Re: How to do studio photo of butterfly w/ no shadows?

Burt Johnson wrote:
JD <JD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

One problem with white plex is you can sometimes see the upper light source reflecting in the plex. It's like a mirror. But you just move the
upper light source around until you can't see it from the camera angle.

I tried two things tonight, but both failed to give me the results I
wanted.

1) Went back to the light table, and varied the flash power on the front
of the butterfly. At one extreme (all light table and minimal flash),
the butterfly became too transparent. At the other extreme (massive
overpower of the flash), there were shadows showing where the wings were
not flush with the table. I could find no middle ground that eliminated
both -- the middle ground just gave me the worst of both (shadows _and_
transparency).

2) Tried usng a light tent on its back. Used two white monofiliment
wires taut across the front. Laid the butterfly on the wires. Put two
studio strobes on the sides of the tent, and a ring flahs in front.
Almost worked, but the wires show through the wings, and would be a real
PITA to clone out... :-(

Since I don't know what strobes(flash) you are using, get the exposure
for the butterfly correct first and then adjust the light under the plex
to make your nice white background.

I've got a variety. I have 3 Canon 580EX flashes (top end Canon battery
powered, variable level), 3 Flashpoint 320A studio flashes (AC variable
power -- one turned flaky on me tonight, but still have 2 working), and
1 AlienBee ARB800 ring flash (AC, variable power that packs a whallop).

I can light up the moon, let alone a butterfly! :-)

I used a set-up like this for shooting glassware but I had pro strobes
where I could adjust the output of the upper and lower heads independent
of each other with separate sliders on the power supply.

The beauty of this is, once you get it set up, each shot is just replacing a butterfly and a few clicks of the shutter!

Yeah, that is exactly what I am after. Haven't found that magic setup
yet though.

Lighting is causing more of a headache than I expected, but suspending
the butterfly in a way that doesn't cause shadows and causes minimal
stess to the specimen is an even bigger problem...


Since you have over 100 specimens I would vote against any kind of "suspension". It's not a good photograph if you damage your butterfly and suspending 100 of them will surely grow tiresome after about 10.

I didn't think about them going transparent when lighting them from underneath.

You never have said if this is a paying job or just for yourself but I think it's time you decide what you can "accept" as a final shot.

Personally, I'd try lighting them with a really soft light box located right over the lens which should create a light shadow around the butterfly and try to lessen the shadow using some kind of softened copy lighting on the background. Since they're going transparent I wouldn't use the plex and under light. I'd try it on smooth, white paper.

I'd have to be there to talk to into light shadows. ;-)

--
JD..
.

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