Lighting.

[Vikkki]

Hello,

I was wondering how I could light this scene better? I have a single SB600 and I am currently playing with a reflector for the other side. In the picture below, I have lit the scene from the camera left with the SB600 at around 1/64 power.



Somehow I am not satisfied with this picture as the lower portion of the scene is very dark and do what I may, I am unable to light the entire glass properly.

I was looking to get the following lighting (another flickr member's picture). From what I saw abt the details about the below shot, the setup was very similar to my setup. Yet, I am unable to reproduce that effect.. Any help regarding this will be great!



Further, I would appreciate if you could add your POVs as to how to make this shot better!

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 27 mm
Exposure: 0.00
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: +14/3 EV

[Samanax]

Originally Posted by Vikkki

I was wondering how I could light this scene better? I have a single SB600 and I am currently playing with a reflector for the other side. In the picture below, I have lit the scene from the camera left with the SB600 at around 1/64 power.

Somehow I am not satisfied with this picture as the lower portion of the scene is very dark and do what I may, I am unable to light the entire glass properly.

I was looking to get the following lighting (another flickr member's picture). From what I saw about the details about the below shot, the setup was very similar to my setup. Yet, I am unable to reproduce that effect.. Any help regarding this will be great!

From what I can see, the surface that the glass is sitting on in the second image is not reflective like the surface in the first shot so it's catching the light and making the surface visible.

Exactly where was the SB600? How far from the subject and from what angle? Was it level with the glass or did you have it higher pointing down?

You also don't have ice around the bottom of your glass...it's the ice that is lit up in the second image. The bottom of that glass is pretty dark.

Originally Posted by Vikkki

Further, I would appreciate if you could add your POVs as to how to make this shot better!

Personally, I think the first one is a much stronger image than the second one.

[ttosifa]

I too like the first picture better than the second, yet agree on the need for more light at the bottom of the glass. No offense to the person who took the second pic, but the lighting is crude and uncontrolled.

The reason the second pic has so much light at the base of the glass is, well, the photographer aimed the light at the base of the glass. The light is directly hitting whatever the glass is sitting on (in that pic, the light is camera right).

As to improve your lighting, definitely get a copy of "Light: Science and Magic." What you are trying to do here is what they call "dark field lighting." There are many aspects to this, and I cannot do it adequate justice here. Until your book arrives, however, try putting a reflector on the left side too (the side with the light). Aim the light so that you get the nice speculars you have in the splash, but also so that light bounces from the right reflector back onto the left reflector. You might need to move your reflectors in really close. Also, consider putting additional reflectors on your background but just out of camera view.

Good luck.

[Vikkki]

Originally Posted by Samanax

Exactly where was the SB600? How far from the subject and from what angle? Was it level with the glass or did you have it higher pointing down? .

Samanax, thanks for your time. The SB600 is immediately outside the frame on the camera left. The white reflector is immediately outside the frame on the camera right. Both the reflector and the flash are in level with the subject.

[Vikkki]

Originally Posted by ttosifa

As to improve your lighting, definitely get a copy of "Light: Science and Magic." What you are trying to do here is what they call "dark field lighting." There are many aspects to this, and I cannot do it adequate justice here. Until your book arrives, however, try putting a reflector on the left side too (the side with the light). Aim the light so that you get the nice speculars you have in the splash, but also so that light bounces from the right reflector back onto the left reflector. You might need to move your reflectors in really close. Also, consider putting additional reflectors on your background but just out of camera view.

Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback and the suggestion. I'll get the book for sure. Let me retry the same shot with reflectors placed where you suggested and see. I'll post the picture here for your feedback. Thanks again.

Vikram.

[peeperita]

i think your aperture is the culprit as it has a direct effect on your flash range.....f16 is small and not allowing a lot of light into your lens....this link might help.....

peeper

[ttosifa]

Originally Posted by peeperita

i think your aperture is the culprit as it has a direct effect on your flash range.....f16 is small and not allowing a lot of light into your lens....this link might help.....

peeper

It depends on what the OP wants from the picture. Personally, I think the exposure of the lemon (?) is just fantastic and would want to keep it as is. If the OP feels that way too, then the way forward would be to get more reflective stuff put in the right places to take advantage of the fact that a glass "reflects what it sees." And it reflects what it sees very efficiently. To wit, the OP is only at 1/64 power now.

[peeperita]

Originally Posted by ttosifa

It depends on what the OP wants from the picture. Personally, I think the exposure of the lemon (?) is just fantastic and would want to keep it as is. If the OP feels that way too, then the way forward would be to get more reflective stuff put in the right places to take advantage of the fact that a glass "reflects what it sees." And it reflects what it sees very efficiently. To wit, the OP is only at 1/64 power now.

i suppose i let my own opinion on the exposure of the lemon and the splash color my suggestion as to how to improve this image.....they appear fairly hot to me.....going for a larger aperture would allow for a lot of control over the flash....by taking down the flash and then balancing better with the ambient light with the shutter.....

[candleman]

the sb600 cant go any lower in manual mode than 1/64th
so i guess the aperture is fine for this exposure.

IMHO,
it may pay to stop down a bit, and pump up the flash, but dont necessarily hit the lemon directly.. you can fire past the lemon too... that will give more fill from reflectors

nice shot as it is tho'
keep up the good work.

[Vikkki]

Thanks Peeperita and candleman for your feedback.. I tried another shot today with a couple of extra reflectors on either side and ended up with this.




But I guess I kept the flash a little too close as a lot of highlights are overexposed.. Going to keep trying to better it though!