Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Photography major - Various supplementary light skills in macro photography

Various supplementary light skills in macro photography

Lead: When it comes to fill light, it is often associated with portraits, especially business portraits, and various fill light technologies emerge one after another. In addition to portraits, ecological lighting also has many skills. This topic introduces various ecological lighting techniques. Students who don't know come to learn.

Macro photography, various fill light techniques? I. Continuous light source

Continuous light sources include tungsten lamp and timely halogen lamps. Their greatest advantage is that they allow you to accurately predict the final image effect. But it will produce a lot of heat, which is not suitable for a delicate life. They may have to match the slow shutter speed, so they are not suitable for shooting moving objects.

Second, the brightness range of the subject.

Generally speaking, digital cameras can't shoot all the colors that the human eye can see. On a sunny day, the brightness range may far exceed level 8, and the bright place may be thousands of times brighter than the shadow. Ordinary digital cameras can only record a brightness range of about 5 levels, which means that the details of shadows or highlights may be lost, or both. We can change the light in many ways, such as a soft mask or a reflector, or we can use an electronic flash to create shadows? Fill the light? . Each accessory has its own characteristics, and it is worth trying more to see which one is more suitable for different subjects.

1, reflector

The main purpose of reflector is to reflect light to the shadow area of the scene and make it bright, thus reducing the overall contrast. We can use many things as reflecting surfaces, such as white cardboard, silver reflectors, mirrors and so on, which can reflect light to the shadows. Different surface materials and sizes determine their respective characteristics. Some manufacturers produce a series of circular reflectors, which can be folded into small bags for easy carrying. Lastolite produces various reflectors, including white, silver and gold. For most close-range and macro photography, you may only need a small reflector with a diameter of 30 cm, which is only about 10 cm when folded. White and silver are the most commonly used. Small pieces of white cardboard, silver cardboard or mirror cards are also worth standby. The silver cover of takeaway food packaging can be turned into a very useful reflector.

The light is too strong.

The white reflector is placed on the right.

Above 1 The light of this alpine plant is too strong, which produces a deep shadow. A white reflector is placed on the right side of Figure 2 below to reflect the light onto the shadow, thus obtaining a more pleasant effect.

2, soft mask

Place a soft mask between the light source and the object to soften the light. Create an effect similar to clouds covering the sun. Like mirrors, there are many kinds. You can buy a round foldable soft light mask or soft light umbrella in the market, or you can randomly change it into gauze such as brushed paper or greenhouse. If you use other materials instead of professional soft masks, such as drawing paper, you may need to verify whether its color is neutral and impartial. The simple method is to shoot 18% gray cards or similar items in the light of a soft box.

Different lighting effects

The dazzling sunshine cast a deep shadow. The brightness range of the subject is larger than that of the camera, and the effect is a black shadow without details.

(b) The reflector can be used to reflect light back to the shadow, reducing the overall contrast. A silver mirror is better than a white mirror. If there is a highlight on the upper right of the subject, it will not be affected by using silver.

(c) Put the soft mask between the subject and the sun, which will soften the sun like a cloud and dilute the bright highlights.

Step 3 flash

Electronic flash is characterized by small size, high power and uniform light. When used with a digital camera, it can be used as both the main light source and the auxiliary light in sunlight, just like a reflector. It is generally believed that flash can? Coagulation? Moving subjects, but the flash duration of many flashlights is only about 1/500s, which may also cause blur for high-speed moving objects. Like photographer Stephen? Stephen Dalton uses special high-speed flash equipment when shooting flying insects, which can flash 1/25000s or even less.

If you want to take photos in this area, you need to check the technical specifications of your flash. When shooting indoors, you can completely use the flash to illuminate the subject; When shooting outdoors, the flash can be combined with sunlight in various ways. No matter how you use the flash, the general principle is that its effect should not be too conspicuous, and the more natural it looks, the better.

The flash is placed at an acute angle with the sample to emphasize the texture.

Fish fossils embedded in flat limestone. In order to emphasize the surface texture, I put a small flash at an acute angle with the specimen. Pay attention to the ruler beside the specimen. 1/60s, f/ 1 1. Nikon D300, Nicole 105mm macro lens.

Fossils are placed in a soft mask to reduce uneven details.

Fossils are placed in a soft light cover (white plastic lampshade), which produces a softer effect and reduces uneven details. 1/60s, f/ 1 1. Nikon D300, Nicole 105mm macro lens.

From left to right are (a), (b) and (c)

(a) Use a lamp to illuminate the sea urchin from the left. The contrast of the image is very high, and the shadows lack details.

(b) A silver reflector is used to fill the shadow on the right side, but the back and background of the sea urchin are somewhat blurred.

(c) Put the flashlight behind the sea urchin to separate the main body from the background.

4, the combination of flash and sunlight

The combination of small electronic flash elements and sunlight can balance the light ratio. The output of the flash can be adjusted according to the intensity of sunlight, so as to adjust the flash intensity and realize various lighting effects. There are two main ways to use it:

Natural light is dominant, supplemented by flash; Flash is the main factor, supplemented by natural light.

Natural light is dominant, supplemented by flash.

Suppose you shoot mushrooms in a dazzling sunshine environment (suppose the brightness range of the subject is 400: 1). The exposure given by TTL photometry of the camera is 1/60s, f/ 1 1. If you add a flash to this setting and set the flash amount according to f/ 1 1, then the subject will be overexposed at this time because it has passed twice? Is that correct? Exposure. However, if the exposure compensation setting flash is-1 EV, the sunlight is the main light and the flash is the auxiliary light. You can try different exposure compensation settings. The exposure compensation of-1.7EV may have a good effect on subjects with middle tones. For subjects with lighter tones, -0.7EV is enough.

Natural light is dominant, supplemented by flash.

(a) When the light ratio is 400: 1 (highlights reflect 400 unit lights, and shadows reflect 1 unit lights at this time), one unit light is added to the whole scene by blinking.

(b) At this time, the light ratio becomes 40 1:2 or 200.5: 1, and the contrast is halved. Note that in this case, shadows are much more seriously affected than highlights. This is one of the reasons why wedding photographers like to use flash to fill the light on sunny days? The contrast between the bride's white wedding dress and the groom's black suit is too strong. Birds and wildlife photographers often use similar techniques, such as increasing the brightness of feathers or adding a bright spot to the pupils.

Flash is the main factor, supplemented by natural light.

If the same mushroom grows in dark and dense woodland, at this time, you can use the flash as the main light source and add some more? Spark? As a fill light. You may need to use an off-board hot shoe connection to place the flash on the side above the main body, or on the back or back. First adjust the aperture according to the flash (for example, f/ 1 1). If the standard speed of flash synchronization is1125s, the background will be dark or even black. On the contrary, suppose the flash is not used, and the shutter speed corresponding to the aperture f/ 1 1 is used? In some cases, it may be as low as 1/2 or higher than 1. Press the shutter, and the flash will expose the mushroom correctly first. At this time, the shutter will remain open for a long time, which will fill the shadow generated by the flash and shoot the background. This technology has an obvious disadvantage: if the subject is moving, such as in the breeze. Swaying, although the flash will solidify the subject for a moment, its exposure in natural light will

Form? Ghosts? .

Almost every outdoor shooting is different. Try more according to different subjects to achieve the ideal effect.

What we are discussing now is some basic principles of the combination of sunlight and flash. Some advanced flashlights? For example, Nikon SB800 can save us a lot of calculations. Like many cameras? Slow synchronization? Function, can automatically balance the ambient light and flash, and will prevent the background from becoming too dark through long shutter speed.

Wireless flash memory devices, such as? Nikon Creative Flash System? You can easily adjust the position and brightness of the flash without worrying about the extension cord. As shown below, the lobster flower (river pepper) in the glassplant greenhouse.

Flash is the main factor, supplemented by natural light.

(a) Shooting in the sun, 1/40s, f/8. The picture looks monotonous because of light scattering.

(b) Using two Nikon SB-R200 macro flashlights, 1/60s, f/8, the photos look sharp.

(c) Using two Nikon SBR200 macro flashlights, 1/30s, f/8, the photos show more sunshine and give people a more natural effect. Nikon D300, Nico 105mm macro lens.

5. Ring flash tube

Ring flash is a kind of circular flash tube, which can be installed in front of the lens to provide average shadowless illumination for the subject. They were originally used in medical fields, such as dental or surgical photography. Because lighting has no characteristics, it is only used for some themes, such as illuminating the internal structure of morning glory. Some components can be combined with two or more ring flashlights and can be controlled independently, thus creating creative lighting effects. When we use the traditional ring flash, we can try to cover a part of the flash tube (usually in the lower left or lower right quarter) to shape the hierarchy.

Early annular flash

The early ring flashes, which gives a very flat light.

1/ 125s, f/8, Nikon D300, Nico 55mm macro lens.

The ring flash can't show the depth or texture of this pitcher plant.

1125 seconds, f/8. Nikon D300, Nico 55mm macro lens

Hydrangea photographed by ring flash. Plane lighting shows all the details of plants. Pay attention to the shadows around a single flower.

6, macro special flash

Some manufacturers can install one or more flashlights in front of the lens, such as Nikon RC 1 remote control flashlight system, which is a ring device that can be installed in front of the lens, and eight small flashlights can be placed on it, and the position and angle can be adjusted at will. When you change from horizontal composition to vertical composition, this device can also be flexibly changed accordingly. Its ring can rotate, so it can ensure that the light effect of vertical composition is the same as that of horizontal composition. There is also a separate flash that can be used as a background or backlight. This system is wireless. Can it be controlled by a remote controller or a camera? Control mode? Supervision. The power of each flash head can be adjusted independently to obtain different light ratios. Each flash has a modeling lamp, which can accurately adjust the position of the flash, but the modeling lamp has little effect in strong sunlight.

Macro special flash lamp

Nikon SB-R200 macro flash mounted on the front ring of the lens. The power of each flash can be adjusted separately to set the main light and the auxiliary light. They emit infrared signals and flash through the camera's pop-up flash.

7. Customize the flash bracket

When shooting very small subjects in the wild, there may be some such occasions? It is not practical to support the camera with any tripod. You need to hold the camera. As we discussed in chapter 3, some macro lenses have been equipped with image stabilizers, but we may need to use flash, especially when shooting small insects. Many photographers use their own brackets to fix one or more flashlights when shooting insect subjects in the wild. Like them, you need a flexible bracket so that the flash can be placed in a certain range of the lens, such as at the top, side or other positions of the lens. The bracket can be assembled by metal belt, rigid or flexible pillar and spherical tripod head. You need an extension cord to trigger the flash when it leaves the machine.

If necessary, a low-power flash can be used to fill the shadow caused by the main light. You should be as close to the lens as possible, and the shadow filling outside the lens range is meaningless. You can also add a small reflector on the other side of the flash to fill the shadow. Soft light can be obtained by installing a soft light cover on the flash or sticking it on the lens. The main purpose of the bracket is to provide a small and flexible component for outdoor photography, so it needs to be portable, light in weight and easy to assemble and operate. The brackets in Figure 5. 17 are not very convenient for vertical composition shooting. Many manufacturers produce flash brackets, such as Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Wimberley, Novoflex and Manfrotto.

Custom flash bracket

Flash holder for outdoor shooting. Flexible with spherical head? Goose neck? The arm can fix the flash in various positions to create various lighting effects. (For clarity, the connecting line has been removed. But when shooting vertically, this equipment is inconvenient.

The shooting effect of using flash bracket

(1) When shooting this orchid, I used a flash stand.

(b) Pay attention to the warm colors of 1/60s and f/8 in the figure. Nikon D300, Nico 105 mm macro lens, Nikon SB800 flash.

8. Optical fiber lamp

Fiber-optic lamp is a small controllable light source. Generally, the timely halogen light source is installed in a metal box, and then the light source is transmitted to one or more flexible optical fiber bundles with a length of about 0.5m, which are made of glass fibers and used for guiding light, such as Kaiser Macrospot 1500 model. Some devices have electronic flash tubes, which can be good? Curing? Themes, such as creatures or small insects in a pond. The biggest advantage of fiber lamp is that the light emitted by fiber bundle is cold light, so it can be close to the living body. If necessary, the fiber bundles can even be soaked in water. Although the price is very expensive, fiber-optic lamps are very suitable for shooting small subjects, and second-hand equipment is also easy to find on websites such as Yi Bei. Be careful not to bend the fiber bundle excessively when using the fiber lamp, otherwise the glass fiber inside may break.

9.light box

When taking macro photography in the studio, it is very effective to use small light boxes to shoot transparent or translucent objects, such as leaves and ferns. Ideally, the light source should be the color temperature of sunlight, but you can easily adjust the white balance of the image in the software, especially when you use the RAW format. Once the main body is photographed on the light box, the rest of the light box can be covered with black paper to reduce glare.