Alternate Light and Color source for macro shots

[atkinsondp56]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2890582...545169/sizes/m
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2890582...439844/sizes/m
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2890582...439992/sizes/m


Recently I've been trying to improve my capture of light and shadows. I've been using a few objects from around the house, some seashells, polished rocks, etc. and taking some macro shots with the object laid on my laptop keyboard surface. I didn't have the best lighting in the room so after playing around with it some, I opened up a blank screen in MS Paint, set the background in the file to violet, tipped the screen forward slightly and was actually kind of pleased with the outcome. The metallic surface of the keyboard does a good job of reflecting and diffusing the light and color and the "overhead" light from the screen can be easily adjusted for a variety of shadows and effects. It won't work for all types of macro shots but you may find that it works for what you need at the time.

This was taken with a Canon Powershot SD780 IS.
See: Flickr: More detail about 20100509-IMG_0179 for other details.