Chapter 5 Lighting Lighting T he success of any photographic image is determined largely by the lighting--its quality, quantity, and color. There is no such thing as perfect or standard lighting for close-up and macro photography. Each subject will require something different, and different photographers will photograph the same subject using different lighting techniques to create different images. There also will be instances where a standardized lighting setup is required-- for example, for a series of comparative images of coins. It is highly likely that, in many cases, you will need to use a combination of lighting techniques, such as daylight with flash fill in, for example. The basic choice is between natural light (daylight) and artificial lighting (usually, but not always, electronic flash). Other small light sources that might be useful are small reading lamps, available from most furnishing and office supply stores, and focusable microscope lamps. One of the characteristics of daylight is that it is unpredictable and variable, which is fine for a one-shot photograph of a subject, but is not appropriate if a series of images is required with consistent lighting. 85