(or, I <3 Philip Glass)
I found the source of the strange flare I got whenever I tried to use flash or any other bright lights with the new macro rig… the filter that came with the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AI, and that the seller proclaimed had never left the front of the lens in all its years…
I guess he never shot macro with a flash.
Anyway…
The flash was bounced off of one of those big honking containers of Cheese flavored Fishy Crackers, the 1.87lb, 850g, Gallon-size (or larger) laminated, foil-lined cardboard boxes, that I carefully (and with no small amount of cursing, but also no paper cuts) opened out as flat as it would go.
Tomorrow, probably, this reflector will become a sort of big, cornucopia-shaped diffuser just for macro. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out.
For today, it was just draped over the camera-mounted flash, lens, and subject (in this case, a 1/4″ fine-threaded bolt). Nice light, methinks.
D7000, Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AI, reversed and extended by 104mm. ISO100, 1/250th, f/8. SB-700, mounted on the camera, in manual mode, zoomed to 24mm (by the camera… so much for manual), 1/16th power. Very minor adjustments to black point, contrast, and definition in Aperture.
