Lighting Effects For Macro Photography

I’ve recently been having issues regarding light. Light during photography that is.

In my recent post entitled “Close-Up Photographs Of a Dragonfly,” I was forced to use a flashlight because my built in flash wasn’t working with my magnifying lens filters correctly. In another post entitled “Macro Photography: Flash Vs. No Flash,” I dabbled with using the built in flash, but I was less than impressed with the results. While they were better than no flash, I wasn’t blown away.

I’ve been looking for a light source that will give me something somewhat natural looking, while enhancing the subject’s color – simultaneously. Today, I had an idea that would allow me use a painter’s lamp for illumination.

As I made my way through the garage towards my usual staging area (lifted trunk deck to use as a rest with tripod set up on garage floor), I passed by my automotive drop light hanging from a hook. Since the drop light used the same incandescent bulb as the painter’s lamp used and wasn’t resting on a difficult to access garage shelf, I decided to use the drop light, instead of the painter’s lamp.

My goal today was to toy with the lighting to see what kind of effects I can achieve with a variety of flowers. I used my usual water spritzer for some shots and used my new SMDV Remote Shutter Release Cable for all shots. I would say I ended up with very good results by using both. The lighting has great color and the up-close photographs are very clear – which I attribute somewhat to the remote shutter release.

Please take a look at these pictures and let me know your thoughts.