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New Years Day Macro (1/1/2021)

Started Jan 7, 2021 | Photos thread
PHXAZCRAIG
PHXAZCRAIG Forum Pro • Posts: 19,651
Some C&C

As you've already mentioned, auto-ISO did you no favors.   It appears that the camera tries to adjust ISO for ambient before adding in flash, meaning ISO 6400 and blown highlights.

Here are some things that helped me.   First, if shooting with strobe (typical for macro)l, set the camera to the base ISO to get maximum dynamic range.   That range will come in handy in post-processing.  If you lke black backgrounds, it will help you there too.

Second, particularly when shooting almost any coral that has a bright component, try to reduce flash power in anticipation of blown highlights.

Third, and it will be interesting to see what can be done with your Red Finger corals, try pulling down the highlights by a massive amount.  The goal is to reveal detail that blew when the strobe reflected from the coral.   Once the highlights are under control, you can deal with midranges and shadow that may need boosting.

Here's an example of an octocoral (Sea Rod) in Roatan after pulling highlights down by about 100%.

Before pulling down the highlights, the tips of the corals were mostly devoid of detail.

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Phoenix Arizona Craig
www.cjcphoto.net
"I miss the days when I was nostalgic."

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