#14 - Lighting to Isolate Subject

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:04 pm

Here the result of an afternoon playing with light.

I decided to use only the head because I couldn't get the whole subject in focus with my macro lens and the cord on the ringflash is to short to get close enough to the subject when I used my other lens. I know that it is a difficult subject but I simply wanted to try it. If you think it is useless I will try an easier subject, anyway I have learned a lot from this.

And the full size photo.

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 4:27 pm

Well done.

Glass is very difficult to shoot. Not only is it difficult to light, it is difficult to find a good surface to focus on.

This works well. I would suggest you try again using a more conventional subject so that you can see the effect that this will normally have.

What is the actual background color?

It is interesting to note that when shooting natural pearls there is NOTHING to focus on. Each layer of the pearl is translucent and it offers no solid surface to focus on. As a rule the photos you see of pearl jewelery are actual shots of imitation pearls.

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:50 pm

Thank you Packard for your compliment, I was fairly satisfied with it but it is a difficult subject. The background colour was black (an old pair of trousers of mine) and the base is the black foam back of a mouse-pad. The full size photo is really how it was, only sharpened a touch after resizing.