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Lighting technique for close-ups.
Photo 1
EF 17-35mm f/2,8L USM, 1/60s at f/4
EF 50mm f/2,5 Compact Macro, 1/125s at f/11, MR-14EX |
Do things that even the 550EX Cannot do.
Conventional Speedlites Cannot illuminate a close-up subject perfectly, so harsh shadows are produced. With a ring flash attached to the front of the lens, a subject can be properly illuminated even at close range. |
| If the subject is smaller that the ring flash, the light from the ring flash surrounds the subject and eliminates all shadows. Anybody can take shadowless shots with a ring flash. Close-ups of flowers and small tabletop objects will look like a pro photographed them. |
EF 50mm f/2,5 Compact Macro, 1/125s at f/11 - 550EX |
EF 100mm f/2,8, 1/125s at f/13 + 1/2-stop flash exposure compensation
EF 100mm f/2,8, 1/125s at f/13 + 1/2 stop flash exposure compensation |
Ring flash produces highly diffused light similar to natural light.
A ring flash provides a diffused, natural-looking light. When attached to the lens, it can only give front light. By detaching the ring flash from the lens, you can obtain a more flexible and natural-looking light. The most basic light is the top light, which illuminates the subject from above. For small subjects, a top light can achieve studio-like results with shadowless shots. Also, by placing the ring flash on the left or right of the subject, you con create natural-looking shadows. For indoor setups, you can also fire a modeling flash to preview the shadows produced. |
EF 100mm f/2,8, 1/500s at f/2,8 |
Effective for background blur.
A ring flash can be used as the main light or as fill light. For close-up subjects in front of a blurred background, you can use the ring flash to eliminate or soften shadows like a reflector would. In daylight, you need to use a large aperture to obtain good background blur. But this requires a faster shutter speed, one which cannot synchronize with the Speedlite. Therefore, you either have to use a smaller aperture and lose background blur or forget about using flash.
The Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX is the only macro flash unit able to synchronize with all shutter speeds. With FP flash, you can use any shutter speed with the flash. Even with the EOS 300/Rebel 2000, whose synchronization speed is 1/90 sec., you can use the maximum aperture and a faster sync speed to easily obtain excellent background blur. |
Part of Canon "Flash Work" / E-Version © by Daniel ROCHA
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