Lighting techniques for flower photography

Light is one of the important elements in shaping the picture. It can be said that without light we cannot accurately reproduce everything in the world, and the same is true for flower photography. Below, we will focus on the different effects of flowers under light from different directions as examples to explain the importance of light and shooting techniques.

Smooth light shows the gorgeous colors of flowers

Smooth light means that the shooting direction of the camera is basically consistent with the direction of the light. The biggest feature of smooth light is that the subject receives even light, and there is no strong contrast between light and dark in the picture. Therefore, metering under this light method is relatively simple, and shooting can usually be easily completed with average metering.

Uniform and soft light can show the gorgeous colors of flowers, but when the light is strong, it often gives us dazzling color effects. At this time, we need to reduce the exposure by 1 to 2 stops to eliminate the interference of light intensity on the picture, and reducing exposure compensation is one of our common methods.

Light is one of the important elements in shaping the picture. It can be said that without light we cannot accurately reproduce everything in the world, and the same is true for flower photography. Below, we will focus on the different effects of flowers under light from different directions as examples to explain the importance of lighting and shooting techniques.

Smooth light shows the gorgeous colors of flowers

Smooth light means that the shooting direction of the camera is basically consistent with the direction of the light. The biggest feature of smooth light is that the subject receives even light, and there is no strong contrast between light and dark in the picture. Therefore, metering under this light method is relatively simple, and shooting can usually be easily completed with average metering.

Uniform and soft light can show the gorgeous colors of flowers, but when the light is strong, it often gives us dazzling color effects. At this time, we need to reduce the exposure by 1 to 2 stops to eliminate the interference of light intensity on the picture, and reducing exposure compensation is one of our common methods.

Oblique side light highlights the layers and colors of flowers

Oblique side light means that the camera is basically at a 45° angle to the direction of the light, and the light is illuminated from the oblique side of the subject. Different from straight light, the surface of the subject under oblique side light will show a clear shadow area. Depending on the light intensity, the light and dark contrast of the subject will also be different. When the light is stronger, the shadow area is more obvious, and the contrast between light and dark is stronger; when the light is weaker, the shadow area is weaker, and the contrast between light and dark in the picture is smaller.

Because oblique side light can make the main image appear clear light and dark areas, the three-dimensional effect will be more prominent and the visual effect of the work will be stronger. Since the main body of flowers is usually small, even strong oblique side light will not have a serious impact on our metering results. Therefore, general partial or average metering can deal with most light environments.

Backlighting highlights the light and shadow effects and layers of flowers.

Backlighting means that the shooting direction of the camera is completely opposite to the direction of the light. It basically shoots directly against the light. The biggest characteristic of backlighting is that the side of the subject facing the camera will have a large shadow area due to the backlight. The stronger the light, the greater the loss of detail in shadow areas. Therefore, when we face a backlit subject, metering is the most important thing we need to pay attention to.

Because the flower subject is small and the light has a reflective effect, usually even if it is backlit, the subject on the backlit side will still show some details. Therefore, we can still use local metering to obtain a relatively accurately exposed picture. In addition, the average metering method is also a good choice for us. The so-called average metering method refers to metering the highlight area and shadow area separately, and finally using the manual exposure mode and inputting the average value of the two meterings. The resulting picture can basically ensure that the exposure is within the normal range.

The unique effect under top light

Top light means that the camera shooting direction and the light show a 90° angle, which means that the light is illuminated from top to bottom, so top light The time of appearance is relatively fixed, and the time when the top light is strongest is at noon every day. If we want to get flower works with obvious top light effects, we can choose this time to shoot.

Since the top light illuminates downward, metering is relatively simple. Most of the shooting can be done using average price metering. In addition, the color of the picture will also change due to the intensity of the top light. When the top light is too strong, the color of the picture will appear "too white". At this time, we can try to reduce the exposure compensation to return the picture to normal.