Another Butterfly.

[JohnP]

Taken at the Butterfly Zoo at Symonds Yat near Ross-on-Wye.

 

The Postman - Heliconius melpomene.

 

 

Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Sigma Ringflash, 1/250s f/22.0 at 135.0mm iso400

 

 

[annie]

lovely john. I always think they look so ice when you manage to get one settled on a flower...

[JohnP]

Thank you annie... have you been having a sleepless night?... 02.08am!!!

[annie]

yes john.....very much so.

[Guest DaveW]

Much better background for this one John. Less competing for attention with the butterfly itself.

[JohnP]

Dave... you wrote several replies to my posts when I was considering buying a ringflash,  yesterday was my first serious outing with it... what do you think of all my butterfly shots with regard to the ringflash... baring in mind I was learning how to use it as I've not had a flash since my 35mm SLR days.

[Guest DaveW]

I think the exposures are very good John.

 

Intrigued by the shadow under the right wing because the shot seems to have been taken straight on from the butterfly.   Are both ring segments on full power, or on different power settings for better modelling since you seem to be fairly central on the subject?  Or have you simply cropped the picture afterwards in order to centre the butterfly since it was taken a bit more from the left hand side and above?

 

Bugmeister is who you should ask since he uses a switchable segment ringflash.

[JohnP]

Dave... I remember struggling a bit with this one as I was holding the camera at arms length due to a large bushy plant in my way, I used the articulating LCD screen to frame the shot as I was unable to use the viewfinder. I did have to crop the image to my liking and both flash tubes were set on full power. I have got to learn how to get the best out of the ringflash but I think I did OK first time out with it.

[bugmeister]

. I have got to learn how to get the best out of the ringflash but I think I did OK first time out with it.

No argument there, you certainly got some crackers with it.

[JohnP]

No argument there, you certainly got some crackers with it.

 

Thank you... I take that as a compliment coming from you.

[Guest DaveW]

Yes I was trying to analyse the lighting direction and though the image appeared to be taken straight on the shadow under the wing was indicating the main light was coming from the left and slightly above.  So I thought it was either the left half of the ringlight on higher power or some cropped off the left side of the original image.

 

Macro lighting is no different to lighting for portraiture, but on a miniature scale. With both yours and Bugmeisters ring flashes having switchable segments you can make one half the main or key light and the other half the fill light to vary the depth of the shadows.

 

This link is for portraiture, but illustrates the principles of using different powers on each ring section to provide the effect of key and fill light. In nature we only have the sun as our source of light, so that is the key light and the fill light is provided by natural reflection varying the intensity of the shadows. Note the link is for the illustrations showing the effect of different key to fill ratios. With a switchable ring light you have no need to meter for the lighting ratios as they are preset on the ring light itself.

 

http://digital-photography-school.com/lighting-ratios-to-make-or-break-your-portrait

 

Note on the first monochrome portrait at 1:1 how the nose and cheeks are not modelled as well as with 2:1 ratios onwards.

 

Ring lights can produce shadowless lighting when the whole of the ring is on equal power. Directional light however provides a little better modelling and reveals the texture that flat lighting obscures.  So varying the power of the ring segments can reveal more detail in the image, but obviously you don't have to overdo it otherwise you finish with clogged up shadows.

 

No arguments, both Bugmeisters and your ring lights are working well.

[JohnP]

Thank you Dave... I've bookmarked the link to study in due course.

[Heather]

love this one john