Creative Flash Photography

Workshop 14

Using a Macro Rig

▸ Setting up a portable macro rig

▸ Set up and unleash your flash

Macro photography reveals tiny details that the human eye may not be able to see—the delicate pistils of a flower in bloom or the individual elements of an insect’s compound eye suddenly appear in wonderfully clear detail. Macro photos can be shot with closeup lenses, extension tubes, or reversing rings. These types of images are relatively easy to take on a limited budget.

In macro situations you will quickly find that daylight isn’t bright enough to capture a subject because small apertures are required to provide sufficient depth of field. That’s when flash comes into play. Shoe-mounted or built-in flash is poorly suited to this kind of work because ...