We've said
it before and we'll say it again: you dont need High-End equipmentto capture
incredible imagery. Malaysian Peiling Lee is yet another photographerto
provethis with her superb macro series: 'a small small world'.
Many
photographers yearn after the latest gizmos, higher specifications and the next
best thing in the imaging market, but you really don't have to spend a fortune
to get top-quality results. Living in Tanzania, east Africa, Peiling
has to make the most of what limited resources she can gather, but instead of
it being a hindrance, it has simply meant she's had to find more creative
solutions.
Optics play
a major role in determining the level of image quality, which is why Peiling
uses a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L USM IS Macro lens, paired with a mid-range Canon
EOS 50D and Nissin flashguns. All her scenes are created from scratch with
subjects and props like grass, flowers and potatoes collected from her home or
garden. "I shoot most of my macro work indoors as it gives me more control
over the scene and the set-up, enabling me to better translate my imagination
into images. Doing it this way makes me feel like I create my pictures, not
just capture them."
While she
manages to control the environment, working with such uncooperative little
critters is trickier. "Despite insects being difficult subjects, the
praying mantis is one of the easiest species to work with as they move so slowly.
They're also very sensitive to light and sound, so they’ll often look at the
camera as it focuses or the on-camera flash when it fires. Timing is very
important with these types of shots as when a mantis looks away, they can be
very stubborn. You have to talk, even sing, to them - whatever it takes to get
their attention so they turn to face you."
What makes
Peiling's images so mesmerising is the soft focus, vibrant colours and specular
bokeh, created by nothing more than backlit sheets of coloured plastic, a wide
aperture and a dusting with a water spray. "I mainly use f/2.8 to get the
bokeh, but it can make focusing tricky; especially if a subject moves. It's not
so much of a problem with a praying mantis, but as ants are a lot faster I have
to find a balance between depth-of-field, soft light
and a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the movement. The background is
usually colourful sheets of plastic that I have found in stationery stores
matching the material I collect from my garden. I place it about two feet
behind the subject, backlit by a table lamp, then position a Nissin flashgun
with softbox to my left, pointing 45° at the camera. Once the actor or actress
is settled, I spray the water and fire the flash. As long as the flash is at
the right angle and the timing is spot on for freezing droplets as they fall,
you'll get beautiful bokeh.
"When
using flash, I set it to manual and the lowest power, but even then it's often
too strong. To help diffuse both the Nissin and integral flash, I layer
material to cut down the light: paper, cotton, white plastic bags - anything to
make the light softer. I also angle myself differently depending on the
subject. For instance, as ants are small, I angle the camera upwards to make
them look larger. Whereas a praying mantis is shot from eye
level for better eye contact."
After
returning her subjects to where they came from, Peiling goes about processing
her Raw files, but even this only consists of minor
adjustments to the brightness. White Balance and colour in Photoshop. It's
quite the testament to what you can achieve with basic kit, some creative
ingenuity and solid photographic technique. So, if you are the type of
photographer who goes weak at the knees at the mention of megapixels, guide
numbers or new gadgets, why not take a lead from Peiling Lee and place the
technique over the tech for a while to see what you can come up with?
