S. Fryeri and Light Setup

I have seen some nice photos of good looking S. Fryeri here recently. And I also saw a very informative post on aquatic photography lighting.

Here is my combination of both. Coincidentally, I had recently posted this on another site devoted to aquatic photography. Hopefully it is helpful and entertaining.

Subjects that are highly reflective and cast harsh highlights, like S. Fryeri, are difficult to capture the true blue without getting the hot spots. To help resolve this predictament, having the main light source coming from above is imperative. To enhance the blue colors, a softer fill flash from the front works well.

Here is the setup. Remote flash above shooting directly down into the tank using a plex diffusser. Another remote flash mounted on a light stand diffused with additional diffusion (in this case, the Stofen diffuser).

Hopefully the pictures tell the story.

The two flashes: One above and the other on the light stand...


The flash results. The above flash provides the main flash zone while the front flash is used for fill flash...


Here is a few shots using this setup...








Hopefully this illustration delivers a better understanding on how important lighting is to succeful aquatic photography.

Remember, it's not the camera or the settings that are the most important thing...it's the setup. :thumb: