I’ve posted a thread on the tech forum part but it seems its less frequented than here. Is it possible with my canon 600d to use flash modes to mimic good natural light close-up to an object? more info with pics of my issue on this thread: https://www.canonforums.com/threads...ects-help-suggestions-please.9678/#post-30999
The problem is that you are trying to light the subject with a small light source, forget LED rings they are virtually useless. Normally daylight is a large diffused light, except bright sunlight which because of the suns distance appears to be a small source and produces harsh shadows. You need to replicate the large diffused light. The easiest way to do this is use a more powerful light or flash to bounce the light from a white ceiling and/or walls, if you have coloured walls then you need some large white reflectors, you may need more than one light to get all round lighting. All light should be bounced from large relectors to imitate diffused daylight, no direct lighting.The larger the reflector is then the more diffused the light will be. This can also be done using softboxes which are lights contained in large boxes covered in a diffusing material, but with multiple softboxes but this can become expensive.
Yeah there is no simple answer here. Diffused light will be softer as Ray was saying and the light element can show through the the diffuser. Generally studios use very large softboxes, large light tents and big reflector panels for lighting. The flash modes in your camera are irrelevant, they do not create the lighting the read the light available and the flash attached and do some automatic calculation for you. The strobes/light panels/ speedlights, diffusers, reflectors etc that are setup in your "studio" create the lighting. The camera exposure is dialed into the light available, The wider the range of light in the scene the more contrasty it is, the less range of light the softer it is. In nature, this would be the difference between a sunny day and a cloudy day at its simplicity, cloudy days are great for portraits. So in thery you need a lot of light but not directly pointed at the subject, thats why the really large light box diffusing it, and the reflectors. The inverse problem here, is the further the light is the harsher it is, think the sun. So you will see large ligh sources right next to objects in the studio. I suggest watching a lot of youtube on lighting techniques. You camera model is irrelevant, you can get great images with a $50 holga and a roll of porta film, or a $32k digital Hasselblad, its all in the lighting technique used with lighting gear you have available, not the camera. In my college years it was bed sheets, and large studio strobes on loan, and foamcore for reflectors, now i have a couple foldable reflectors, a big softbox, and a handful of reflective umbrellas for my speedlights. The later is much more portable but costs a small fortune. . There are so many videos on the topic of lighting that can help you, this one is just an example from the top of a google search https://www.behindtheshutter.com/creating-natural-soft-studio-light-with-one-strobe/
Thank you Ray for your detailed reply. Can soft boxes be used directly onto the subject? There’s so many small details to capture within the small pieces of resin, i almost imagine a set of miniature tabletop soft boxes pointed at it, would give even light…would that be too many and unnecessary, or just use one large soft box light?
Thank you johnsey for your in-depth reply. I was really naive thinking my cheap light box would work! Its fine for certain materials and shapes of items, but terrible with glossy reflective items. The replies i’ve received make me realise i need to get better lighting equipment and experiment….many thanks!
The softbox isnt too hard to sort out, maybe the godox 47in octagon would be a decent idea once you have the lighting sorted, its larger than the standard umbrella. https://www.amazon.com/Reflective-U...lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A2OALE5PFYCEIQ&th=1 Watch a lot of videos on lighting setups and then do some research on gear you can get that will work with what you have as well as with any camera you may upgrade to in the future, he lighting piece will be the biggest decision. Reflectors and foamcore are cheap and will be a huge help in getting a lot of light bounced at your subject.
you may also want to check out Karl Taylor on youtube as he has videos on lighting product photography, for both the small simple budget and the high end stuff, he shows alot of really good techniques on product lighting as well as many other aspects of photography some with one light so with many also some macro photography my be beneficial for you to watch too, they use alot of diffuses to stop light glare on insect bodies and eyes so taking a look at their set ups will give you a direction to go in
Thanks so much for the tips. I’ve been watching lots of youtube videos and now have a better idea of bouncing light to create soft reflective light. Fingers crossed my next session looks much better!
good luck and definitely let us know how things are going as you work on technique or add any new gear
