Advice for macro shots?

[Tim Schulz]

Hi all,

I’ve been experimenting with flash and macro photography.  For this shot, I placed the fly on a glass-top coffee table, put one flash under the fly, and had another flash on camera with a LumiQuest “pocket bouncer” to deflect the light.  The camera is a Canon 7D, the lens an EF100mm f/2.8 macro, and the exposure was 1/250, f/6.3, ISO 100.  

I experimented with other f/#, but a wider aperture put too much of the fly out of focus, and more narrow aperture brought too much of the background into focus.  

I realize some of this depends on personal preference, but I’d appreciate advice on two aspects:

1.  How do you decide where to set your f/# for a shot like this?

2.  How would you change the lighting for a shot like this?  (I found the combination of white wing and the dark peacock herl to be challenging.)

I appreciate any advice or pointers to other posts or links.

Thanks,
Tim
 

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