Introduction: When it comes to fill light, often associated with portraits, especially commercial portraits, a variety of fill light skills are endless. In addition to portraits, ecological fill light is also a lot of skills Oh, the topic introduces a variety of ecological fill light skills, did not understand the students quickly to learn it.
A continuous light source
A continuous light source includes tungsten lamps and quartz halogen lamps. Their biggest advantage is that they allow you to accurately predict the final image result. However, they generate a lot of heat and are not suitable for delicate life forms. They may have to be paired with slower shutter speeds, so they're not suitable for moving subjects.
The brightness range of the subject
Generally, digital cameras do not capture all the tones that the human eye can see. On a sunny day, the brightness range can be well over 8 stops, and the bright spots can be thousands of times brighter than the shadows. An average digital camera can usually only record a brightness range of about 5 stops, which means that detail in the shadows or highlights may be lost, or both. We can change the light in a number of ways, such as a softbox or reflector, or we can use an electronic flash to give the shadows ? fill in the light? Each accessory has its own characteristics and it's worth experimenting to see which one works better for different subjects.
1. Reflector
The main purpose of a reflector is to reflect light into the shadow areas of a scene, brightening it up and thus reducing the overall contrast. There are many things we can use as reflective surfaces, such as white cardboard, silver reflectors, and mirrors to reflect light onto shadows. Different surface materials and sizes determine their own characteristics. Some manufacturers produce a range of round reflectors which can be folded into easy to carry pouches.Lastolite produces a variety of reflectors including white, silver and gold. For most close-up and macro photography you will probably only need a small reflector with a diameter of 30cm, they fold up to about 10cm in size, white and silver are most commonly used. Small pieces of white, silver or mirrored cardstock are also worth keeping on hand. The silver lids of takeaway food packages make great reflectors.
Over-intense lighting
White reflector placed on the right
Above 1 This alpine plant is over-intensely lit, creating deep shadows. The white reflector placed on the right side in image 2 below allows the light to reflect on the shadows, resulting in a more pleasant effect.
2. A soft mask
A soft mask is placed between the light source and the subject to soften the light. It creates an effect similar to clouds covering the sun. Like reflectors, they come in a variety of types, and can be bought in the market round foldable softbox or soft umbrella, but can also be randomly used, such as drawing paper or cover the greenhouse tulle instead. If you use another material instead of a professional softbox, such as drafting paper, you may need to verify that it is neutral in color and not off-color. An easy way to do this is to photograph 18% gray card or similar items in the light of a softbox.
Different lighting effects
(a) Harsh sunlight casts deep shadows. The brightness range of the subject is greater than the camera can record, and the effect is black shadows without detail.
(b) Reflectors can be used to reflect light back into the shadows, reducing the overall contrast. A silver reflector works better than a white reflector, and if there are highlights in the upper right of the subject, using silver will not affect them.
(c) Place a softbox between the subject and the sunlight, it will soften the sunlight like a cloud and fade the bright highlights.
3. Flash
The electronic flash is characterized by its small size, high power, and consistent light. When used with a digital camera, it can be used as the main light source, but also in daylight as an auxiliary light to use, like a reflector. It is widely believed that flash can? freeze? moving subjects, although many flashes only have a flash duration of about 1/500s, which may also cause blurring for high-speed moving objects. Photographers like Stephen Dalton, who has been working on his own for over a decade, have been known to use flash to freeze subjects in motion. Stephen Dalton (Stephen Dalton), who shoots insects in flight, uses specialized high-speed flash equipment that can flash for up to 1/25,000s or less.
If you want to take photos about this, then you need to check the technical specifications of your flash. When shooting indoors, you can light your subject entirely with flash; when shooting outdoors, flash can be used in various ways in combination with daylight. Regardless of how you use your flash, the general rule is that it shouldn't be overly conspicuous, and the more natural it looks, the better.
The flash is placed at an acute angle to the specimen to emphasize the texture
A fossilized fish embedded in a flat piece of limestone. To emphasize its surface texture, I placed a small flash at an acute angle to the specimen. Note the scale next to the specimen. 1/60s, f/11. Nikon D300, NIKKOR 105mm macro lens.
The fossil was placed in a softbox to minimize bumpy detail
The fossil was placed in a softbox (a white plastic lampshade) to produce a softer effect with less bumpy detail.1/60s, f/11. Nikon D300, NIKKOR 105mm macro lens.
From left to right, (a)(b)(c)
(a) Lighting the sea urchin from the left with a lamp, the image is high contrast and lacks detail in the shadows.
(b) Lighting the shadows from the right with a silver reflector, but the back of the sea urchin and the background are somewhat blurred.
(c) Another flash behind the sea urchin separates the subject from the background.
4, flash and daylight combined
Small electronic flash elements and daylight can be used in combination to balance the light ratio. The flash output can be adjusted according to the intensity of daylight, thus adjusting the flash intensity to achieve a variety of different light effects. There are two main ways to use it:
Natural light as the main, flash as a supplement; flash as the main, natural light as a supplement.
Natural light as the primary, flash as the secondary
Suppose you are shooting mushrooms in harsh sunlight (assuming the brightness range of the subject is 400:1). The camera's TTL metering gives an exposure of 1/60s at f/11. If you then add a flash to this setting and set the amount of flash according to f/11, the subject will be overexposed at this point because it has been exposed twice? correct? exposures. However, if you set the flash to -1 EV exposure compensation, at this point daylight is used as the main light and the flash will be used as a secondary light. You can experiment with different exposure compensation settings. For a subject with a predominantly mid-tone, -1.7 EV exposure compensation might work well; for a subject with a lighter shadow, -0.7 EV is enough.
Natural light as the main focus, flash as a supplement
(a) When the light ratio is 400:1 (highlights reflect 400 units of light, while the shadows reflect 1 unit of light at this time), add one unit of light to the whole scene by flash.
(b) At this point the light ratio becomes 401:2 or 200.5:1, halving the contrast. Note that the shadows are affected far more severely than the highlights in this case. This is one reason why wedding photographers like to use flash to fill in the light on a sunny day? The contrast between the bride's white wedding dress and the groom's black suit is too much. Similar techniques are often used by bird and wildlife photographers, such as increasing the brightness of feathers or adding a little highlight to pupils.
Flash as the main source of light, supplemented by natural light
If the same mushrooms are growing in a dense woodland in low light, then a flash can be used as the main source of light, with some ? Sparks? as fill light. You may need to use an off-camera hot shoe cable to place the flash on the side above the subject, or on the back side, or on the back. Start by adjusting the aperture (e.g. f/11) to the flash. If you use the standard speed of 1/125s for flash synchronization, the background will be dark, even black. Instead, assuming no flash is used, use the shutter speed corresponding to the aperture f/11? In some cases it may be as low as 1/2s or more than 1s. Pressing the shutter, the flash first exposes the mushroom correctly. At this point, the shutter remains open for a longer period of time, which will fill in the shadows created by the flash and capture the background as well. There is one obvious disadvantage to this technique: if the subject is moving, such as in a breeze. Swaying, while the flash freezes the subject for a moment, its exposure to natural light can
create ? ghosting?
Almost every outdoor shooting situation is different, should be based on different subjects to try more to achieve the desired . The effect.
We are now exploring some basic principles of daylight combined with flash use. Some advanced flash? such as the Nikon SB800, can save us a lot of calculations. For example, many cameras have ? Slow Sync? feature, which automatically balances ambient light and flash, will prevent the background from becoming too dark by having a longer shutter speed.
Wireless flash devices such as the?
Wireless flash devices such as the Nikon Creative Flash System? can easily adjust the position and brightness of the flash without having to worry about extension cords. The image below shows a lobster flower in a glass plant greenhouse.
Flash as the main focus, natural light as the secondary focus
(a) Shot in daylight, 1/40s, f/8. The image looks flat due to scattered light.
(b) Using two Nikon SB-R200 macro flashes, 1/60s, f/8. The picture looks contrasty.
(c) Using two Nikon SBR200 macro flashes, 1/30s, f/8, the photo shows more daylight and gives a more natural effect. Nikon D300, NIKKOR 105mm macro lens.
5. Ring Flash
A ring flash is a circular flash tube that can be mounted to the front of the lens to provide average shadowless illumination of the subject. They were originally used in the medical field, such as dental or surgical photography. Due to the featureless illumination, they are only used for certain subjects, such as illuminating the internal structure of a trumpet flower. Some components can be grouped with two or more ring flashes and controlled independently of each other, so that creative lighting effects can be created. When we use a traditional ring flash, we can try to cover part of the flash tube (usually the lower left or lower right quarter) to create layers.
Early ring flash
Early ring flash, which gave a flat light.
1/125s, f/8, Nikon D300, NIKKOR 55mm macro lens
The ring flash doesn't show the depth of field or texture of this hogweed.
1/125 sec, f/8. Nikon D300, NIKKOR 55mm macro lens
Ring flash shot of a hydrangea. The flat lighting shows all the details of the plant. Note the shadows around individual flowers.
6. Macro-specific flashes
Some manufacturers produce components that allow one or more flashes to be mounted in front of the lens, such as the Nikon RC1 Remote Flash System, which is a ring-shaped unit that fits in front of the lens and on which you can place up to eight small flashes, all of which can be adjusted to a random position and angle. When you change from a horizontal to a vertical composition, the unit is flexible enough to change accordingly. Its ring can be rotated to ensure that the lighting effect in a vertical composition is the same as in a horizontal one. There is also a separate flash for background lighting or backlighting. The system is wireless and can be controlled remotely, or via the camera's ? Control Mode? control. The power of each flash head can be adjusted individually to get different light ratios. Each flash has a modeling light to precisely adjust the position of the flash, although the modeling light is not very useful in strong daylight.
Macro-specific flash
The Nikon SB-R200 macro flash mounted on a ring in front of the lens. The power of each flash can be adjusted individually to set the primary and secondary light. They are triggered by an infrared signal from the camera's pop-up flash.
7. Customized flash brackets
There may be some occasions when shooting very small subjects in the field? It is not practical to support the camera with any tripod, and at this point the camera needs to be hand-held. As we have already discussed in Chapter 3, some macro lenses are already equipped with image stabilizers, but we may also need to use a flash, especially when photographing small insects. Many photographers use their homemade stands that hold one or more flashes when photographing insect subjects in the field. Like them, you will need a flexible bracket to arrange the flash within a certain range of the lens, such as on top of the lens, to one side, or in some other position. A bracket can be made by grouping metal straps, rigid or flexible struts, and a ball head. When the flash is placed off-camera, you need an extension cord to trigger the flash.
If necessary, use another lower-powered flash to fill in the shadows caused by the main light. It should be positioned as close to the camera as possible; there's no point in filling in shadows that are out of lens range. You can also add a small reflector on the other side of the flash to fill in the shadows. A softer nature of light can be obtained by placing a softbox over the flash or stuck over the lens. The main purpose of a stand is to provide a small, flexible component for outdoor photography, so it needs to be portable, lightweight, and easy to assemble and handle. The bracket in Figure 5.17 is not very convenient for vertically framed shots. Many manufacturers make flash brackets, such as Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Wimberley, Novoflex, and Manfrotto.
Customized flash bracket
Flash bracket for outdoor shooting. A flexible one with a ball head? gooseneck? arm can hold a flash in a variety of positions to create a variety of light effects. (Connecting cables have been removed from the picture for clarity and visibility.) However, this device is less convenient when shooting vertically.
Results with a flash bracket
(a) I used a flash bracket when photographing this orchid.
(b) Note the warm 1/60s at f/8 in the image. Nikon D300, NIKKOR 105mm macro lens, Nikon SB800 flash.
8. Fiber optic lights
Fiber optic lights are tiny light sources that are highly controllable. Typically, a quartz halogen light source is mounted in a metal box, and then the light source is transmitted to one or more flexible fiber optic bundles about 0.5m long, the fiber optic bundles are made of glass fibers used to guide the light, such as the Kaiser Macrospot 1500 model. Some devices have electronic flash tubes, which work well for ? Focusing. subjects, such as pond creatures or small insects. The biggest advantage of fiber optic lights is that the light emitted through the fiber optic bundle is cold, so it can be close to living subjects. The fiber optic bundle can even be immersed in water if desired. Although expensive, fiber optic lights are great for photographing small subjects, and used equipment is easy to find on sites like eBay. Be careful when using a fiber optic light not to over bend the fiber optic bundle or the glass fibers inside may break.
9, light box
When macro photography in the studio, a small light box to shoot transparent or translucent subjects works well, such as leaves, fern leaves and so on. Ideally, the light source should be daylight color temperature, but you can easily adjust the white balance of the image in software, especially if you're using the RAW format. Once your subject has been photographed on a light box, cover the rest of the light box with black paper to minimize glare.