Canon® EOS Digital Photography Photo Workshop

8.7. SHOOTING MACRO IMAGES WITH A FLASH

For macro images that need a flash, you can use your Speedlite. However, because you need to get so close to the subject, sometimes the flash goes over the subject and does not illuminate it properly, or the flash overexposes the image. If you don't happen to have one of Canon's two flash units designed specifically for macro photography (the Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX or Macro Ring Light MR-14EX) and you want to use the Speedlite for macro shots, you need to make some adjustments.

You want to be able to shoot your flash set apart from the camera, which you can set up a few different ways:

• Use the Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2.

• Set up a master and slave where the master on-camera flash is set to Off.

• Use a flash connected to the hot shoe using the OC-E3 EOS Dedicated TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord.

Any of these will allow you to have an ETTL II-capable flash that operates separately from the camera.

You may also need to lower the output power of your flash manually because you are photographing much closer than the typical photo the flash and camera will meter.

8.7.1. MACRO RING LITE MR-14EX

The Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX is a specialty macro flash light that provides flash illumination for macro photography. This model is a traditional macro ring light (as shown in figure 8-17). Its ring contains two lights, but you cannot separate them from the ring configuration. The device consists of a controller unit that attaches to your camera's hot shoe, which ...