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Orange Orb

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted August 6, 201181 views4 comments

We were working to shoot this sweet girl using a very small aperture (large DOF) and a speed light. How could we have had more of the background in the photo without purchasing any more expensive flashes?

Thank you for any input,
Jim Jackson
Denver, Colorado

50%+ crop
5dii
100mm Macro
f/22
flash

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by David Taylor on August 7, 2011 at 3:16 PM

Personally I like black BGs. I suppose you could have used a larger aperture, some optional reflectors and stacked the image. Spiders can be quite accommodating to let you carry out this technique and as long as the air is still you should get a very pleasing result. I use Helicon Focus for stacking, but there are others, including free ones, out there.

Registered on April 24, 2006, 101 Posts, 837 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Jackson on August 9, 2011 at 7:39 AM

David,
Thank you for the fantastic advise. I think our next purchase will be Helicon Focus. We will surely give that a try.

Sincerely,
Jim Jackson
Denver, CO

Registered on September 19, 2010, 20 Posts, 244 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on September 14, 2011 at 10:43 PM

I like this Christine, the light on the head/eyes works perfectly IMO. Great details and the dark edges of the spider lost to darkness actually make it look even more spooky

I suggest using a ring flash to fill in those shadows. I've used a a Sigma EM-140 DG for years now.
Not really that expensive and if you like macro, it's the ticket.

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Jackson on September 21, 2011 at 5:14 PM

Thanks Howard for the suggestion of the ring flash--we will need to look into that.

Thanks again,
Jim and Chrisie Jackson

Registered on September 19, 2010, 20 Posts, 244 Comments