Portable 2-Light rig for Close-up/Macro Photography

[catttan]

I recently purchased a flexible arms (Gorilla pod type ) flash holder to use as portable light for closeups and macro. However my 2 SB 600s Nikon flashes were way too heavy to fix onto the flexible arms and I hunted around for 2 smaller and lighter flashes. I was lucky to find these last 2 ( old discontinued stock ) mini flashes at one of our local photo shops at a much discounted price of US$7 each! What was more amazing is that these flashes have slave units built in and so saved me the trouble of fixing flash triggers/sync cables to the rig.I used the built-in flash on my camera @ 1/64 power as the trigger mechanism ( much like a Commander flash) to set off the flashes, without adding onto the exposure.

Here is a picture of the rig and some first-attempt pictures with it. I still have to fine tune the process and field test it for nature/insects etc. But I'm very busy at the moment with visits from my sons and grandchildren and relatives from Australia.

Camera: Nikon D5300
Exposure: f 16 @ 1/200 ....ISO 125
Lens: Tamron SP 90

---------- Post Merged at 03:24 PM ----------

BTW in case anyone is interested, the first flower is that of the Bleeding Heart Vine ( Clerodendrom thomsoniae ) and the flower with the ants is Bauhinia kockiana one of the most beautiful flowering climbers native to our country.

[zainal abidin]

Congrats cattan the images definitely very cool and can see the details I like it but looks so bulky.

[78Terp]

Such gorgeous shots! Vibrant color and great texture!

[ksriramkumar]

Setup looks awesome and pristine clarity. Thanks for sharing

[78Terp]

In the future, I may look into a rig such as this. Seems like it would be best when outdoors and not near a 'studio' setting. Not that it couldn't be used in a studio setting.

[JDT]

I have seen this setup in a couple of YouTube video's. When you find them Harvey let me know. Great pictures Yew-sung!

[catttan]

Congrats cattan the images definitely very cool and can see the details I like it but looks so bulky.

Yes it does look a bit unwieldy but fortunately the mini flashes are very light - each weighs about 100gm ( 3 1/2 oz ) with a single rechargeable AA battery. I was very surprised that the slave units on the flashes responded well to the trigger flash from the camera even in bright sunlight; could be because of the proximity of the in-built camera flash to the slave units. Of course everything has to be set to 'manual'. To cut down on the power of the flashes I had to use 2 layers of tissue paper over the flashes, attached by using rubber bands. The whole rig cost US $35 approx.

thanks everyone for looking in and for your comments,

[78Terp]

Yep, covering flash with a diffuser of a cheap variety works well! I used to do that with mu old point and shoot camera and flash.

[DrWan2015]

Nice images... I also use tissue to reduce the flash for macro... I wonder what the bugs think when you approach them with two 'antenna' looking horns on your head?

[catttan]

Nice images... I also use tissue to reduce the flash for macro... I wonder what the bugs think when you approach them with two 'antenna' looking horns on your head?

Mesmerised them to keep still until I have taken the picture, perhaps?