Ferns, Weeds and a Flower
I have been doing some experimentation with different lighting techniques since getting my Flash Waves radio triggers. Here are a few macro samples of flora from around my yard.
Getting the flash (or flashes) off the camera certainly lets you control your lighting much better.
Ferns
Dual FL-36 flashes. Shoot through umbrella to the right about 4 feet from the subject, with flash on full power.
Another FL-36 strobe with home made snoot and grid in close slightly to the left set to 1/32 power to make the purple leaf stand out from the background. Without this it was rather dull.
Weed
The Pink Shamrock is a common weed in New Zealand, but it makes for an interesting macro.
Single FL-36 Flash with shoot through umbrella to the right - about 4 feet away on 1/2 power.
Small Pink Flower
Macro shot of a little pink flower. This flower is less than 2cm across. I'm not sure what it is, it only flowers for a couple of weeks each year and signals the start of Spring. - Dual FL-36 Flashes using the inbuilt diffusers.
Main light set to 1/32 power about 4 inches away from the subject slightly above and to the right of the subject.
Secondary, fill light to the left and below the flower 1/32 power but further away from the subject 12-18 inches.
The backdrop was my son's T-Shirt about 12 inches away. This ensured that the background wasn't black due to light falloff.
The image was finished in Lightroom 2 to apply a Vignetting effect to emphasize the open flower.