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Re: [OM] Adventures in Macrophotography

Subject: Re: [OM] Adventures in Macrophotography
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 12:24:28 -0500
At 10:40 4/8/02, Walt Wayman wrote:
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "John A. Lind"
Date:  Sun, 07 Apr 2002 23:36:13 -0500


>The use of on-camera flash for "nature" macros is obvious in the
>photograph.  It creates a harsh, very direct frontal
>lighting "look" to them.

I most respectfully and humbly feel I must register a mild
disagreement, and I would reference my TOPE 8 submission as an
example of on-camera flash that produces results I wouldn't
exactly describe as either harsh or direct frontal lighting.  It's
a technique in progress, and I'm getting better at it.

Walt Wayman

Walt,

My definition (others may vary in how to describe it):
On-camera = in the prism hot shoe, or a ring-light around the lens.

Read the description of your setup. If I understand it correctly, it is an approximation of what portraitists would call "loop" lighting. Even though the rig was all tied together, it is not the direct frontal lighting that "on-camera" (by my definition) produces. Furthermore, you paid attention to balancing the light you provided with ambient background. It's how you were able to achieve something that looks much more natural.

If you had mounted the flash heads directly on each side of the lens filter ring (approximating a ring light with two flash heads), or used one of them in the camera hot shoe, and set up the flash level to overwhelm the ambient, I would bet money the photograph would look much, much different (the "black background" you wrote about avoiding).

I've recently found some of the lighting angles that look OK from pure lighting angle, but need to work more on attaining sufficient diffusion and perhaps provide some fill. I may try a bounce scheme next using a flat reflector (versus an umbrella).

-- John


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