To maintain the great depth-of-field needed, I had to use two 800 Watt second White Lightnings to control contrast. I also used Tungsten gels to match the lights from the incandescent lights. White Balance was set for Tungsten for this particular picture. Â I also tested it with White Balance set on Daylight. Since I shoot JPEG and RAW most of the time, this really wasn’t necessary. I like to experiment to see which gives better results in various situaions. Â My camera was on a tripod and stopped down to f22. I used the self-timer since I didn’t have my cable or remote to trip the shuttter.
Taxidermist Tim Bovard and a Sumatran Tiger was lit by one Lumedyne 200 watt/sec flash. The flash triggered by a Quantum radio slave placed on the display case between the Tim and the tiger. The house lights were turned off to remove the clutter in the background. Whatever is not lit, can’t be seen, so there’s no need to remove them from the background. Exposure info: ISO 200 1/200 sec @ f11 using a 28mm lens.
Taxidermist & Sumatran Tiger
There are many schools of thought when it comes to lighting.
If I have a lot of time with my subject, I will take the trouble to actually create the “feel†or ambience by lighting everything.
A typical on-location setup. When the Santa Ana Winds are not howling here in Southern California, the umbrella on a lightstand is a quick way to get some soft light. The rest of the time I have to carry a sandbag just in case. My White Lightning flash is powered by a portable battery on the bottom right of the picture. The flash is triggered by a radio slave so there’s one less wire to trip over.
Exactly how much photo equipment do you need?
You’ve heard it time and time again. It’s not the gear but how the person uses it that matters most.
