Ok -- I'm playing with still lifes. Lighting it with a speedlight and a shoot through umbrella. How in the world do I get rid of highlights on things? I know glass is nasty, but I seem to get highlights on fruits, porcelain, almost anything I'm shooting. I like the lighting that I'm getting, shadows are nice, everything else is nice, but how do I get rid of the hot spots?
Ok -- I'm playing with still lifes. Lighting it with a speedlight and a shoot through umbrella. How in the world do I get rid of highlights on things? I know glass is nasty, but I seem to get highlights on fruits, porcelain, almost anything I'm shooting. I like the lighting that I'm getting, shadows are nice, everything else is nice, but how do I get rid of the hot spots?
You want hot spots, the more the merrier.
I might even increase the power of your speedlights to accentuate them.
Hopefully that helps. Ask me again on Monday, I might have a different answer.
the control of life for stills in my experience has a lot to do with reflectors, scrims, and flags. i use black foam core stuff i got from the craft store as a flag when i want to avoid specific highlights.
you might end up using the wire from those dry-clean hangers + paperclips/clamps to hold this stuff in the right position.
You can really control things in small projects by having a decent sized soft-box as your primary light source (pretty close to your subject) and then multiple flags, and reflectors to control it as you need it. Add smaller lights to accentuate or fill in details.
edit: some people use "light tents" too. These are used more for churning out a buncha products that may not need too much work - but nothings telling you not to modify and improve. Its pretty much diffuse light from all ends (use a light tent or a white sheets with light- whatever works.
You can use a sheet near your subject to create a sort of soft box, the same effect as the umbrella, and when the light hits the sheet the highlight is big enough to become vague, as long as it doesn't eat your shadows.
my softbox has 2 layers of cloth and the corners blocked off. my umbrella tends to give a slightly harsher output, and has a bit more spill. if you got an umbrella, i'd try low power, really really close (inches) to subject, and leave no chance for reflections (flag off the corners). Try that? i haven't had to switch one for other yet - but i imagine it makes a diff. You might still consider a larger white sheet in front of umbrella to add to size of your light + diffusion.
I m not an expert, but this should work out just fine.
forgot to mention: reflect with something white like layers of non-glossy paper (or even cloth) generally works better for me than does foil-like silver/gold material (unless i specifically need that look).
forgot to mention: reflect with something white like layers of non-glossy paper (or even cloth) generally works better for me than does foil-like silver/gold material (unless i specifically need that look).
PWO contest run by a previous DPCer. Still life is due tomorrow. :)
Try bouncing the light, i.e. against a white wall near the subject, rather than lighting it directly.
Not an option. Don't have walls, really. Mostly windows. So I need to figure out how to work with the umbrellas. Closer does seem to spread out the highlights, but has the shadows falling off way too fast. Will have to try more layers over umbrella next time around. I wonder if diffuser head on flash inside of umbrella would do anything.
Imagine 3 scenarios that diffuse the light to the same extent.
The diffusion screen on the flash.
A shoot through umbrella.
A diffusion screen or silk just out of the image.
The diffusion screens are progressively further from the flash, larger and closer to the subject. The highlight they create will be progressively larger and therefore less hot given the same lightsource. From a laser to a foggy day, the highlights get bigger and softer.
Try bouncing the light, i.e. against a white wall near the subject, rather than lighting it directly.
Not an option. Don't have walls, really. Mostly windows.
If you have "mostly windows" maybe you can try shooting with natural light, perhaps using some reflectors near the windows to re-direct the already-diffused light.
forgot to mention: reflect with something white like layers of non-glossy paper (or even cloth) generally works better for me than does foil-like silver/gold material (unless i specifically need that look).
PWO contest run by a previous DPCer. Still life is due tomorrow. :)
Bizarre. An alternate DPC reality I didn't know existed. All the familiar names.
