Tag Archives: still-life

Backlight

Posted by gerard.maas on November 27, 2006 None comments

Outline effect

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To create this image, we used a Lastolite Ezybox fitted with a speedlite and we masked the middle of it with black velvet cardboard. The composition was placed in the blacked out area. The diffused light coming from the sides of the softbox enter the transparent surfaces at an angle, creating an outline effect on the coloured water and glass jars.

The speedlite was used in E-TTL mode, and was triggered using a ST-E2 on the EOS10D. We used a EF 100 f/2.8 Macro lens to take the image. For this technique, it’s very important to use a hood, to avoid flare from the side light.

Use a hood

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To achieve a great backlight effect, the light source will be behind or almost behind the lens. In this case, it’s the natural light from the sun is enhancing the colours of this cactus rose leaf and flowers. We include here an image made with the same setup, but removed the hood from the EF 100f/2.8 macro lens to show the effect of flare on the image.

Steaming Broccoli

Posted by gerard.maas on November 20, 2006 None comments

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Backlight picture of a freshly steamed Broccoli on a spoon. Taken with an 580EX speedlite on a masked Ezybox softbox behind the spoon. The camera (EOS 5D) was set on manual mode with an EF100/f2.8 Macro lens and attached with an ST-E2 wireless flash controller to command the off-camera flash in E-TTL.