Flash

As with tripods I have experimented with a number of flash setups. Here are a few of them.

As well as experimenting with the size, shape and positioning of diffusers and reflectors, I tried a number of different layering materials, shapes and combinations inside diffusers. Here are a few of them.

The setup which proved most successful, and which I currently use, is based on a Venus Optics KX800 twin flash. As with the other setups, I tried various approaches to diffusion. Here are a few of them, with which I tried various internal diffusion layers.

This is the current setup, shown on an FZ330 with Raynox 150 when being used to photograph wasps flying in and out of their nest.

Here are some of the photos from that session.

150.06 - 150.09

I generally don't use flash for botanical subjects because I prefer the look of natural light. Only very occasionally do I raise the flash and use low power flash (undiffused) for fill light when shooting into the light. I am more likely to use exposure bracketing than flash fill, but my use of exposure bracketing is very occasional. I could probably do well to use a bit more fill flash and exposure bracketing.

These days I use flash most of the time for invertebrates, exceptions being larger insects such as butterlies, dragonflies and damselflies which I tend to see in bright sunny conditions and use available light. (That said, I have not seen a dragonfly or a damselfly for some time, and hardly any butterflies either.)

The bendy arms on the KX800 allow for great flexibility, including using one flash head to illuminate the background to avoid black areas. However, I have settled into leaving the heads in a position where the illumination works for the magnifications that I use most of the time. When I want to raise dark backgrounds  I slow down the shutter speed, if necessary raising the ISO (although I don't like raising the ISO much with the FZ330, which is my main tool for invertebrates, as it has a rather noisy sensor).

The KX800 is a manual flash. I was doubtful as to how that would work out, having previously used TTL flashes, but it turned out to be better because it proved quick and easy to find and set a suitable flash level, and having found and set it I got more consistent results than with my TTL flashes.

The KX800 also has the advantage of working with all my cameras that have a hot shoe, unlike my TTL flashes which are limited to particular camera brands.

I am probably too much in the habit of using flash as the dominant light source for invertebrates at the moment and might benefit from using a more balanced combination of flash and natural light.