Last night I decided to try my new Sigma em-140 ring flash for my close-up photography. I am glad I did. It was a bit confusing at first because the instruction manual only gives some very basic instruction. I set up my shot with a black velvet background and used my Nikon 40 mm micro lens. The ring flash was set to have both tubes fire at once. I was able to take the photographs without a tripod. Below are two of my favorite photos from last evening. Both were taken with the 40 mm micro lens, at f/5.6 at 1/60s and ISO 100. The ring flash works great and I will let you know more about it as I learn how to use it. I think this is a great addition to my equipment for close-up photography.

Last weekend I came across these beautiful peonies and could not resist photographing them. The image below was taken with a Nikon D3100 with a 40 mm micro lens, an aperture of f3.8 for 1/2000s, and ISO 100. The camera was not tripod mounted.

I got down on the ground to shoot the photo below, but I realize now that the photo would have been much improved if I used a tripod. This was taken with the 40 mm micro lens, an aperture of f3 for 1/1000s, and ISO 100.

For this photo, I used the 18-55 mm lens at 82 mm, an aperture of f5.6 for 1/320s, hand held, no flash.