Running in circles? Try a Ring Flash! (photocritic)
When you’re taking photos with a flash, there’s a problem: Because the flash
is mounted on top of your camera, you get some pretty horrible shadows. One
way around that is to move the flash as far away from the lens as you can, in
the now-famous Strobist approach to photography lighting, but there’s another
way, too: Move the flash _closer_ to your lens. A lot closer.
A ring flash is designed to be ring-shaped, and to sit around the lens of your
camera. Originally developed as a tool to facilitate dental photography, it’s
great for all sorts of macro work. However, it quickly got another use, too:
in portraiture and fashion.
Because the light from a ring flash is coming from exactly the same direction
as your lens, you don’t get the harsh shadows traditionally associated with
flash photography. Perfect!
The only problem is that ring flashes can be very expensive. A Canon MR 14EX
ring-flash will set you back the best part of an arm and a leg (that’s about
£400), and even third-party ring flashes will cost you at least a couple of
fingers, if not a hand.
The El Cheapo Deluxe option …
