The Flash

 Previously, I mentioned that I got an AK Diffuser.  These things are purportedly made to order, based upon the type of flash unit/camera combo you have.  In my case it was a Canon Speedlite 580EX coupled to a Canon R6 Mark II.  That flash is pretty old and has been discontinued by Canon for some years.  To compound things, the flash was very fussy about what camera settings it would work with.

I opted to get the Godox V860IIIC as a replacement for the Speedlite.  I got mine from B&H Photo for the $229 asking price.  To cover the cost of this extravagance, I sold a bunch of old silver coins from my coin collection for around $320 -- more than enough.  I'm thinking, hell, I'm 72 and I can't take them with me.  In addition, most of those coins were pretty worn and of little or no collector's value.  I was told that even some of the uncirculated coins would be melted down.

So in upgrading my flash unit, I was taking a big chance that my AK Diffuser would work with the new flash.  I had spoken with a customer support representative at B$H, and he told me the Godox was not going to fit the diffuser.  I also tried ChatGPT, and it, too, said it was a "no."  I wanted a third opinion and asked the Google AI for advice.  It asked me to snap a picture of the diffuser, and it said that due to the Velcro attachments, it WAS likely to fit.

Guess what?  When the flash arrived I immediately tried it with the diffuser, and it fit snugly.  I've shot a few things with it, and I discovered that the TTL setting on the flash worked very well.  To increase the exposure a little bit, I could get away with using a lower speed than I usually did.  Speeds in the range of 1/30 and 1/60 per second.  Something that I had read earlier said that slower speeds can work pretty well because the duration of the flash was enough to dampen the effects of camera shake.

A Visit to the Morgantown Botanical Garden

 As the the title implies, I toured the Morgantown Botanical Garden yesterday afternoon.  I saw this as an opportunity to try out my recent purchase of an AK Diffuser, which provides even lighting for macro photographs.  These are purportedly custom made for specific camera and flash combinations.

Using this diffuser, I took a variety of mushroom pictures in the woods.  Unpracticed as I am with using my ancient Canon Speedlite flash, I still had to resort to cranking the ISO level on my camera, alternating between 1000 and 2000 ISO. I've downloaded the manual for the Speedlite 580 EX, so now I can research how to increase the amount of light being emitted. 

Here's a cute little Yellow American Blusher (Amanita flavorubens): 

 

This is a tiny little Winter Russula (Russula cremoricolor) nestled deeply among the leaf litter:

As you can see, the AK diffuser provided an even lighting for what would normally be a dark, shadowy picture.

Finally, I was able to catch the Great Rhododendron (Charlie Brown), which was blooming in the forest:

If I had any sense at all, I should check out the Deckers Creek trail or the cliff at Coopers Rock State Forest for some more picturesque wide-angle shots.