Macro Flash: a Homemade Diffuser

I just bought a new macro lens (Nikon 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor). Stephanie and I have been having a blast using it to take spider photos. We've been getting some nice ones, like this photo of a Pelegrina aeneola jumping spider taken last weekend at Wood Camp, up Logan Canyon.



As happy as I am with this shot, I don't really like the sharp shadows under the spider. I think it looks too obvious that a flash was used (which it was, of course). So yesterday I bought some cardboard and some vellum from the USU bookstore, and tonight I made my own flash diffuser. Sure, you can buy a pre-made flash diffuser. They're not too expensive - starting around $5. But I didn't see any that were as large as I would like them to be, so I made my own.

I should have taken some pictures of the process of making the diffuser, but I just didn't think of it. So, here's a photo of the finished product:


And here's a photo of the finished product mounted on my flash.


Now, instead of having harsh shadows, I get a soft, even light - almost like shooting under an overcast sky. Compare these two shots of a key. Can you tell which shot used the diffuser and which one didn't? All the other shooting conditions were the same.




Finally, here's a photo of a Platycryptus jumping spider on the wall of our house taken with the new diffuser. Check out that natural-looking light!

White-winged Crossbill Irruption

White-winged Crossbills breed in Utah, but only in very small numbers. This fall, I found my first White-winged Crossbill ever up Logan Canyon. Now, they seem to be turning up all over the place, thanks to a large influx of crossbills from the north. Stephanie and I found a flock of them in Clarkston during the Great Backyard Bird Count a couple of weekends ago (photo above), and earlier this week I saw and heard a large flock of them at the Logan Cemetery. Today Stephanie and I went back to the cemetery to try to photograph them. We heard them fly overhead several times, but never got a good look or any photos. With all the spruces there, it is likely they'll hang around. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. This year, instead of trying to see as many species as I can in the county, I'm trying to get better at bird photography. And White-winged Crossbills are a species I'd really like to photograph better.

Update: Thanks to a call from my friend Jason, who notified me when he relocated the USU White-wingeds feeding closer to the ground, I got a few better shots. Here are a few of them (below).