My Christmas present: Yongnuo WJ-60

For the longest time, my macro photography always run into the problem of not getting enough light on my subjects, especially when I am extremely close to the subjects and with shallow depth of field.  This usually results in blurry and/or noisy (ISO-wise) photos.  A proper flash would be a solution, but in macro photography, a ring flash is probably even better.  However, being a poor graduate student, I cannot afford $100+ things on my hobby and am always looking for cheaper alternatives.

I found this Chinese-made macro photography LED light on e-bay and the seller actually has an e-store here in Richmond, and so I ordered one recently and picked it up today (for less than $50) at some apartment.

Here's what the light looks on my camera.  It takes 3 AAA batteries and has a plastic mount for you to put on the flash hotshoe or you can use the provided rings (comes in 58 and 62 mm sizes) that allows you screw directly in front of your lens.

When I "hang" the light in front of my 40-150 lens with Raynox 250 (because Raynox 250 is 49 mm, not 58mm) - the left photo is without the light and right photo with the light.  The extra light allows for a faster shutter speed and thus a much clearer photo.

Photos taken with the light properly screwed onto my 70-300 lens.  Left: without light; right: with light.  Once again, the extra light significantly improves the shutter speed and the overall image quality.

Since it is winter, I am forced to test the light on a plastic small car I found in my drawer rather than testing it on actual insects or flowers.  I can't wait for the summer to start to try it outside.

Hope everyone else had a pleasant Christmas.