Gerard Maas Images

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Close up of Pincusion Protea (Horizontal)

In order to light the interesting tentacle-like structure of this pincushion protea, we softened the flash light with a Lumiquest softbox. The light is located sligthly behind the flower to backlight the structure and bring the vibrant colors out. The Lumiquest softbox makes the light source bigger than the flower, providing a nice even light that wraps all around it.

Pincushion Protea Close-up: How-to (Horizontal)

Pincusion Protea Close-up (Vertical - version 1)

Pincusion Protea (Vertical - Version 2)

Pincusion Protea How-to (vertical)

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Natural Looking Red Tulip

For this tulip close-up we used a hand held the speedlite with a Lumiquest Softbox attached. We located the flash low and to the side of the flower to resemble the light of the low sun during the early spring days when is tulip season. Using a rather long exposure of 1/10 we could build up enough ambient exposure to illuminate the background and provide a nice backdrop for this flower portrait.

Tulip Close-up: behind the curtains

Tulip Close-up - Vertical

To give a backlight illumination to this tulip, we handheld a 580EX with a Lumiquest Softbox attached to it behind the flower, but higher than the axis of the lens. This setup provides illumination to the subject but leaves the background in the dark. We used a piece of cardboard to throw light back to the tulip as otherwise the front side would be completely obscured. Using reflectors is a good way to complement the light setup when using one speedlite unit, optimaly using one light source to illuminate the subject from multiple  directions.

When placing the speedlite in the direction of the lens, care should be taken to avoid the light shinning inside the lens as this will cause severe flare.

Tulip Portrait (illustrating flare)

Tulip close-up showing the use of a piece of cardboard as reflector