Camera Flash Photo Tip

[Ewok]

Normally I use natural sunlight for my tarantula and scorpion pictures, but after looking at a lot of pictures on here I noticed that the camera flash really brings out the tarantulas color nicely, so I decided to try it and some of my pictures looked like a nuclear bomb went off ie whited pictures hehe Then I remembered a tip from my photo class which was to put a a folded over piece of tissue paper over the flash to diffuse some of the light and make it softer. I tried and it worked quite nicely and still brought out the colors really well.

 

[SoupyC]

Thank you for the tip, I've been trying to figure out how to do that myself. Much appreciated!

 

[YouLosePayUp]

It works real well for ventral through glass shots. another tip is to get the lens pointing at the area you want to focus on and the flash glare away from that area, then crop out the flash glare. Also if you really want to mess with people's heads use colored electrical tape it works almost like a filter

 

[Hedorah99]

Does enyone know if that will work for artificial lighting. My camera only takes good pictures via natural light. If i use any artificial light the pics come out very orange. If I put some tissue paper over the light, will it soften it a tad?

 

[YouLosePayUp]

Use flourescent for artificial lighting it should come a lot more natural for the colors.

 

[billopelma]

If i use any artificial light the pics come out very orange.

Have you tried all of the color balance options (tungsten/fluorescent) on your camera? That's exactly what they're for... Manual white balance is particularly useful if it has that option.
Also some camera's have multiple flash settings, mine has a 'soft' mode specifically for use with macro so it minimizes over exposure at close range.

Bill

 

[ChrisNCT]

I use a normal piece of copy paper or tissue for my pics..it sounds silly but it works the best! They do sell slip on flash diffusers for most cameras...look into them online at photo equip. places. I use B & H Photo/Video.

 

[Hedorah99]

Have you tried all of the color balance options (tungsten/fluorescent) on your camera? That's exactly what they're for... Manual white balance is particularly useful if it has that option.
Also some camera's have multiple flash settings, mine has a 'soft' mode specifically for use with macro so it minimizes over exposure at close range.

Bill

No such function on my camera I believe. Its an Olympus FE 100 if that helps.

 

[billopelma]

Hedorah99,
I just looked at specs for the fe 100, you're right, no adjustment of any kind for white balance. The only option is to play with the flash and external lighting.
Try a very high color temp fluorecent or even better a halogen bulb intented for photograghy ('photo flood', something you have to get at a camera shop or online).
It does have macro capability to .08" though, you should be able to get some impressive close up's once you figure out the lighting.

Bill