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:
Quote: 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:
Quote: You need a small light source with a narrow beam.
Snoot your strobe.
Yvon:
Quote: You don't want the background lighted as you want it dark.
Easy enough with a strobe.
Yvon:
Quote: 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...
- 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.
- Set up your camera & lighting. Know exactly where the flowers need to be placed, etc.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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