My normal lens of choice is a long reach zoom lens (the
Canon 100 – 400L IS lens – Full review here) as this lens allows me to keep a
fair distance from the dragonfly, so not to spook it and scare it off, and use
the zoom to get in nice and close for a frame filling shot. It is easily
possible to capture awesome dragonfly photos with a long reach tele lens, but
it is not possible to get macro shots of dragonflies using these lenses.
When I use my macro lens and want to add an extra burst of
light I can’t use the speed light I normally use for dragonfly photography (my
Godox TT350 – full review here) as the lens creates a shadow over the dragonfly
that the flash will not illuminate.
When I use my macro lens for taking photos of dragonflies I
have to use either my Yongnuo YN14 ring flash or Yongnuo YN24 macro twin light.
The specific macro flashes attach to the end of the lens, which means it is
impossible not to light (and hence eradicate) any shadow cast over the subject
by the macro lens.
Yongnuo YN14 ring flash (full review here)
 |
GUIDE NUMBER (ISO
100) – 14M/ ZOOM HEAD – NO/ TTL AUTO EXPOSURE – YES/ HSS – NO/ MANUAL – YES.
1/1 – 1/64/ FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION – YES/ WIRELESS TTL TRANSMITTER - YES/
COVERAGE – 360 DEGREES/ POWER – 4 X AA BATTERIES/ MINIMUM RECYCLING TIME – 0.1
– 3.0 SECONDS/ WEIGHT – 420G
|
Yongnuo YN24 twin light macro flash (full review here)
 |
GUIDE NUMBER (ISO
100) – 24M/ ZOOM HEAD – NO/ TTL AUTO EXPOSURE – YES/ HSS – NO/ MANUAL – YES.
1/1 – 1/128/ FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION – YES/ WIRELESS FLASH TRANSMITTER –
YES/ VERTICAL TILT – 50 DEGREES UP: 30 DEGREES DOWN: 30 AND 60 DEGREES LEFT: 30
AND 60 DEGREES RIGHT/ POWER – 4 X AA BATTERIES/ MINIMUM RECYCLING TIME – 4
SECONDS/ WEIGHT – 998G
|
Since I owned a couple of Yongnuo speed
lights I was aware of the Yongnuo brand and I was aware of the Godox quality. I
knew the Yongnuo ring flash wasn’t going to be a tough and robust as the Canon
and Sigma ring flashes but I knew it would still be well made, providing it was
built like my Yongnuo speed lights of course. The Yongnuo was far cheaper than
both the Canon and Sigma ring flashes, and since it did exactly the same job it
was obvious (to me) the Yongnuo YN14 was the ring flash to buy.
Long story
short, I took a punt and ordered one. It is an excellent ring light that is
easy to use, does everything I need it to and works as good today as the day I
first bought it. If you want an affordable ring flash that gives the biggest
bang for the buck you need to take a look at the Yongnuo YN14.
I went on a macro photography course a few years back and
had the opportunity to use the Canon MT24 twin macro light. This macro light
was awesome and it was put on my wish list, however due to the eye wateringly
high price tag I knew there was no way I could ever justify buying one and had
to make do with my Yongnuo YN14 ring flash. When Yongnuo released their YN24
twin light macro flash I immediately pre-ordered one.
The Yongnuo YN24 was a
fraction of the cost of the Canon MT24 and it was worth a punt. Even if the
YN24 was no good, it was still worth a gamble.
Since I owned other Yongnuo flash products I was aware what
I was likely to get, and when the YN24 was delivered it didn’t disappoint. The
YN24 is an excellent bit of kit and I am so glad I took a punt. It looks like
the Canon MT24, it works in the same way as the Canon MT24 and it produces the
same results MT24. Okay, it isn’t as tough and robust as the Canon MT24 but
when you consider it cost an eighth of the price of the Canon MT24 this is to
be expected. The YN24 is very well made and put together, like all the Yongnuo
flash equipment and I can seeing it is going to last a long time.
If you want to use a macro lens to take photos of
dragonflies you really need to invest in a ring flash or ring light, and you
won’t go far wrong with either the Yongnuo YN14 ring flash or the Yongnuo YN24
twin light.
Photography ramblings video playlist that may be of interest
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