Macro/Still Lives (with off-camera flash): set-ups

As mentioned in my sketchbook, I am using this post to show the set-ups and home-made lighting modifiers that I used to shoot my experimental macro still life shots.

Just thought I'd show the actual images so readers know which shots I'm referring to .

I know this shows that I am photographing a stick of incense here, but I can assure you this is the very same set-up as I used for the flowers above. Look, there's the shoe I used to lean the flash on.

Homemade softbox (left), black reflector (right), halogen desk lamp covered with strong tracing paper at the back. Tried to recreate the honeycomb effect from our still lives with the Medium Format. Didn't have any effect at all.

 

This is the "softbox" itself, made from an old Clarks shoe box: slot in back for flash, cut-out lid filled with cartridge paper to diffuse/spread the light.

Well worth the slog: a piece of sheet glass held up by two dining chairs for the glass. The white card for a backdrop stuck to the radiator. Softbox left. Halogen desk lamp under glass, directed slightly at wall to light backdrop.