I decided to try putting together a collection of wildflower photos using the bright field lighting technique. The flowers are isolated against a field of all (or nearly all) white background. It’s a bit of a challenge to get the lighting right without blowing out fine details of the flower, stem, and leaf parts. For example, the following full-resolution section of one of the images shows how individual fine hairs on the stems are still visible without being totally overwhelmed by the bright white background.
Full-res crop of a bright-field photograph shows fine detail maintained.
Each image was shot using a back-lit diffusion screen background (using an umbrella reflector for additional diffusion) and a flash bounced from a reflector umbrella for the specimen’s lighting. A few key details helped achieve the objective of bright-field isolation combined with preserved subject detail:
- The background diffusion screen was positioned far behind the subject to minimize it’s participation in the subject illumination.
- A longer focal length lens was used and the camera positioned to just frame the extent of the diffusion screen and have the subject fill the frame for optimum detail.
- The exposure was tested and adjusted carefully to make sure the background was just at or near blowing out and the subject lighting was appropriate for a normal exposure. Essentially, two independent zones of light were calibrated to achieve their respective goals.
Once the lighting and framing were ready, it was just a matter of going out into our field to collect unsuspecting subjects and shoot the photographs before they started sagging noticeably. In some cases, there is only a couple minutes to get the image made before the flowers start wilting. Sort of like human subjects.
