Focusing a reversed 50mm by rocking back and forth is especially difficult with gusty winds, though some of the problem can be overcome with higher shutter speeds (not that I did that here…).
So I decided to take the new macro rig on a walk today, and take along the SB-700 and the Cactus triggers. I also decided to add the broken battery grip, as I experienced a bit of wrist pain yesterday from the way I hold the D7000. The grip adds an extra couple of inches, and I can hold the camera in a more wrist-elbow-shoulder friendly manner.
Of course, this meant that I lost the stability of a second hand on the camera, and added maybe 2lbs to the rig. The weight wasn’t much of an issue, but a second hand definitely would’ve come in handy.
I’ve been reading up on diy flash brackets, and may drop $60 on RAM mount pieces to build one, but I promised myself there would be no more photography expenses this year. I may have to go back on my word, there, as I’ll be needing some sort of flash bracket if I plan to do much walk-around macro work with off-camera flash, and while there are far cheaper pre-made flash brackets—and even cheaper diy alternatives—many of them get rather poor ratings for stability, and the RAM build seems to be a popular and sturdy method.
Anyway.
The title is another throw-away line from the Simpson’s: the episode where a movie adaptation of Radioactive Man is being filmed in Springfield. The villan has Radioactive Man (played by +Rainier Wolfcastle) tied up in a warehouse, and Fallout Boy (+Milhouse Van Houten) is supposed to come to the rescue in the nick of time. Unfortunately, Milhouse backs out of the production, leaving Radioactive Man with a only a small pair of plastic goggles to protect his eyes from the radioactive sludge.
As you might imagine from the title, above, things don’t go so well…
D7000. Vivitar 50mm f/1.8 (Cosina), reversed. ISO100, 1/30th, f/8. SB-700, handheld, with its diffusion panel in place, at 1/4, held slightly less than arms length away, camera left, and triggered via a pair of Cactus v5 triggers. About 5 minutes of processing in Aperture to bring out some detail and bump up the contrast a bit.
