almost upon us again :-) so I guess all the regular faces will be back soon lol.

Oh and I just want to take this opportunity, Sandman, to say a big thank you for a very small tip you gave me last Spring in my very early dslr days, with the dragonfly shots and the -1 to get the shutter speed up, made a huge difference and a tip I always pass on :-)

--
Linda
http://www.pbase.com/lindabuckell
 
Hi, good to see you back here Jim; nice compositions as usual.

So the macro twin lights weren’t a panacea? One of the problems I found when I tried the ring and twin lights was the light fall off. With both types of macro lights being mounted on the very front of the lens, there tended to be very dark backgrounds and for most shots I like to see the background illuminated too.

Of course lowering the shutter speed helps by introducing more ambient light, but there isn’t much leeway for slower shutter speeds when hand holding at or near to 1:1. There is also a limit to how high one can raise the ISO, more especially on the 300D.

I have been using the Stofen and I have the Lumiquest softbox, but haven’t tried it yet; I don’t want to mess up a 550ex with stick-on Velcro.

Have you parted company with your MT-24?

Brian A.
 
Hugowolf said:
Hi, good to see you back here Jim; nice compositions as usual.

So the macro twin lights weren’t a panacea? One of the problems I
found when I tried the ring and twin lights was the light fall off.
With both types of macro lights being mounted on the very front of
the lens, there tended to be very dark backgrounds and for most
shots I like to see the background illuminated too.

Of course lowering the shutter speed helps by introducing more
ambient light, but there isn’t much leeway for slower shutter
speeds when hand holding at or near to 1:1. There is also a limit
to how high one can raise the ISO, more especially on the 300D.

I have been using the Stofen and I have the Lumiquest softbox, but
haven’t tried it yet; I don’t want to mess up a 550ex with stick-on
Velcro.
Click to expand...
If you puchase the velcro strap from Lumiquest you avoid having to use the stick on velcro.
Hugowolf said:
Have you parted company with your MT-24?

Brian A.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/dstearn
http://www.stearnphotography.smugmug.com
Use my Smugmug coupon code UHrOf320mMf7k to save $5.00 on your
membership.
 
Dave,

I posted a comment to your thread. Nice shots!

I shared a few pointers with you ~ now your turn. What did you find worked for you and what did not work? Did you find yourself having to make lots of adjustments with the intensity of the flash (FEC)?

Again, fine shots!

All the best,

jim
--
Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3
 
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