A simple DIY macro flash bracket
Update: I like this bracket design better.
Off-camera flash is incredibly useful with macro photography, since at high magnifications you don’t have a lot of light coming into the camera, and the high speed of the flash helps to eliminate camera shake. There are a number of products that will enable this — flash brackets, wireless remotes, etc. — but the dirty secret of photography is that things like this cost money. Sometimes, serious money. So I made a flash bracket that puts the flash about 8″ from the camera, and can provide some adjustment of height as well. This doesn’t sound like a lot, especially when thinking in strobist terms, but this is specifically for macro work, and 8″ in macro is quite enough.
First, what I had been using was a Cactus V2s wireless radio trigger handheld, mounted on a mini-tripod, or just placed on the ground someplace nearby. The problem with all these is that if I want the flash to get close, I usually have to go handheld, and that sacrifices stability and balance of the camera. The angular size of a light source determines how soft or hard it appears on the subject, so when you’re shooting a small insect, an unmodified strobe can work well at low power and a few inches away. Off-strobe modifiers, like diffusers and reflectors that help control the light, are simply not practical most of the time, especially when shooting skittish insects.
A macro flash bracket is different that a typical flash bracket used by, say, a wedding photographer. Those raise the flash height just enough to avoid red-eye. It’s still basically on the lens-subject axis, just a few degrees off. A macro flash bracket like this is going to be considerably further off-axis when you consider that the subject is about a foot from the camera.
I used the following parts:
* A mini-ballhead from a tripod I already had. These would run like $12 new.
* A flash shoe mount with a 1/4-20 thread on the bottom. At first I used the Cactus V2s receiver, and later switched over to an off-camera cord. A generic cold shoe is like $6 on eBay; anything would work here.
* A trigger of some kind. If you use the off-camera cord, that’ll do it and allow TTL; otherwise you’ll probably need to use a PC cord terminal and manual mode on the flash. If you don’t already have all the right cords and whatnot, just go with a third-party or used off-camera cord for simplicity.
* An 8″ mending plate with counter-sunk holes. $2.99 from my local hardware store.
* Two 1/2″ screws, 1/4-20. $0.67 each. I got the kind with the beveled head, since the holes in the mounting plate were countersunk. Thumb screws would be spendier but smarter, since you wouldn’t have to carry a screwdriver to adjust anything. Whatever you use, make sure it’s not the pointy kind :)
Giottos Mini Ballhead
Zeikos Off Camera Shoe Cord for Canon
Stanley Hardware 8″ Mending Plate
Electro Hardware 1/4-20×1/2 Thumb Screw
Purchasing any needed parts through the links will support this site. Disclaimer: I haven’t directly used any of them. I use a larger Giottos ballhead and wouldn’t hesitate to use one of their mini ballheads here; the off-camera cords are sold through Amazon, who has a good return and exchange policy if they flake out; and the hardware is pretty generic; as long as your screw or bolt has a wide enough head to cover the mending plate holes, or if you use a washer, it’s hard to go wrong with any of it. Of course, if you try any of these products based on my suggestion and they fail spectacularly, please let me know.
I mounted the ballhead to one side of the plate, and the receiver to the other. Then it’s just a question of attaching the flash to the receiver and the camera to the ballhead. Even if you have none of the parts, you can put this together for about $20 new.
By using the ballhead, I get some control over the position of the flash. I can raise it or lower it a few inches, and of course bring it forward or backwards. The pics only show it side-by-side with the camera, but with a ballhead its position is only limited by the length of the plate and the camera itself. It also keeps the mending plate away from the camera — the edges aren’t terribly sharp, but they could superficially scratch the camera. I stuck some rubber tape over the flash end, even though I doubt I’d hurt myself on it. Also, make sure to line up the ballhead so that its side notches are parallel with the plate — this will let it travel up and down.
Right now I’m triggering it with a PC sync cord. Even though I’m using the wireless receiver, its battery is starting to go and I’m getting banding at 1/250 shutter speed. I just ordered a used off-camera flash cord for $20 to swap with the receiver — it’ll get me a bottom-threaded shoe mount with better balance, and it should keep TTL functions if I ever decide to get a flash with TTL. Plus, I don’t see the point of using wireless triggers this close to the camera.
I’ll be really testing this out tomorrow, but I’ve taken one or two test shots already and it seems to work quite well.
Update: See my notes from my first outing with this bracket here. I’ve since replaced the Cactus receiver and PC cord with a 2′ off-camera TTL cable and it’s better in every way
– the balance is better, it’s more securely mounted, it doesn’t randomly disconnect, it’s easier to position on either side, and when/if I can upgrade to a TTL flash, it’ll come in even handier.
