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04-09-2008, 06:38 PM   #16
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It seems the flashlight / torch was held fixed so not painting with light. (Yvon, please correct me if I'm wrong.) If so, there's no reason you couldn't do this with a flash / strobe, at least an external one.

Yvon:
QuoteQuote:
The point is that you shouldn't use the camera flash as it would be a little too powerful.
Yep. On camera flash is extremely limiting. A strong ND filter in front of the flash would counter the "too powerful" argument, however.

Yvon:
QuoteQuote:
You need a small light source with a narrow beam.
Snoot your strobe.

Yvon:
QuoteQuote:
You don't want the background lighted as you want it dark.
Easy enough with a strobe.

Yvon:
QuoteQuote:
I actually took some more shots the following night and used a tissue paper in fromt of the flashlight. It did indeed softened the shadows, but, I'm not sure that the results were as dramatic.
Good point. Regardless of your external light source, you still have a choice in how hard or soft the light is.

See the strobist blogspot for info on the above.


As for the fake dew, I haven't tried this but I bet it works well enough...
  1. Put the flower in a cool / cold environment for a 20-30 minutes. I'm not sure on the time here. The flowers need to reach a relatively cool temperature, but don't freeze them. Try the 'fridge / ice box.
  2. Set up your camera & lighting. Know exactly where the flowers need to be placed, etc.
  3. Put a large plastic bag into a warm, humid environment for a few minutes (Try a hot shower, but out of the line of fire.) Seal the bag tightly, trapping lots of air. Leave the bag in the warm, humid environment.
  4. Move the flowers from the fridge to the "studio". Quickly move the plastic bag to the studio, open it and surround the flowers with the trapped warm, most air. Seal the bag around the flowers if possible.
  5. Wait a few minutes for the moisture to condense on the cold flower surfaces. Viola, morning dew. Then move the flower into position on the set and shoot away.

Cheers.

-Mark


Last edited by SWEngineer; 04-09-2008 at 09:24 PM. Reason: typo
04-09-2008, 08:49 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by SWEngineer Quote
It seems the flashlight / torch was held fixed so not painting with light. (Yvon, please correct me if I'm wrong.) If so, there's no reason you couldn't do this with a flash / strobe, at least an external one.



-Mark
The flashlight was still, no painting as you wouldn't have seen the harsh shadows. I suppose you could use a flash if you want to. This was an instant thought I had and it took me only 15 minutes to set everything up. Since we can correct the white balance easily when shooting RAW, I knew whatever the light source, I could correct the WB. It was my intention to make the flowers pop out, hence the high contrast. In the end, it's whatever you like. Soft lighting didn't work for my vision. Lots of good idea coming out.

Thank you for your comments,

Yvon Bourque
04-09-2008, 11:24 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Buddha Jones Quote
Kinda like putting flowers in a light-box, a very creative technique.
Buddha,

I just looked at your pictures on Flickr. You have come a long way since last year. You take great photographs...and of course, you use a great camera.

Best Regards,

Yvon Bourque
04-12-2008, 08:28 PM   #19
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this technique achieves one thing only: blackens out or minimizes the background. De-emphasizing background greatly emphasizes the flower, its colours, shapes; it really becomes the center of attention.

99.99% of flower photographs suffer from distracting background, as, I assume, photographers are understandably mesmerized by the blooms' outstanding colours and petal shapes.

Scanner photography gives similar results as it is a similar but superior lighting and exposure procedure.

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