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Direct
Light VS Backlight (July 17, 2007)
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| Canon EOS 20D, Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro HSM, Sigma 2.0x
TC, 0.3" f/16, iso 100, tripod. Trebbia Valley, Italy. |
I was crawling around between the bushes with the
tripod in front of me, trying to get close to an elusive dragonfly,
when I've seen a green thing few meters from me. I slowly got close
and I was really happy to see that it was a marvelous mantis! I had
the best light that I can wish for (I was at sunrise), and the 360mm
focal length helped me to get a nicely smooth background, and it gave
me a working distance of 1.5 meters. There was no wind so I was able
to use ISO 100 and f/16 for the best image quality and great depth
of field. I used mirror lock up plus remote release to avoid
vibrations, and the Canon Angle Finder-C to frame the photo - while
it is not perfect, now I use it all the time for my macro photos,
the angle finder really helps a lot in macro
photography!
The mantis was pretty collaborative, so I
photographed it in direct light, than I moved on the other side and
I photographed it in backlight. The backlight is more difficult than
direct light - with some subject is gives great result, while other
subject looks much better in direct light. Usually, you get good
photos in backlight with translucent or semi-translucent subjects,
as this mantins.
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| Canon EOS 20D, Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro HSM, Sigma 2.0x
TC,
1/5 f/16, iso 100, tripod. Trebbia Valley, Italy. |
When I checked the histogram, I realized that with
the default exposure (Evaluative metering, exposure compensation on
0) the lightest areas were overexposed: when you photographer a
subject in backlight, pay attention to avoid blowing out highlights.
I've set the exposure compensation on -0.3, and the histogram
confirmed that there were no longer hot areas.
Wich one is my better? Sometimes, direct light is
clearly better than backlight or vise versa; here I think that it is
a matter of personal tastes, I like them both. Whenever possible, if
you have a translucent subject, I'd suggest to try to photograph it
both in direct light and backlight: once you have downloaded the
photos on your computer, you can choose the best one, or keep both
of them. Digital is cheap, experiment as much as possible!
Do you have
comments or questions?
If you have comments or questions about this
article, feel free to ask in the Juza
Nature Photography Discussion Forum!
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