Saw two professionals doing macro work yesterday

I did a small (six hour) tour of lakeshore parks and
saw two professionals doing macro work. One was doing some
preliminary photo work for a film studio. In both cases,
they used large overhead diffusers of about 6-8 ft square.
There were no clouds yesterday. One of them had the big
Canon, the other had a Phase 1!
-Rich

RichA wrote:

I did a small (six hour) tour of lakeshore parks and
saw two professionals doing macro work. One was doing some
preliminary photo work for a film studio. In both cases,
they used large overhead diffusers of about 6-8 ft square.
There were no clouds yesterday. One of them had the big
Canon, the other had a Phase 1!
-Rich

I've been shooting outdoor with a small (24") shoot through umbrella as
the sun blocker/difuser. Works well, but the wind blows it over easilly
and it has to be repositioned a lot. OTOH, has the bracket to allow
flash shots as well for a good mix of lighting types.

For flowers/insect outdoor, I saw (don't recall where) a 'sandwhich'
board with a piano hinge between the two frames and thin cotton cloth as
the difuser and wind blocker. 3 - 4' on a side would be great ... room
to work, but a bit tedious to drag aroud. I might build one shortly.
I'd rather use ripstop nylon, but can't seem to find any around here.

Cheers,
Alan.

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Alan Browne wrote:
RichA wrote:

I did a small (six hour) tour of lakeshore parks and saw two
professionals doing macro work. One was doing some
preliminary photo work for a film studio. In both cases,
they used large overhead diffusers of about 6-8 ft square. There were
no clouds yesterday. One of them had the big
Canon, the other had a Phase 1!
-Rich


I've been shooting outdoor with a small (24") shoot through umbrella as
the sun blocker/difuser. Works well, but the wind blows it over easilly
and it has to be repositioned a lot. OTOH, has the bracket to allow
flash shots as well for a good mix of lighting types.

For flowers/insect outdoor, I saw (don't recall where) a 'sandwhich'
board with a piano hinge between the two frames and thin cotton cloth as
the difuser and wind blocker. 3 - 4' on a side would be great ... room
to work, but a bit tedious to drag aroud. I might build one shortly.
I'd rather use ripstop nylon, but can't seem to find any around here.

Cheers,
Alan.

I wanted to get white nylon - but can only get rip-stop. I figured that
the squares from the rip-stop might cast a shadow pattern. Maybe it
would have been okay. I couldn't get plain nylon, but got some white
polyester lining fabric, which works well.
I also want to make something that folds up small. I wondered if there
was a way to use very thin extruded fibreglass rods to make a
collapsible frame. Maybe someone has done this, and can offer some tips.

Frederick wrote:

I wanted to get white nylon - but can only get rip-stop. I figured that
the squares from the rip-stop might cast a shadow pattern.

Only if close to the subject. Far enough away it will bee to difuse.
If there's a refection of it in the subject, that may show the pattern
(for good or bad as it may be).


Maybe it
would have been okay. I couldn't get plain nylon, but got some white
polyester lining fabric, which works well.

It splits too easilly. Having said that, my SO is sewing some extras
difusers for my for my softboxes.

I also want to make something that folds up small. I wondered if there
was a way to use very thin extruded fibreglass rods to make a
collapsible frame. Maybe someone has done this, and can offer some tips.

Inspire yourself from tent design ... that's how Photoflex do their
softboxes.

Cheers,
Alan.


--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.