Tips for shooting Macro with Full/Manual Flash?

[brownmola]

Hello, I have always shot macro with TTL with my film housing with great results. I am switching over to a digital Ikelite housing for my Digital SLR and unfortunately, my old Ikelite strobe will only fire on manual with the Digital SLR housing. When shooting a macro subject with manual flash, do I just adjust the flash power? 1/4 power, 1/2 power, etc...Or do you guys adjust the f-stop/shutter speed to get the desired exposure based on what you see in the LCD screen? I know I will be able to see the digital image and make adjustments but sometimes it is hard to see the correct exposure on the screen through the housing.

Thanks.

 

[alcina]

I only use manual flash when I shoot.

In a very basic nutshell:
I use the aperture to get me the DOF I want,
I use the shutter to give me background I want.
I use the strobe's power settings to give my subject the exposure I want.
I use my histogram to check exposure, not the image itself as screens can lie

 

[f3nikon]

Hello, I have always shot macro with TTL with my film housing with great results. I am switching over to a digital Ikelite housing for my Digital SLR and unfortunately, my old Ikelite strobe will only fire on manual with the Digital SLR housing. When shooting a macro subject with manual flash, do I just adjust the flash power? 1/4 power, 1/2 power, etc...Or do you guys adjust the f-stop/shutter speed to get the desired exposure based on what you see in the LCD screen? I know I will be able to see the digital image and make adjustments but sometimes it is hard to see the correct exposure on the screen through the housing.

Thanks.

Adjust the flash power to get you within the range of the correct exposure then fine tune with the aperture, the shutter speed has nothing to do with the flash exposure levels.

The shutter speed only controls the background light the aperture will control both the background and flash, you can use the aperture priority mode to let the shutter "float" or adjust itself the the correct background exposure while you adjust the aperture for the area where the flash is the main lighting, this is the same with film.

I know its hard to see but its better than the days of film where you have no LCD feedback, bracket, bracket, bracket.