OK, so yesterday evening I attended a seminar hosted by Heather Angel on macro wildlife photography. Sitting there with my notebook, I hardly expected to be scribbling in it immediately. But the first slide shown demonstrated the use of a most natural diffuser. It was an image of a rose taken outdoors and with the most beautiful soft light illuminating it casting very delicate shadows. The picture was taken towards the end of the day and the sun was starting to set beyond a tree line. Heather had used the trees as a diffuser. I would never have thought of that but I'll certainly be giving it a try in the not too distant future. Heather likes to use "before" and "after" images in some instances, highlighting the advantages of using certain techniques. In one frame a flower covered wall had been photographed during the middle of the day. The top part of the wall was well lit, but the light didn't have the same effect on the bottom of the shot which was fairly dark. The placement of a simple reflector below the frame made an astonishing difference. Sometimes I guess it is easy to look for complicated solutions and miss the blatantly simple one! As an aside, some of the setups were explained and in a few cases, photographed. The use of plamps seems to be a prerequisite for exercising some control over light, so I'm off to the shops again!
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