How to improve overall look of my macro?

[Asanoth]

Hello,

I have been (very) occasionally doing arthropod macro photography for about two years. Originally I used an achromatic macro filter with 100-400mm, but bought a 90 mm macro a few months ago.

I used to use a teardrop diffused, simple straight piece to go on a lens barrell, but recently i started with a 20*30 cm softbox. I do not really see much difference in image, but I can use the flash off camera with this softbox (which I do not do very often).

Anyway, I feel most of my photos are either too glossy, or (and) render subjects too black. I know there are also issues with composition, background, most of photos are not tac sharp as they should be etc., also I only started experimenting with stacking, but lets not get into that now.

I attach a few images to illustrate what I mean,






One of the older images, taking with a close up filter. The bee is way too black, which the petals look sort of natural. But the whole thing comes off. Today, I might use a slower shutter speed to keep the background lighter. Also the bee is gleeming.




The great capricorn. This image illustrates greatly of what I am talking about. Under sunlight, the beetle does not seem black, more of a brownish matte. Also, again with the gleaming.




Focus stack experiment, suffering with same issues. The gloss is very apparent just behind the head.




Lesser stag beetle. Again, it looks nothing like it shold, too black, but mainly the shell's stucture is way too pronounced




This photo, IMO not terrible, still has like "too much going on". The gloss on the beetle is distracting, and even more pronounced on hairy structures.




Same issue here.




Even in this image of a matte subject, something feels off to me. There is something unnatural in the way the image looks.





A better diffuser might obviously be an answer, but now I am planning a trip to the tropics in Autumn, I will be mostly using a telelens, but will do some macro, especially on frogs, reptiles but also insects. I will have a two setup camera (APSC for a tele, FF for everything else), so I need to be able to switch between cameras quickly, meaning having a diffuser ideally on the flash all the time and definitely not being able to do some complicated folding of a top knotch diffuser. Of course I would be open to sugesstions for a simple one step setup - attaches only on the flash - folds flat diffuser with great light diffusing abilities.

I thought maybe a polarizer might help, but I remember reading a few months ago it really does not do anything on macro. I even thought of getting a simple polarizing foil and put it to the flash(or better inside a diffuser), but I am not sure what that might do.



Any tips will be appreciated, thank you

 

[jim mij]

I do like pic 5 the beetle i'd crop it however

Such high f stops on some of these, i didnt know f34 was possible but i'm not a nikon user, perhaps that explains some of the darkness

Most of the earlier ones do look underexposed ?

Glare on beetles shells often happens see pic below i took last week. Try blocking sunlight to help minimise that (i didnt), and do let me know if you find a solution but lighting vs glare seems to be a skill i dont have

In edit have you tried selecting the insect and dropping the highlights, lifting the shadows ? that may work esp. with the last 2

hopefully some others in here will have solutions



--
Jim

 

[Pilotrob56]

Hi, I am still a novice when it comes to macro. I use the teardrop thin foldable diffuser like you have with the snapon one that came with my flash. It seems to work well. I angle the teardrop over the insect as much as possible. I have tried just using the teardrop without the snapon diffuser but I didn`t like how the pictures turned out. I have found that when working in sunshine I try to block the sun with my body so as not to over expose my pictures or get these rainbow sparkles or glare from the sun on the topside of the insect. I know some of the flying insects you don`t have a choice but to get the insect in the sunshine though. The good thing about the teardrop diffuser is that is folds up for traveling. Good luck.

 

[Lester Lefkowitz]

Overall, your problem is lighting, as you seems to acknowledge. And photographing black insects with hard, shiny carapace makes you job even more difficult.

The trick is to have a light source very large in comparison to the subject, but not just large, but it has to be placed so it surrounds the subject as much as possible. If the light is "large" but too far from the subject, it effectively appears "small" to the subject.

Your photo of the critter with six long legs has very strong shadows, indicating an effectively small light source (which could be the sun on a clear-sky day).

The teardrop-shaped diffuser can work well if used properly. The diffuser should be placed as far from the flash as possible (so the light fills the area of the diffuser), and it should be tilted as far forward as possible to "embrace" the subject. (see photo below). If you're using a long-focal-length lens, the long working distance places the diffusers further from the subject, so it doesn't have as much chance to sourround the insect.

The large hood-shaped diffuser have become very popular for macro because they do an excellent job of providing extremely soft, surrounding light. However, they are somewhat specific for the lens/flash combination, and would not meet your criteria for "I will have a two setup camera (APSC for a tele, FF for everything else), so I need to be able to switch between cameras quickly, meaning having a diffuser ideally on the flash all the time and definitely not being able to do some complicated folding of a top knotch diffuser."

Personally, I am not a fan of the hood-shaped diffusers, because I use different focal-length lenses in the field, and I find they often get in the way when in dense vegetation.

My diffuser-weapon of choice is a home-made (styrofoam) box held on the flash with rubber bands. The flash is held in an adjustable bracket that can position the diffuser close-to the subject, and at an angle I think appropriate (often side or top light is more intertesting than straight-on illumination). Sometimes I just hold the (wireless) flash+diffuser in my left hand positioned where I want it, the camera in my right hand; short duration of flash freezes any motion of a one-hand held camera. See photos below.

For your two-camera setup, I doubt a diffused flash will be useful for telephoto shots with the long lens and a subject a few feet away. But for your desire to have a diffuser attached to the flash, I would suggest one of the folding rectangular diffusers shown below. Then either hold the flash in your left hand, or use an off-camera bracket (requires a wireless flash with a small transmitter in the hot shoe.). Placing the flash in the camera hot shoe will work, but light quality will depend on how close the diffuser is to the subject.

As jim-mij suggested, with black insects, try to boost the shadows and supress the highlights in post-production (shoot RAW for best dynamic tange). Also, some of your photos look a bit under-exposed.

DEFINITELY practice/experiment with whatever flash rig to decide on long before your trip. You don't weant to be fumbling with equipment and unsure of exposure when a green-and-black poison dart frog is sitting on a branch nine inches from your nose.

I have photographed in the jungles of Costa Rica; wondereful experience. But be VERY careful about bullet ants and fer-de-lance snakes if present on your trip!

All photos from Volume I of my macro books.

Lester Lefkowitz, author of The Manual of Close-Up and Macro Photography, Volumes I and II

www.MacroPhotographer.net


This is the proper way a teardrop diffuser should be used . Set flash head to widest position (shortest focal-length) and use a pull-out wide Fresnel lens if it has one.


This may be the best diffuser for your requirements. It folds flat, yet deploys quickly. Available in many sizes. Get the type that has a small diffuser panel that fits close to the flash head; it helps to spread the light out evenly on the face of the large diffuser. As above, set the flash head for the widest light spread. Where you place it and how close to the subject is what determines the harshness or softness of the illumination.

[ATTACH alt="My weapon of choice. Diffuser made from styrofoam assembled with a hot glue gun. Diffusion material is kitchen paper towel. Adjustable "magic arm" lets me position the flash anywhere I want. "]3670812[/ATTACH]
My weapon of choice. Diffuser made from styrofoam assembled with a hot glue gun. Diffusion material is kitchen paper towel. Adjustable "magic arm" lets me position the flash anywhere I want.


Example made with the rig above. A shiny black beetle.


That's me and my rig photographing the insect shown above. Note how close the flash is to the subject.


One of my simillar honme-made diffusers, but there are similar commercial fold-flat diffusers available. I have since shortened the wood handle to get the diffuser closer to ther lens.




Made with flash/diffuser above.


Another shiny black beetle. This one photographed by available light. Illumination is soft because it came from a completely couldy sky: a very broad source of soft light.

 

[Beatsy]

Just to add a point to Lester's excellent summary...

I always think of the light from the subject's point of view. The more you fill the subject's sky with light (coming from more directions) the more diffuse it is. More diffusion ensures fewer blown-out specular reflections.

A good way of checking what your lighting is doing is to photograph a "critter sized" ball bearing under your lighting setup. I have a small selection of them glued onto the end of cocktail sticks for this purpose. It gives you a clear picture of that "sky" and where the light is coming from. It's often surprising how "directional" the light can be (only showing a small bright patch/spot on the ball bearing).

Cheers

Beats

 

[Cariboou]

Hi,

Essentially, her photographs are underexposed, and except for the penultimate one, they need better editing. I don't recommend using a speaker, but only working on the editing. This is my humble opinion.

 

[Asanoth]

Lester: Thank you. However, the softbox (2nd image) is exactly like the one I am using. I do not have the first pre-diffusion layer, but that could be easily arranged. I sometimes use it also off camera, so I can put it even closer to the subject, but mostly for achieving different lighting.



Cariboou: Thank you for this idea. I tried to improve the three of the images:




Looking better? Added EV, added shadows and reduced higlights (twice) on the beetle, added saturation, added vignetting (maybe too much?). A bit of cropped.

Looking at it now, again, the light blotch in the centre draws the eye. Maybe I should have turned that down a notch as well.





Again, shadows and tempered higlights on the beetle. Did not add vignetting here...




...but maybe its better?




I think this one is the most difficult. Anyway, the background is is cluttery, there are lot of highlights, so it would never be a good image. I was not able to temper the gloss more than this, but it does seem less unpleasant with the beetle being lighter. Also, this beetle is like 5-7 cm long, so the diffuser is relatively smaller, resulting in harder light.

 

[Will Rose]

There's little to add to Lester's thorough reply, but I'll add just a couple of tips on positioning the diffuser.

For the teardrop flat-style diffuser, Lester shows it properly attached in his picture. However, if your subject is close to the lens, you can also pull the bottom of the diffuser towards you with your fingers. This will have the effect of tilting the diffuser further forward than it does naturally, and can help with your illumination.

For both the box and teardrop diffuser, remember that the closer it is to the subject the bigger it will be relative to the subject and the more even your illumination will be.

Your shots tend towards the under-exposed, and the diffusers you use lose a considerable amount of light. You might need to increase your flash power when using those diffusers.

A hood-style diffuser, like the AK Diffuser (and I understand you don't want anything too fussy) provides radically more light on the subject than the types you are using.

 

[c h u n k]

I often point people to this old thread regarding lighting. I use the concave type diffuser, but a diy I made with stencil sheets and packing foam, or Ive made different, sort of small octaboxes for my twin flash. I will share some samples below along with the link....remember a couple other things - often times when not using a large diffuser, you wont get the light to wrap and the underneath of the subject will be dark. The trick really is to use a somewhat large diffuser relative to subject and/or having stuff around the subject which will work to bounce the light. Sometimes white card/reflectors are used below the lens.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/57126945

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