marek_wawa
Well-Known Member
Hi guys, I was asked to show you my lighting setup so here it is.
This is my way of photographing shells.
I am using an old Canon 5D DLSR camera with 50mm or 70mm macro lense but any other 50mm > lenses wil do. Using 35mm you could distort the item and you'd have to be too close. A cheap canon 28-70mm zoom lense will do as well, you don't need any super professional hi end prime lenses for this type of shots. Unless you already have them lying around
1. So let's start with the backdrop.
You can use any backrop you like, I prefer black backrops and black reflective material as a base for the item (nice reflection etc. but you can use white as well, depending on the effect you require.
If you do not have a black backdrop, you may use any black material or surface, it doesn't mater what it is.
2. The surface on whitch the item is photographed.
I use black 60cm x 60cm reflective plexi glass, I like whet there is a reflection of the photographed item on the black material underneath. It gives a more dimentional look and btw looks awesome
This material is very gentle and be sure it will scratch by even looking at it You can use black pvc but the reflection will be more suttle (is this a good word to use?
3. Lighting
And here is the tricky part I have two Elinchrom studio flashes with softboxes. I'm sure most of you do not have such stuff but You can always use chep lighting such as table lamps ect. You can always buy two 5500K studio bulbs for a couple of dollars each or a complete set of lamps with softboxes on stands for 40-50$.
If you want your background to be completly black, be sure to block any light spilled on it like that:
I don't need any light blockers couse of the grids on my softboxes, they make things easier by directing the light to fall straight on the subject.
4. Camera settings
I use Manual mode only to be sure I have everything under controll. The settings will be different each time. The settings depend on the focal lengh of your lens, the power of the flash/continous lighting etc. so this is something you should try out and experiment with.
I like my photos to be sharp so I like my shutter to be at least f/11. Shutter speed in my case is 1/100s.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.
Sorry for my English, I'm doing my best
Regards,
Marek
This is my way of photographing shells.
I am using an old Canon 5D DLSR camera with 50mm or 70mm macro lense but any other 50mm > lenses wil do. Using 35mm you could distort the item and you'd have to be too close. A cheap canon 28-70mm zoom lense will do as well, you don't need any super professional hi end prime lenses for this type of shots. Unless you already have them lying around
1. So let's start with the backdrop.
You can use any backrop you like, I prefer black backrops and black reflective material as a base for the item (nice reflection etc.
but you can use white as well, depending on the effect you require.If you do not have a black backdrop, you may use any black material or surface, it doesn't mater what it is.
2. The surface on whitch the item is photographed.
I use black 60cm x 60cm reflective plexi glass, I like whet there is a reflection of the photographed item on the black material underneath. It gives a more dimentional look and btw looks awesome
This material is very gentle and be sure it will scratch by even looking at it
You can use black pvc but the reflection will be more suttle (is this a good word to use? 3. Lighting
And here is the tricky part
I have two Elinchrom studio flashes with softboxes. I'm sure most of you do not have such stuff but You can always use chep lighting such as table lamps ect. You can always buy two 5500K studio bulbs for a couple of dollars each or a complete set of lamps with softboxes on stands for 40-50$.If you want your background to be completly black, be sure to block any light spilled on it like that:
I don't need any light blockers couse of the grids on my softboxes, they make things easier by directing the light to fall straight on the subject.
4. Camera settings
I use Manual mode only to be sure I have everything under controll. The settings will be different each time. The settings depend on the focal lengh of your lens, the power of the flash/continous lighting etc. so this is something you should try out and experiment with.
I like my photos to be sharp so I like my shutter to be at least f/11. Shutter speed in my case is 1/100s.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.
Sorry for my English, I'm doing my best
Regards,
Marek
Last edited:
