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My setup has evolved over time from using torches to strobes and then (now) back to torches.
It all a bit of trial and error as when I started getting into this, information was all over the place and very subjective. It still mostly is so I do what works for me. Others may and will have different approaches or experiences.
Let me add that I shoot predominantly macro to super-macro photos of corals, so my lighting setups are aimed for that (e.g. as close as possible to the subject as I can get) and not for any other type of framing (portrait, wide, non-macro) or subject (fish, invertebrates, cephalopods, eels, anything that has eyes, basically.)
I also want to add that photography is purely a hobby for me (although large scale video production and technology is my profession so I’m not entirely clueless😄).
I’m very much an amateur to still photos and can only speak from that perspective regarding it.————
1st Setup: 2x Big Blue VL4200PBs brought as close to the lens as possible.
Standard OEM (Big Blue) barrier filter.
This is the typical starting setup for a lot of folks who don’t have strobes.I was running full manual settings and custom white balance profile.
This setup had a combined 240lm of 460nm-485nm light output. Which is not a lot of light and really impacted auto-focus performance, I feel. In fact, I find that every aspect of fluoro photography really impacts AF performance but I digress.
If I could go back and do things differently during this time, I would just buy 1 large powerful light versus 2 smaller, less powerful lights. Something around 500lm+. Big Blue does a good job of publishing their lumen ratings for their products but you certainly don’t have to go with them. I would purchase the strongest light I could afford from a brand that is open about their specifications.
Reasons for more light are purely for better IQ not necessarily for getting the subject illuminated. More light doesn’t equal more fluorescence. I would also use manual focus or use AF-C with a wider focus area and not AF w/spot tracking like I was doing.
Photos with this setup:
