Tabletop Leaf Macro

[407370]

Hi All,

I am looking at sending this image in as my first competition entry.

Any and all feedback will be welcomed.

This is how it was created with all processing done in Luminar NEO.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[smoke665]

It ticks all the boxes for me!

 

[jeffashman]

Yes, that looks good. Nice setup!

 

[407370]

It ticks all the boxes for me!

Thanks

Yes, that looks good. Nice setup!

I love the little MF-12 flashes to add a bit of contrasting light. Just bright enough to cast a shadow from different off camera directions makes a huge difference.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[smoke665]

Your cross lighting setup minimized most specular highlights, to take it to the next level you might try Taming those Annoying Highlights: Cross-Polarization Flash Macro Photography I've used this technique many times, and though it's a little extra work, the results are worth it.

 

[407370]

Your cross lighting setup minimized most specular highlights, to take it to the next level you might try Taming those Annoying Highlights: Cross-Polarization Flash Macro Photography I've used this technique many times, and though it's a little extra work, the results are worth it.

Thanks for the tip. I will try anything at least once.

I was very aware of the hot spots from the outset and the nature of the shiny leaves was my main reason for using a combination of diffused / bounced and direct light from multiple sources. I did not want to eliminate the shiny, which could have been achieved by the polarising filter in those boxes the small flashes are sitting on. If you look closely you will see drop off of shiny from top to bottom of the pic, which was achieved with the off camera lighting through a lot of test shots.

 

[smoke665]

was very aware of the hot spots from the outset and the nature of the shiny leaves was my main reason for using a combination of diffused / bounced and direct light from multiple sources

living tissue is prone to specularity because of moisture. You compensated quite well, by using diffusion you were in effect creating soft light (light larger in relation to the subject), you didn't eliminate the specular highlights it just made it bigger and thus less noticeable. I use this method in studio for portraits where different skin reflects differently. My favorite modifier is a 7' brolly with diffusion. Using the cross polarization method actually cancels out specular points allowing a more uniform/even texture than the diffusion method.

 

[407370]

Using the cross polarization method actually cancels out specular points allowing a more uniform/even texture than the diffusion method.

I am not sure I want to cancel out the specular points totally. The leaf is shiny and I want to show that in the pic without having hot spots that draw attention. That link shows an example pic of a frog that, to me, looks a bit weird without the shiny skin.

I will get some polarising sheets and give it a go and compare it to lens mounted polariser and combinations thereof.