Fun Friday Photo: Stink Bug’s Not Having a Good Day…

I have always loved macro photography and the whole unseen world it reveals. I am fascinated with the detail we can see if we can just get closer. I wanted to try something new with my macro set up. I often like to use 73mm worth of extension tubes on a 100mm macro lens. Only problem with this is at F/13 or so, light becomes an issue. Even at 1/1000 a sharp photo is difficult to achieve handheld. Using a wide aperture is out since I already have virtually no depth of field at this point. I normally raise my ISO and push speedlights to 1/1. I have never been happy with that look however. For this photo I decided to try a new approach. I used a set of pocket wizard TT5s with an Alien Bee 800 strobe. I used the AlienBee set to automatic on the AC3 and adjusted my level from there. I had the strobe about a foot or two from me lighting the subject from about 45 degrees usually.

Chasing bugs with a strobe of this size is kind of silly out doors, but it works. I shot this image at 1/200, F16, 400 ISO. I could have used 200 ISO but I wanted a faster recycle time. Either way, I was amazed at how well this works. Relative to a macro light or a speed light, the strobe is a HUGE source of light so I definitely did not get as much of the harshness as I usually do with smaller lights.

Also take note on the photo…as the Stink bug is encased by the spider, small flies were landing to get in on the action as well. Amazing what our eyes cannot reveal!

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My Friday photo posts are design to be an outlet for images I create for myself outside of my usual work. I encourage people to really play and experiment and do something different in their creative art regularly. You can follow my twitter for more fun images throughout the week.