Macro lighting
Correctly illuminate your close-up studies to achieve balanced highlights and shadows
In macro imaging, lighting can quickly become the most challenging characteristic to address the closer to the subject you move the camera. Since you will often be working at incredibly short distances between the subject and the end of the lens, the use of on-camera flash is all but impossible. This is because of the steep angle created between the flash head and subject plane, which creates two problems. Firstly, the spread of the light from the flash is unlikely to be broad enough to cover the subject – the flash essentially fires over the top of the subject, either missing it entirely or producing unattractive transitions. Secondly, the angle places the lens itself between the light source and subject, casting an unavoidable shadow.
This means that off-camera flash setups are essential components in the quest for even lighting across the entire scene. Wireless light sources can be moved independently of the camera and lens, providing the freedom to fill in shadows from any angle. They also enable the distribution of light between the subject and background to be fully controlled by the photographer, without being dictated by the camera settings in use.
The lighting angle is another important area for consideration in macro photography, as once again the photographer’s approach has to be different from work in other genres. Directional light is a great tool for bringing out texture in the subject. However, due to the very short distances between any two areas of the frame, the gradient in light intensity is shallower. This means that at high magnifications, lighting will be fairly even across the whole composition.
This can be a huge benefit, but some experimentation is required to find the correct balance of texture and brightness. Moving the flash closer to and further away from the subject is the easiest way to modify light ‘hardness’: increasing the distance from the flash to the subject creates a harder edged light, while moving it in softens the shadows.
Increasing the distance from the flash to the subject creates a harder edged light