How to do High Key Macro - Mastering Light with simple equipment
Вставка
- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- If you want to learn how to create stunning high key images of flowers, insects or other small creatures, this is the film for you.
All images featured in this film can be found on my website www.drumimages....
Free wallpaper can be found here - drumimages.phot...
Password is: snowdon17
MYN website: meetyourneighbo...
Welcome to my vlog:
---------------------------------
I'm Damian Waters, a nature photographer based in the UK (near Liverpool) and try to cover all aspects of nature, from tiny insects up to grand landscapes.
I started vlogging in August 2016 to share my experiences of being out and about with my camera. I hope people enjoy the films and perhaps even learn a few tips and tricks.
My images have featured in magazines, books, newspapers, etc across the world.
You can find me on:
Website: www.drumimages....
Twitter: / drumimages
Instagram: / damian_waters
Facebook: / drumimages.co.uk
My gear:
Canon 7D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM
Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4.0 L USM
Canon EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM
GoPro Hero Session
Manfrotto Pro3W
Manfrotto 488RC2
Manfrotto 055MF3
Benbo Trekker
Wimberley Plamp
Music:
Damian So surprised at how simple yet stunning the results (thank you)
Malcolm, thanks! Hope you give it a go.
Hi Damian.. So surprised at how simple yet stunning the results are. Makes the leaves translucent.
Also amazed that the front fill light does not reflect back into the lens being so close.
What a great way to spend the day if the weather is bad. Brilliant Sir and thanks again for a great, informative video.
Thanks Rob, the first time you try it there can be quite a bit of trial and error, but once you get the setup right it is relatively easy to repeat. The envelope stiffener is key! 😂
I have been wondering about high key photography for sometime now, thanks for sharing the knowledge !! Very much appreciated !
I'm glad you found the film useful
Loved Niall Benvie's ebook on field studio photography, bought it about 10 years ago (its now been updated btw). Nice video showing bringing the field studio technique indoors.
Cool, thanks!
I cannot thank you enough for sharing this process! God bless you :)
You are so welcome!
Excellent video.Calm and well delivered.
Thanks Mike.
Meet Your Neighbours seems like a really cool project...
Love that you hammered home the importance of leaving Wild Flowers in the wild, I shoot a lot of Macro & when I shoot flowers, my missus gets a bouquet as a 'present' or I shoot in situ...I truly believe in the adage 'Take only photos & leave only footprints'
Also...Plamps??? Why am I only learning about these now??? Shopping list will be written straight after leaving this comment haha.
That’s a good rule to live by. Plamps are amazing!
I know this is an old video but I had to say thank you! Fantastic tutorial thank you :)
Thanks very much, glad you like it.
I enjoyed watching your set-up and results .. simple but very effective . Thank you from Oz
Glad you enjoyed it
Really helpful! Thanks so much from Mississippi!
No problem, glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for such a helpful video. It looks like a great lockdown project and will be a
challenge for me to learn something new.
My aim is to take good pictures of my carnivorous plants and I need something
better as a background than my cluttered greenhouse.
Glad it was helpful!
nicely done, even when I buy my wife flowers...she knows what's going to happen !
Thanks Richard - one or two from the bunch won't make a huge difference! :)
Yep....She knows the flowers i buy are really for me and not her lol
Damian, this video was awesome! You gave me an idea. I have been practicing.
Rose, thank you very much.
I liked the video very interesting, beautiful pictures from a lowish cost set up.
Peter, thank you
Great to see the other side of your photography. You made that interesting so much so that I might just give it a go myself!
It is a fun way of capturing flowers and pretty easy to do once you have the set up cracked.
Happy Birthday to Mrs Waters.
I do like your style. It's like chatting to a mate.
Thanks Alan, that it a great compliment. Thanks for watching.
Nice one, nice and easy to follow, glad to see your not using expensive equipment :)
Thanks Kent - I am a fan of using cheap stuff if it does the job!
I love flowers of nature. Thank! Damian....,
yu Jin thank you
I enjoyed watching this video and it was pretty good tutorial.
Tyson Wright thanks very much!
I don't know if you still have this camera, but the reason the flash is not firing in liveview mode is because the option "silent shoot"is standard in "mode1". If you set it to disable the flash will fire with non canon flashes. I don't have a canon 7D but looked up the manual online and it is the fourth tab in the menu.
Cheers Rene.
Beautifully explained.
Glad you liked it
Beautiful photos and a brilliant practical setup for tabletop or field use! The only thing I would tweak is to mount the camera in portrait orientation. You cropped them to vertical photos, which I tend to do for this composition. And I like to preserve resolution wherever I can in macro or close-up shots, so I usually try to minimize cropping whenever possible.
Thanks for the comment and glad to hear you enjoyed the film. I only crop the images for youtube, the landscape orientation is deliberate to leave 'dead' space for publishing.
@@Drumimages Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense. 👍
@@uptown3636 😀
Very nice video. I love the results!!! I AM about to try myself :-)
Thanks and good luck, I hope they work out for you.
@@Drumimages Damian, I do actually have a question for you, you said you use macro lens. How do you get focus on a whole subject/flower? I use Sigma macro lens (outdoor and indoor)and it gives me nice and kind of dreamy effect but I can not get the focus you get. I do not use tripod, do you that can be the reason? Kasia
@@katarzynabuksinska1305 it would help to use a tripod and avoid camera shake, but you also need to select a lens aperture to get enough depth of field. What aperture ere you using?
@@Drumimages I am taking photos right now with aperture 3.8.
@@katarzynabuksinska1305 try going to f/8
Simply effective, great to see.
Thanks Roger.
Thanks for the video, I have to take more than 300 photos of roses, and I think it will help me, if you have any other advice to take zenith photos of a rose I would appreciate it very much
Hi Esteban, I'm glad you liked the video. Wow 300! My best advice would be to make sure your background and lighting is faultless- then move the roses to the camera not the camera to the roses!
Thanks so much for posting this. Great for a newbie, like me.
Thanks Donna - no problem at all. Good luck with your photography.
Here my photo - thanks to you. I am pretty happy. www.flickr.com/photos/93332526@N02/35719256654/in/dateposted-public/
Donna Brittain well done - looks like you cracked the technique
Can you provide a link to a retail source for the envelope stiffener (corrugated) that you use for diffusing the fill flash on the subject? (I searched but didn't find the product!) FWIW, I live in the United States. It doesn't matter to me where the store/vendor is located as long as they do business with customers from the USA. Thanks, Damian!
Hi Walter - I used these people to supply mine www.challoner-marketing.com/page1.htm and I believe they offer overseas delivery. I think they sell in batches, but I emailed and asked if I could just buy a couple and they were very helpful.
Fantastic, Neewer Flash
Thanks.
Nice tutorial on a good technique for these shots, thank you. But... broadcasting your wife's age to all your legions of followers?!? You're a brave man. ;-)
Thanks Cab - I didn't think of that! 😂😂😂
Great video 📹 👍 👏
Thank you 👍
what are those clamps that are holding the board and the flowers?
They're by Wimberley and are called Plamps.
Hi Damien, many thanks for producing the video. Im keen to give it a go. Could you let me know more precisely the type/size of perspex sheets you used. Thanks
Thanks Chris, it is a piece of 3mm white perspex, a have a couple of different sizes ranging up to about A3. Good luck with it.
I would like to know the name of the clamp holding the plastic sheet. I could not find one such in Amazon.
Hi, thanks for the comments, the clamp is a Wimberley Plamp. you should be able to google that and find one.
@@Drumimages Thank you!
Great video nice
Thanks
Thank you for the video. Have you some suggest where to buy the plamp for tale trattamento you user on the video? Thanks
Thanks very much. You can usually find them at Amazon or Wex, depending on where you are in the world.
@@Drumimages thanks. Have it a particolari name?
@@maxcerruti447 you can see the range here www.tripodhead.com/products/plamp-main.cfm
@@Drumimages thanks very much!
@@maxcerruti447 no problem
Very nice. Two questions. Do you first try to expose without the flash to make sure subject is completely dark and therefore will only be exposed by the flash? Second, is there a reason you didn’t shoot those vertical flowers in portrait mode? Thanks.
Hi Adam, I usually take some set up shots with just the white background, too make sure I am getting a completely white exposure, and make a note of the settings, then I turn the rear flash off and take a shot of the subject using from flash to get that right and then use both flashes. Does need a bit of experimentation.
Where did you get the wiry thing covered with cloth, and clamps on the ends, that you use to hold the white background? I have looked forever and can't find it. What is it called?
Thanks William - they are from Wimberley and are called PLAMPS.
love it! what is the name of the black wires you used to hold the white plastic and flowers? sorry, i cant catch the name.
Thanks very much, they are called Plamp and are made by Wimberley.
Damian Waters photography thanks! hope this can help me to find something similar in peru. :)
Cool video
Thanks
Great video! Can you provide a link to the place where you bought it? Perspex can be any number of about a dozen different materials: acrylic, lucite, plexiglass, polypropolene, polyethylene, etc., etc. most of which are extremely expensive in the USA. What size are you using? It looks to be about 1/4 inch thick, correct? Thanks.
Hi Cheryl, it is about 3mm thick. I believe that perspex is a brand name (in The UK anyway) - I source mine here - www.perspexsheet.uk/?-r71BRDuARIsAB7i_QOM06MpqnHOjQ5sPmij1tbwYUbUFk4EICVkBC6ba2VWx7omxjoLs5QaAgWGEALw_wcB
@@Drumimages Hi Damian, I’m watching this for the first time and thank you so much for sharing your method….something I can play with while we are in lockdown in Melbourne Australia :) Can you please share what type/colour of Perspex I should be looking for? Is it a white frost?
@@vtocatjian thanks for the question - the link above (UK) describes the perspex I use as "white gloss" sounds like "white frost" might be similar. basically needs to be opaque. Hope you aren't in lockdown too much longer.
Wonder if you could give any info about the magic/holding arms you are using here? They look very useful 🙂
Sure, they're Plamps made by Wimberley. I high recommend them.
@@Drumimages , thanks :-)
Would a continuous light source in the foreground work too? Such as an LED or something.
Yes that would work, but you'd need to experiment to get the balance right.
Really enjoyed this video! Question: Instead of flashes couldn't I use always-on mini LED lights such as the Lume Cube? Thanks!
Hi Bob, I have seen some good results with different light systems. I have flashes, so that's what I use, but you have Lume Cubes, it would be worth experimenting.
Nice tutorial, thx ! I've a question about high key but outdoor. I really like the pics of bastien riu for example, I think he use a white background with a flash maybe behind, in some of his macro photos. But do you think he use another flash to get the right exposure of the subject or use the sun ?
kévin thanks. I’m not familiar with Bastien’s work, but I use this exact set up outdoors because it provides a consistent light, when you can not guarantee the same with the sun.
you risk to burn edge and lose details in edges you dont need full saturated white back withh flash and more flare of course
This is a particular style created by Colby Brown and Naill Benvie.
Hi Damien. I love this kind of photography, with having limited mobility it's great that I can do some shooting in the house. Can you please advise where you got the double plamp from as I cannot seem to find one. I have seen a few plans online for custom diy plamps but they never seem to have the same quality as the Wimberley ones. If yours is a DIY one I would love more info. Many thanks. Also if you are ever in North Wales again give me a shout, I know of a few good places.
Thanks Chris - I got my plamp equipment directly from Wimberley (www.tripodhead.com/) there is an almost endless combination for bits you can stick together.
I am in North Wales about 2 or 3 times a month, so any location tips would be great!
Cheers Damien. I did look at making one using the proper clamp part you can now buy from Wimberley but it works out not far off the price of buying the genuine item. I will order one from Wimberley. Feel free to add me on Facebook and we can chat on there if you want.
many thanks for the vid,,
Jo thanks for watching!
Great tutorial, easy to follow, thanks for sharing. Just wondering what power you use the back flash at? Off to have a play, so shall no doubt work it out. :-)
Thanks Lyn, glad you found it helpful. You will have to experiment with the back flash, there’s no hard and fast rule. Different power and varying the flash distance from the subject too.
@@Drumimages thanks for your reply. Played around with flash power and distance. Looks good on back of camera, just need to check it out in LR, then find an interesting flower to work with. Is it possible to focus stack with this technique?
10:10 was the best part. 😁
OK
Hi Damien,after seeing this I have invested in the kit you advised,I am pleased with the results I am getting ,but have a problem with the newer flash that I use as the backlight,Do you know of a way of disabling the auto off, I have disabled it on the canon 580,but the neewer continues to power down after 60 seconds.
I would appreciate your thoughts.
Regards
Roy
Thanks Roy - good look with the photography. I've not had that problem myself - are the batteries fully charge?
Thanks Damien, this is a great way to spend hours on a miserable wet day like today,
The auto shut down is a feature built into the NW 680, but there is no way of disabling it that I can find. I will keep checking, the batteries were fully charged rechargeable.
I have posted a couple of shots on 500px, still have some work to do on the backlighting, like you say in he video, trial and error is the key, but your camera settings were spot on for me, Thanks
Good luck with it Roy - try varying the power and the distance from the back screen and just keep alerting until you get it right. When you do get it right, make sure to write the the settings down! :)
What is the white material that you used for a background ?
Hi Julie, it is just a piece of standard white perspex.
thanks man, very good video.
Fabricio, thanks!
Is that standard Loc Line you're using for supports? Is it a knockoff maybe? If so, do you have a link to it?
I have a couple of the Neewer speedlites myself, inexpensive and work just fine for me. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment. The supports are Wimberley Plamps - i made a review of them ua-cam.com/video/3QhhlDpV93c/v-deo.html
Thank you!
Please tell me the name of the photographer that you mentioned who has an ebook on this subject. Thank you
Hi Pam, that would be Niall Benvie - niallbenvie.com/our-e-books/the-field-studio/
Nice 👍
Thank you
Sorry, I forgot to ask. What is the name of the ebook or author? Thanks
The author is Niall Benvie and ebook is called 'The Field Studio'.
@@Drumimages Thank you so much Damian :)
Learned something useful, and would say black background would have made better images.
Thanks for watching. Not sure it would work with a black background, how would you light from behind black?
Thank you!
No problem, thanks for watching.
Could you please get to the subject!
You know the bar on the bottom of the screen, you can scroll forward...