Ring flash?

A plea to my fellow bloggers and anyone that has randomly come across this post. I want to start using my DSLR for macro photography and am aware that I need to illuminate the subject that is having its picture taken. I have a Canon 450D (the dust is being blown off as I type) and a Canon 60mm dedicated macro lens. Is a ring flash the simplest (and best) solution? Any thoughts would be welcomed...

Comments

Phil said…
Hi Steve, I used to use a ringflash quite a lot and found it easy to use but there are some drawbacks. You get annular highlights on shiny surfaces (e.g. frog's eyes), which is always a giveaway for a ringflash picture) but I guess they could be doctored with photoshop. The second problem is that the uniform lighting can produce images that are a bit flat but I think these days there are ringflashes with four switchable tubes so that you can switch one off to introduce a bit of modellng if you want. They do tend to be quite expensive to buy too.
3 January 2012 at 13:15
Steve Gale said…
Thanks Phil, if I manage to get shots a tenth as good as yours I'll be pleased!
3 January 2012 at 20:25
Jonathan Lethbridge said…
Hi Steve, I prefer not to use flash, as with macro you often get the "Black background" syndrome, but when I do, I use a normal flash (430 or 580) off-camera with a Westcott Apollo softbox.
cheers
jonathan
3 January 2012 at 23:17
Steve Gale said…
Thanks for that Jonathan. Until now I have tried to use natural daylight, but my images do lack a sharpness that a bit of flash would help with. I will investigate your suggestion.
4 January 2012 at 08:47
Stewart said…
Steve, Skev's your man, he uses one...
4 January 2012 at 23:09
Steve Gale said…
Thanks Stewart, I'll get in touch with him
5 January 2012 at 08:42
Andrew Cunningham said…
I use a ring flash but rarely take it out into the field as it's a bit cumbersome but I expect I should do so. The trouble is I am rarely out solely to take photographs so I usually have a bag full of books, etc.

However, in relation to the ring of light mentioned earlier, I have counteracted that by starting to use a stiff card cone cut to fit inside the ring flash to act as a diffuser. I attach it with blu-tack. It softens and spreads the light a treat especially on close ups of mounted diptera.
5 January 2012 at 19:48
Steve Gale said…
Nice tip there Andrew. if I do get one I'll remember the stiff card diffusing trick!
5 January 2012 at 21:23
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