Simulating natural sunlight filtering through a window…

…in studio is not trivial. Quality of light, its colour, and the way it is broken (perhaps by trees in front of the window) make this type of light very difficult to fake.

Here is what I did:

  • the main light, provided by an Elinchrom D-Lite RX 2 at full power, was flagged (to let only a narrow beam of light out), gelled (light yellow), and placed as far as possible (about 5 meters away)
  • a nice plant was used to cast some partial shadow on the subject, to which it was near
  • a black panel was placed near the subject, on the side opposite to that of the light, to deepen the shadows
The main and only light was flagged and gelled
The main and only light was flagged and gelled
A plant was placed near the subject
A plant was placed near the subject
The camera was placed right above the subject
The camera was placed right above the subject

In this previous blog post I described how I support my camera for overhead shots.

Focus on the leaves in infusion (the top of the teapot). Daylight (sunlight) broken by natural pattern (the leaves of a plant) in the shadow
The final result (Fujifilm X-T1 with a Zenzanon PS 80 / 2.8, adapted)

 

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