Spiderman

Itsy bitsy spider crawled up against the wall...

Yes...the sun is slowly coming up and macro subjects are starting to emerge from their winter hibernation state. Spiders are superb macro subject with their 8 eyes and hairy bodies and especially Jumping Spiders are amongst my favorites!


So i set out to look for some Jumping Spiders and did not have to look for long to find one. I was looking for a new flash set-up as an alternative for the expensive Canon MT 24 EX system and after some internet seaching i came across the Gadget Infinity Twin Flash. The whole set-up is very inexpensive and allthough it's all plastic it does work fine and is wireless wich is a lot less bulky then the Canon alternative.
I did some modification to the set-up by placing the flash receivers and flash heads on both upper corners and added a mini ballhead where i will place a 3rd similar flas set later on to provide me with some fill flash from a higher point. The Holga flashes do put out quite a big flash and the provided fabric diffusers where not easy to handle and so i bought a pair of Gary Fong "Puffer Diffusers" wich are actually meant for pop-up flashes and cut the pins in half wich u usually use to attach them to the pop-up flash and superglued these to the flash heads so i can place the Puffer Diffusers but also be able to remove them again. I also turned the bracket around so the flash heads and receivers are placed more backwards for better contact to the trigger and more importantly to get the flashes closer to my subject.



The results look very promising and so far and i am very pleased with this cheap and very light set-up. The flash head can be positioned in different angles and give me the freedom to use them for regular macro work as well.


For those of you who might be interested...
Here's what the set-up looks like wich was used to get these 8:1 up to 10:1 magnification Jumping Spider shots:

It's the Canon Mark III, 36mm + 12 mm of extension tubes, a Canon 2x teleconverter and a reversed 28mm lens combined with the customized G.I Twin Flash. There is a small mini Ballhead in the middle between the flashes (wich can not be seen on this photo..) an this is to add a 3rd flash from the top. And last but not least is the small LED light to help me focus my subjects in the dark viewfinder.