Deviant Light
Wasp headshot
Sigma 150mm with raynox DCR-250, homemade flash diffuser and reflector.
4 seconds f/32 ISO 200 rear sync on camera flash.
Single image (no focus stacking of multiple exposures!) no crop, only downsized for internet use - raw to jpeg conversion using Rawtherapee adjusting levels to suit my eye :)
Found this recently deceased, clean and dust free wasp at work.
Thinking it may make a good macro subject, i made a stand to hold this lil' critter out of a short piece of 2.5mmsq multi-strand copper wire, stripping half inch of insulation off one end then using just a couple of strands to wrap around it's body and curling the rest of the wire round in a loop to form a kind of base.
Camera was tripod mounted with my homemade flash diffuser mounted over the camera's onboard flash. Flash was set to rear sync mode ( fires near end of exposure ) as i was using such a long exposure time. This was because i used a silver reflector form the right hand side to try and create a highlight of the mouth parts which i couldn't fill with only one light source. Also, this brought more colour to the background in this environment ( my kitchen worktop with halogen lights from above).
I'm really pleased how this has come out. Sometimes insects on first sight creep me out, but seeing them on this level of magnification and detail is really quite something. To see how their body's are made up is fascinating, the ball and socket joint of the antenna base, along with it's many segments is one example that can not usually be seen :)
Wasp headshot
Sigma 150mm with raynox DCR-250, homemade flash diffuser and reflector.
4 seconds f/32 ISO 200 rear sync on camera flash.
Single image (no focus stacking of multiple exposures!) no crop, only downsized for internet use - raw to jpeg conversion using Rawtherapee adjusting levels to suit my eye :)
Found this recently deceased, clean and dust free wasp at work.
Thinking it may make a good macro subject, i made a stand to hold this lil' critter out of a short piece of 2.5mmsq multi-strand copper wire, stripping half inch of insulation off one end then using just a couple of strands to wrap around it's body and curling the rest of the wire round in a loop to form a kind of base.
Camera was tripod mounted with my homemade flash diffuser mounted over the camera's onboard flash. Flash was set to rear sync mode ( fires near end of exposure ) as i was using such a long exposure time. This was because i used a silver reflector form the right hand side to try and create a highlight of the mouth parts which i couldn't fill with only one light source. Also, this brought more colour to the background in this environment ( my kitchen worktop with halogen lights from above).
I'm really pleased how this has come out. Sometimes insects on first sight creep me out, but seeing them on this level of magnification and detail is really quite something. To see how their body's are made up is fascinating, the ball and socket joint of the antenna base, along with it's many segments is one example that can not usually be seen :)