I lately reviewed the Angler Circo LED Ring Mild however was disillusioned in its outcomes for portraiture. My pondering was that perhaps utilizing it in an atmosphere would hit the mark — and I used to be proper. I paired the ring gentle with my Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens to {photograph} some meals.
This experiment proved that you simply don’t must have a elaborate lighting setup with strobes throughout your studio with the intention to get some well-lit pictures. With a bit of work and a few cheaper gear, you can also make satisfying outcomes that will likely be ok to signify what’s on the desk.
The setup
For this setup, I labored with fellow Photofocus writer Cathy Seaver in her studio. We used a rolling cart and put a burlap materials on it, to signify a tablecloth. Then we discovered a chopping board and a white bowl.
After all, we wanted some meals. It was proper round lunchtime, and we each wished one thing vibrant, so we went over to Freshii to choose up two meals.
We began with my salad, and put that in a white bowl on the chopping board. We strategically positioned some carrots and cranberries so that they’d be a bit extra seen and a spotlight level.
I put the ring gentle diagonally behind the bowl and located that the 80% energy setting was simply sufficient gentle with out overpowering a number of the brighter parts. I performed round with my digital camera settings, in the end touchdown on 1/10 second shutter velocity at f/5.6 whereas taking pictures on a Vanguard Alta Professional 2+ 263AP tripod. The tripod’s three-way pan head made it tremendous straightforward to regulate the angle of my digital camera on the tripod, making for changes that took mere seconds.
Tweaks
I seen I used to be getting some heavy shadows on the lettuce. To avoid this, I moved the ring gentle from its diagonal place to sitting proper behind the bowl of meals. This eradicated a number of the stronger shadows and made for a extra evenly-lit bowl of meals.
Earlier than Lighting Adjustment
After Lighting Adjustment
You’ll be able to see that the tough shadows within the first {photograph} had been evened out by repositioning the ring gentle. It additionally made for softer shadows all through the {photograph}.
Shifting in
After I had just a few partial overhead pictures performed, I made a decision to take my digital camera off the tripod and go handheld. In any case, the fantastic thing about a macro lens is you can get actually shut!
I attempted specializing in the brighter parts within the bowl — primarily the cranberries and carrots. I shot these at a number of totally different angles. For these, I wished to get a broader depth of subject, so I shot as open as f/2.8 with a 1/40 second shutter velocity, and the ring gentle turned as much as full energy. Ideally, I might’ve had a sooner shutter velocity for a bit extra sharpness…however I restricted myself to 1 ring gentle.
We additionally shot some pictures with Cathy’s meal as effectively, which was put in a smaller, inexperienced bowl.
Nice outcomes
Whereas taking pictures with one gentle may be somebody limiting, it will possibly nonetheless give nice outcomes for issues like meals and different still-life objects. By utilizing a hoop gentle, you usher in a big gentle supply that evenly lights the topic, offering a dependable gentle supply with some nice (and attractive) outcomes.
