Jewel beetle (pinned)

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Beatsy
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Jewel beetle (pinned)

Post by Beatsy »

Catoxantha opulenta done the old fashioned way. Canon 100mm L macro at f/5.6 on Sony A7RII. A 64 image stack done by hand using a Velbon rail on a tripod. Mixed temperature lighting with 1 trond lamp for cool near-backlight and 3 warmer Janso-style LED spots front and top. AWB made for a nice warm shadow - so I left it that way. Beetle inside a dome flash diffuser (just like half a big ping pong ball really).

Image

leonardturner
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Post by leonardturner »

Nice image! Beatsy, I really like what you did with the lighting; I'm still trying to get comfortable with the possibilities of the Trond. What sort of a dome did you use? I've only found transparent ones, but thought of spraying them with something.

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Beautiful picture. I also like the warmth of the shadow in this image, but normally I find cool shadows (lit by bluish diffuse skylight) more natural, at least for pictures meant to be interpreted as outdoor scenes (which this obviously is not).

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

Thanks both.

I used a plastic dome from a flash diffuser - full name "Godox WITSTRO AD-180 AD-360 Flash 180° Wide Angle Soft Focus Shade Dome Diffuser". :roll:

They're about £10 new (probably $10 in the US) but I got two second hand (cost me a pint) and whipped the metalwork off to just leave the plastic. Cut a hole in the centre of one for a mitty to look through and took a wedge out of the side, stuck it on a Noga stand and "Bob's yer proverbial uncle". I used it stood on the table for this shot - wedged into a couple of lumps of blu-tack.

But spraying a clear one with matt white paint, or (perhaps better) sanding it to opaqueness should work too.

Cheers

MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

Interesting. I occasionally wander around in the lamp sections of department stores and housewares stores, looking for a cheap plastic lampshade for a diffuser. Never found one though.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

I found what looked like a nice spherical diffuser with an LED in the middle at my local hardware store. Bought it and tried to hacksaw it in half. Turned out to be made of thin glass, not plastic. Ouch.

leonardturner
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Post by leonardturner »

At a local craft shop chain, I found clear plastic half domes about four inches in diameter; these were apparently made to fit together to make a globe containing your crafty creation. At Beatsy's suggestion, I worked one of these over today with coarse steel wool, inside and out. Seemed to work well for creating a moderate diffusion surface without too much light blocking. I'm downloading a set of images from this afternoon's efforts now. New versions of the "Godox" he mentioned are also available new, but I haven't explored those yet.

Beatsy, advice much appreciated! Mr. Google also told me what "Bob's your uncle" means, so two bits of knowledge for the price of none!

Lou, sorry about your misadventure, but I've done worse--

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Thanks for the sympathy Leonard, and great that you could find a workable hemisphere.

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