Portrait Lighting for Macro Photography?
When I first started photography, I learned how to take portraits using natural light. Natural light is soft and beautiful. I moved on to learn about strobe lighting which is more consistent when you need it at all hours, but you have to know how to diffuse or reflect it to make it soft and beautiful. One of my favorite things about strobe lighting is how you can easily create different moods using multiple lights.
As I’ve been exploring macro photography, I’ve been using an on-camera flash, which means it’s always in the same place in relation to the camera. I can’t help but wonder about using multiple lights to create more dynamic lighting. I have two flashes (Godox V1 and V350) and two macro flashes (Godox MF-12); the struggle is figuring out how to use them in the field.
My standard setup is hand-holding the OM-1 Mark ii with the 90mm f/3.5 and the Godox V1 flash on-camera, with a large AK Diffuser. You can’t go wrong with that.
I can easily do a two or three light setup in my studio, but I wanted to see what would happen if I used two flashes in the field.
Gear I Brought
- OM-1 Mark ii
- OM M. Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO
- Godox V1 + large AK Diffuser
- OM M. Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO
- ThinkTank Thin Skin Belt v3.0
- (2) two Peak Design Capture Clips
- ThinkTank Phone Case
- Peak Design Strap
- Peak Design Messenger Bag v1
- Godox V350 + white diffuser it came with
- MF-12 + white diffuser it came with
- Mini tripod that’s 25 years old.
- Wimberly Ground Plamp
- I-Footage Aluminum Monopod (bottom section only)
- Newer 3 Way Tripod Head
Today was just a quick, last minute trip, and I just threw some things together, but I actually used everything.
Does planning ahead help take pictures?
“No, but it’s easier to over-pack when you plan ahead”
– Me
I used the Peak Design Strap in addition to the Peak Design Capture Clip today and it felt a lot more secure. The OM-1 Mark ii with the Godox V1 and the AK Diffuser is bulky and a little cumbersome to wear on the capture clip. Wearing it with the strap attached as a backup made me more confident that it wouldn’t fall.
Today’s Experiment
I didn’t find a setup that worked today. I tried all of the flashes and all of the tripods/stands I brought, and combinations of each.
- Hand holding the camera with the flash on a tripod or on the plamp.
- Having the camera on the tripod and hand holding the flash.
These images were taken with setup 2 above; with the camera on the tripod and using the MF-12 hand held, in different positions around the flower. I got enough of an idea that I definitely think it is worth figuring out, but this didn’t work.
Another quirk I ran into is that the flash does not like both triggering another flash AND using focus stacking. I’ll have to see if there is a setting I’m missing, but when I used the V1 as a master (trigger) for either of the two flashes I tried (V350 and MF12), and I attempt to use focus stacking on the OM-1 Mark ii, it switches to high-speed sync, which then screws with the focus stacking.
Here are three takeaways:
- Don’t Give Up: You never really know what is going to work until you try it. If something doesn’t work, keep trying until you find something that does.
- Do It Anyway: My bed was REALLY warm and comfy this morning, however I didn’t want to miss the window of opportunity to take pictures before the sun was fully up. I’m glad I got up.
- Just Because You Have It Doesn’t Mean You Need To Use It: I like using focus stacks of 10 images. A lot of the time I’ll only use 4-6 of the images because it looks better having some of the image out of focus. It is counter intuitive, but having everything in focus makes it hard to see everything.
Next time, I’m going to try using constant light by using a pair of lube cubes that I have for video meetings. I’ve never used constant lights for Macro photography so we will see if it works.
Today’s Gallery
I’m not sure that any of these really stand out, but I still enjoy taking them. I love all the little balls of water. Most of these were taken with just one flash, but where I did use a second flash, it made the dew stand in ways that made me want to figure it out.
Happy Creating!
