Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: Bob_B on July 19, 2015, 01:07:29 pm
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With summer comes coneflowers, and with coneflowers come the bumblebees. Along with the sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), my backyard teams with pollenators, mostly species of bumblebees and several solitary bee species. Sadly, I have seen very few honeybees and fewer butterflies this year. I hope this changes, but for now bumblebees rule. Lately, I've been experimenting with various lighting setups for nature macrophotography. This photograph was taken with my Canon 7D, 24-70mm EF lens, and a Yongnuo YN568EXII flash. I hope you like it, and that you too see many bees in your backyard. As always, thank you for taking a look, and I welcome your C&C. - Bob
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It does look very "flashy", with strong, harsh shadows. A diffuser might help.
Jeremy
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I like the bright color and hedgehog effect of the coneflower.
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It does look very "flashy", with strong, harsh shadows. A diffuser might help.
Jeremy
I think it's intentional to enhance the colors.
But you can have another point of view ;)
Thierry
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Coneflowers have those strong colors under daylight.
Some people get great results on macro flash subjects by parking a colored backdrop (test print or some such) behind the subject sufficiently far away that out of focus blur renders it "just color". This avoids the black background. Diffusers are another matter - there are as many home-made diffuser types as there are macro photographers. The Fred Miranda macro forum has a top thread "show your set-up" that gives lots of possibilities for effective diffusers made from white foam disposable plates, frosted plastic cups or bottles, packing wrap, "vellum paper", and so on.
Some plant species are dependent on specific types of pollinators. Bumblebees are great pollinators because their tongues are longer than most other bees.
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Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate your thoughts!
Jeremy: Yes, you're quite right in labeling it flashy. My goal in this experiment was to isolate the subject, and get a crisp, properly exposed image. In my next set of photos, I'll aim to bring in more suitable backgrounds by altering flash levels and (possibly) adding artificial backdrops.
NancyP: Thanks for the tip about the Fred Miranda forum. I'll check it out. I have a few diffusers, but didn't bring them along for this run, as I had other things (exposure settings, compensation, TTL mode settings, etc) to work out. Now that they're out of the way, I'll concentrate on lighting quality.
To all: thanks for viewing.
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B - The light is too harsh and distracting. Sometimes for subjects like this...I will use the light below (with or without some kind of diffuser)...either handheld or on a lightstand depending. The quality of light is very nice especially on small blooms like this. /B
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/784071-REG/Vidpro_Z_96K_Professional_Photo_Video.html (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/784071-REG/Vidpro_Z_96K_Professional_Photo_Video.html)
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Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate your thoughts!
Jeremy: Yes, you're quite right in labeling it flashy. My goal in this experiment was to isolate the subject, and get a crisp, properly exposed image. In my next set of photos, I'll aim to bring in more suitable backgrounds by altering flash levels and (possibly) adding artificial backdrops.
NancyP: Thanks for the tip about the Fred Miranda forum. I'll check it out. I have a few diffusers, but didn't bring them along for this run, as I had other things (exposure settings, compensation, TTL mode settings, etc) to work out. Now that they're out of the way, I'll concentrate on lighting quality.
To all: thanks for viewing.
Just learn to use fill flash and your images will look natural, as is they are too contrasty.
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Just learn to use fill flash and your images will look natural, as is they are too contrasty.
Fill flash and natural in the one sentence??? I find that odd. Bob obviously likes the flower contrasty and I think his vision should be respected and not told it is wrong. His rendering is subjective and I understand some photographers like their flowers to have soft muted colours. There is scope for both contrasty as well as muted. Personally I like it as it is. :)
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Fill flash and natural in the one sentence??? I find that odd. Bob obviously likes the flower contrasty and I think his vision should be respected and not told it is wrong. His rendering is subjective and I understand some photographers like their flowers to have soft muted colours. There is scope for both contrasty as well as muted. Personally I like it as it is. :)
You find everything odd stamper.
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You find everything odd stamper.
Certainly not.....more praise for images than criticism. :)
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B - The light is too harsh and distracting. Sometimes for subjects like this...I will use the light below (with or without some kind of diffuser)...either handheld or on a lightstand depending. The quality of light is very nice especially on small blooms like this. /B
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/784071-REG/Vidpro_Z_96K_Professional_Photo_Video.html (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/784071-REG/Vidpro_Z_96K_Professional_Photo_Video.html)
Thanks brandtb. I have not tried LED lighting, and this may be a good reason to do so. - Bob
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Check out this thread on artificial backgrounds to avoid the black flash look. Raid your kids' art box.....
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55719549