Strobes and Macro

What is the best place to position your strobes when shooting macro?

As close as possible in order to get maximum saturation through the minimum of water. With digital this will demand experimentation of strobe intensity and f.stopping unless you have TTL capability.

I have a D100 in an Aquatica housing and an SB80-DX in a Subal Strobecase. For macro, I alway shoot TTL in Aperture Priority at f/16+/-.

I set the strobe about 1 foot above and to the side of the housing, with the front of the strobe slightly in front of the housing.

Really, as Cybergoldfish advised, you just have to experiment with your own setup until you find what works. Even then, every shot is different and has different requirements.

The good thing about digital is that the learning curve is not too steep!

This depends a lot on the camera and lens combination you are using.

For a coolpix for example, get your strobes back as far as you can! :-)

For "regular" macro of less than lifesize, you can put your strobes just about anywhere and get a good shot, but the closer to the subject the better. If you have them in front of your port, be careful that you don't get flare in your shots (look for little white stars in your shots). If you have this, then you prolly need a hood on your lens.

For super macro or greater than 1:1 you will want to get your strobes super close to the subject to get the best color.

HTH

James