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My good friend Cemal Ekin of Saved Gentle Pictures requested me to attempt the Apexel FL07 RGB LED mild equipment and supply my feedback. The design of the Apexel FL07 RGB LED Gentle Equipment CRI95+ Dimmable Pocket for Pictures Vlogging mild contains options fitted to vloggers and videographers and does present a variety of lighting features. The 4 lighting modes of the machine embrace a repeatedly adjustable shade temperature vary of cool (9000K) to heat (2500K), RGB throughout the spectrum, and a saturation mode. The Dynamic Scene mode supplies 20 programmed lighting results simulating police vehicles, lightning, fireworks, pulsing, and extra. All modes supply 0-100% brightness adjustment. Whereas I’m not probably to make use of many of the included options, it does have purposes to the kind of pictures I pursue. Apexel FL07 LED mild, ball head and desk tripod Along with the compact mild panel, the equipment features a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a ball head, and a retractable mild stand. The sunshine panel is compact (11.4cm X 6.7cm X 1.6cm) with a built-in lithium battery and weighs solely 130 grams. It’s simply transportable and actually pocket-sized. The sunshine stand is product of plastic, the three ft may be folded for storage and the sunshine stand top may be prolonged from 27cm to 48cm. It’s a light-weight accent, but in addition light-duty. It will serve effectively on a tabletop subsequent to a smartphone stand or laptop computer, however for in-the-dirt out of doors pictures that I’d be doing, I selected to make use of my very own fixture to carry the sunshine. I did use the ball head that was supplied with the sunshine for the pictures on this publish. Focus Stacking When photographing flowers, mushrooms, small crops, and bugs, I usually use a method referred to as focus stacking. This method captures a number of photos of a topic every with a barely totally different focus distance. The photographs are then “stacked” within the software program, merging the in-focus components of the captures into one picture. This permits the topic to be sharp the place I would like it, and the background to stay softly out of focus. If a scene wants synthetic lighting a digital camera flash is inconvenient to make use of because the flash might have to cost between captures. Fashionable cameras have options to rapidly seize focus stacks at speeds of 30 per second and sooner. The one sensible approach to seize that many photos is with a continuing mild supply, resembling an LED mild. One other advantage of a continuing mild supply is that you just see the impact of the lighting earlier than the seize. All the pictures introduced listed below are focus stacked, with and with out including mild.
How I Use an LED Gentle I personal a couple of LED mild sources that I take advantage of for close-up pictures, however all are a lot bigger or a lot smaller than the Apexel FL07 RGB LED Gentle. The principle function I take advantage of LED lights when photographing wildflowers rising close to my house is to assist stability the quantity of sunshine on the topic (fill mild) and for scenes the place the sunshine is minimal (major mild). Many of the photos introduced right here present the naturally lit scene and present the outcome by including mild. Instance: Pink Girl Slipper The primary instance is a pink woman slipper in an open forest space the place the background foliage is lit by the solar however the flower is within the shade. I used the Apexel FL07 on an articulated arm connected to my digital camera on a brief tripod as proven within the picture under and a photograph of the flower was captured with out the LED mild. The sunshine was positioned to light up the flower in order that the publicity extra intently matched the background. The true colours of the flower are dropped at life and the small print of the flower construction are revealed. Within the second set of photos, the digital camera was arrange on a tripod and the sunshine was handheld when making the seize. Utilizing the main focus stacking approach solely on the flower to the proper accentuates it as the topic of the picture. Including mild to that flower brings out the element in any other case hidden in shade. The Apexel FL07 is positioned to the left of the flower and on the identical top because the flower to make clear the underside components of the flower (staminode, petal, and dorsal sepal). The pink woman slipper is in a shaded space whereas the background is sunlit forest foliage. Including mild to the flower utilizing the Apexel FL07 brightens the colours and divulges the element within the petals and septal, lighting the small hair-like constructions all around the flower. This woman slipper is positioned in a distinct a part of my “forest”. For this picture, I positioned the digital camera on a brief tripod, and a distant management is used to seize the picture.
Gentle is added by handholding the Apexel FL07. This allowed me the pliability of transferring the sunshine round to watch the most effective place to mild the small print of the flower. This pair of pink woman slippers receives sufficient mild to make a great publicity even within the shade. Focus stacking was used solely on the flower within the entrance to emphasise its significance as the topic of the picture, leaving the opposite flower barely blurred. The Apexel FL07 was handheld on the identical top because the flowers and to the left of the principle topic enhancing the colour and element of the principle flower on this picture. Instance: Blue-Eyed Grass The blue-eyed grass was rising in an space congested with vegetation. I connected the sunshine to the digital camera on a tripod and positioned the sunshine to be above the flower. For the reason that mild is a lot bigger than the flower it supplies a broad supply of sunshine eliminating any small shadows within the flower. The primary few photos present the flower towards the brilliant background; including mild evens the lighting on the scene and brings our consideration to the flower. Within the second set of photos of the identical flower, I used a big piece of plastic to shade the background, however not the flower. Then a small quantity of sunshine was added to convey somewhat element to the stem and to mild the stamen of the flower. The quantity of sunshine touchdown on the flower from the LED mild may be diminished by the extent management, however on this case, I merely moved the sunshine additional away from the flower. Digital camera setup: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mk III with 60mm macro lens, mild bracket with Apexel FL07 above flower in shade. Blue-eyed grass flower shaded by close by vegetation, distant background lit by direct daylight
Apexel FL07 positioned above and barely to the proper of the flower Similar flower photographed later within the day, distant background in shade, oblique daylight from sky illuminates flower Apexel Fl07 positioned as in earlier {photograph} illuminates close by vegetation and improves visibility of stamen The big dimension of the sunshine in contrast with topic flower supplies shadowless delicate mild. The big dimension of the sunshine in contrast with topic flower supplies shadowless delicate mild. Instance: Columbine The columbine introduced totally different lighting challenges. It was additionally in a crowded space of the backyard with sturdy daylight coming from the left and behind the topic. The lighting on the vegetation was mottled resulting from some crops shading components of different crops and the flower itself was shaded by different vegetation. There was no direct mild on the flower within the first picture. Including mild utilizing the Apexel FL07 brightened the flower and brought about it to face out from the background. I went to the identical flower at noon when the sunshine from the solar can be worse. The daylight was from the proper and behind. Nonetheless, there was no shade on the flower so I supplied my very own through the use of a corrugated black plastic sheet to dam the solar on the flower and among the vegetation.
Within the picture of the setup, you possibly can see the oblong sq. of shade over the digital camera and topic setup. This let some mild hit the vegetation and resulted within the subsequent picture, the flower illuminated with the sunshine. By adjusting the place of the black plastic I used to be in a position to get rid of any mild from hitting the vegetation and the ultimate picture was taken. The vegetation is evenly lit with no scorching spots and the flower is correctly lit with the Apexel FL07. Pink columbine surrounded by vegetation, flower shaded by skylight offering mild on topic. The Apexel FL07 is positioned within the vertical orientation and barely to the proper of the flower. The sunshine is way bigger than the flower so mild is directed to the spurs on the prime of the flower in addition to the inside components (stamens and inside petals) of the flower from under. Digital camera setup: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mk III with 60mm macro lens, mild bracket with Apexel FL07 above flower in shade. The Apexel FL07 is positioned in a vertical orientation and barely to the proper of the flower. At noon the lighting on the background was horrible so I supplied shade utilizing a bit of black plastic sheet. The close to background foliage was nonetheless sunlit starting from virtually black within the higher left to virtually white within the decrease proper. To get rid of the distracting shiny areas of the background, I repositioned the black plastic sheet to shade all of the close to background foliage. The digital camera and lighting are the identical as within the earlier picture. Conclusion I discovered the Apexel FL07 RGB LED Gentle to be a product I’d use recurrently for close-up pictures. It’s compact, mild, and well-built, giving it excessive marks for portability within the discipline. I attempted all of the lighting modes and located that the colour temperature mode supplied sufficient management for my wants.
On the present worth of $45.99, it’s within the mid-range of panel lights of this dimension. The built-in battery powered the FL07 for almost two hours I used it in a single session, recharged rapidly, and may be powered or recharged with an influence financial institution. Excellent for transportable lighting both on digital camera, macro bracket, small mild stand, and even handheld, along with the desktop stand that’s supplied within the equipment. The ball head supplied within the equipment is light-duty, and appropriate for desktop tripod use. Functions requiring a extra rugged ball head have many choices out there. Concerning the writer: Dennis Goulet is a retired electrical engineer and a extremely completed photographer. He received the Audubon Journal Birds In Focus grand prize and plenty of different nationwide, regional, and native awards. Go to his web site for extra of his work. This text was additionally revealed right here.
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