Very commonly in Nature photography we come across people saying – either the light was bad or the light was harsh etc. Having such words etched in our minds when we go out the usual psychology is to avoid shooting when its low light or high noon light.
During one of the outings with Ganesh to Westernghats he showed us this new and unique world of opportunities when external light sources are combined for macro or landscape photography either during day or at night ! He has even penned down this in an article on his website called “Using Flashlight for Creative and Artistic Nature Photography“.
Having got inspired by this ( or rather over inspired by this ) my perception of macro photography changed when i started using more of flash lights and torches for macro photography applications.
Over a period of time i realized that its not just using a warm or a cool WB torchlight or using the off camera flash – the angle of light also can make a dramatic change in the images.
During an outing last weekend – i did realize that it was easy to induce artificial backlight ( my favorite concept ) by using torch light / flash light. Though i am just in the process of getting started in finding out the Good and Bad of this new trick – i made some futile attempts in making some images using multiple sources of light.
Until and unless specified – most of the images that you find in this post are made using a minimum of 3 sources of light
a. Main Light – Sun ( diffused by clouds most of the times )
b. Second Light – On the camera flash ( diffused using white cloth )
c. Third Light – Torch light ( Cool WB type / LED )
As am not a strobist guy, i didn’t spend much time in getting the lighting diagrams for these. But going forward when i do some serious tries on these – i will definitely give some pointers using lighting diagrams 🙂
Until next time – Keep smiling
Shiva,
This is a very interesting post. It’s amazing to see how light plays a vital role in creating different moods and how the mood impacts the viewer. I would also love to see an image with “strong backlighting” effect. Overall a great blog post.
Pramod Viswanath
I think you have some awesome images here. Love the details and the lighting here. Western ghats— a dream always for me. :),hope to go there someday with you guys. Keep shooting and enjoy.
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