Backlit White Shell
Well, I'm still exploiting the shells we bought when we were staying at South Carlsbad State Beach last week. I had more trouble lighting this shell than any shell I've ever photographed ..... maybe because it's mostly white. Twice I thought I'd got a decent shot, but when I looked at the results in post, they weren't good. I think the difficulty was that I was trying to make the back lighting the hero, without doing adequate fill for the front. If it looks too bright, it's because it is very white.
Lighting: I ended up establishing the back lighting first with a YN 560-II in a Rogue grid behind the shell. I ended up using two Yongnuo flashes in softboxes on either side of the shell pointing at the front in order to get a decent balance. I just kept experimenting with the power outputs in front, until I looked fairly even. The strobes, in manual mode, were triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N. What I took from this exercise was to not do white shells in the future, although the experience was character building, and I'm sure I'm a better person for it.
I have photographed quite a few shells over the years, and if you like this sort of thing, they're in my creatively named Shells album. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157626043932290
Backlit White Shell
Well, I'm still exploiting the shells we bought when we were staying at South Carlsbad State Beach last week. I had more trouble lighting this shell than any shell I've ever photographed ..... maybe because it's mostly white. Twice I thought I'd got a decent shot, but when I looked at the results in post, they weren't good. I think the difficulty was that I was trying to make the back lighting the hero, without doing adequate fill for the front. If it looks too bright, it's because it is very white.
Lighting: I ended up establishing the back lighting first with a YN 560-II in a Rogue grid behind the shell. I ended up using two Yongnuo flashes in softboxes on either side of the shell pointing at the front in order to get a decent balance. I just kept experimenting with the power outputs in front, until I looked fairly even. The strobes, in manual mode, were triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N. What I took from this exercise was to not do white shells in the future, although the experience was character building, and I'm sure I'm a better person for it.
I have photographed quite a few shells over the years, and if you like this sort of thing, they're in my creatively named Shells album. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157626043932290