strobe lighting shooting macro

Hi,

I just returned from Beqa Island Fiji where I used at strobe for the first time. I have an Oly 4040/PT-010 housing and Sea & Sea YS-90dx strobe. The diving conditions were not the greatest for me for using the strobe. The visibility borded on 20' to maybe 50'. There was alot of particulate matter floating around and on some dives we had strong currents and surges. But I am extremely glad I did have the strobe.

Previously I spent 1 full year taking pictures w/o shooting macro. My new problem is two fold, to shoot anything macro I overexposed the subject. I turned down the strobe, increased the f-stop, changed how I aimed it and still had over exposed shots. Then I thought, "gee with the strobe I don't have to get as close" (I did try to remember the gn numbers but...I was over tasked as it was.) and I would zoom in for a "macro looking picture...On the very last dive of the trip I extended my strobe as high and far away as I could and some seemed to turn out alittle better. Any brief pointers or web sites I could visit for this. I am heading back to Bonaire in August so I hope I'll have better success the second time around. My thought is without currents and better visibility I be able to fiddle more with correct exposure settings. I kept the camera pretty much at f5.6/125 shutter speed. I did get lucky and get niceshots but unfortuately most have alittle blur when I enlarge them in Photoshop.

Thanks,

Wendy

1) Make sure your camera is set at the lowest ISO rating. If it's at ISO400, then you are basically shooting 2 stops faster than you thought you were - meaning f2.8. Check your ISO for those shots and let us know.

2) Use a diffuser on the flash to cut down strobe power. Most diffusers cut the strobe power by 1 stop.

Cheers

James

Hi Wendy,

I shot the 4040 for a little over a year. For macro, my best results usually came at f10 @ 1/320. This gave me better DOF and the black background that I like.

Also started with a single strobe. I'd position it over the top and just behind the lens. Tilting the strobe up a little also helped. It seemed turning the YS90 to about 1/2 power was a good starting point for macro. I've always found, if it looked nice and bright in the LCD, it was probably overexposed. Zooming in with the 4040 gave me nothing but problems. Poor focus on most shots. It can be done with a good touch but I'd recommend just getting closer and not zooming at all or try it both ways. A focus light helps too.

Rand

I did get lucky and get niceshots but unfortuately most have alittle blur when I enlarge them in Photoshop

Wendy,

Bonaire is macro heaven!

I have a c4040 and when I shoot macro, I make sure that I choose the spot macro mode (

[*]+flower icon). This will enhance the camera's focusing ability on subjects between 8-31" from the lens. Also, as Rand mentioned, the camera is a little more challenged in locking in on focus when zoomed in. Since you have a PT 10, you'll be able to monitor the small green light located next to the optical viewfinder. You'll notice that when focus lock has been achieved, it will stop blinking. This visual aid works especially well if you utilize the half press focus lock technique. As a matter of fact, Rand and I both agree that full time auto focus is not necessary and if you shut it off you'll also notice an increase in battery life.

Keep in mind though that even in the best conditions, depth of field when shooting macro will be very limited. To maximize DOF, besides choosing small apertures, once again try to avoid zooming in.

This is not to say zooming in and achieving focus is impossible. Quite the contrary. It is only more challenging. And limited DOF at times may actually enhance a composition by bringing our attention towards the point of interest and away from what otherwise might be considered a confusing or distracting background.

Also like james mentioned, be sure that you haven't set your camera to auto ISO. Definitely preset your ISO to the camera's lowest setting, ISO 100. Your strobe is more than powerful enough as you've already discovered and the added benefit will be less noise ( we used to call it grain).

hth,

b