Now on to your original question...
You need a diffuse light source. Imagine you *are* the object being photographed. If you're being lighted by a "point" light source, like the sun (appears very small to you) then you will cast a sharp shadow. The larger the light source appears *to the subject*, the softer the shadow. If light appears to come from almost everywhere, as in a cloudy day, no shadow except where the object is in almost direct contact with what it's setting on.
Try photographing an object using flash, but bounce the flash off the ceiling (you can't do this with the built-in flash, of course). The resulting light will be pretty "soft." Also try using a large, white sheet of paper or cardboard (or a wall) as a reflector to the side of the object, and point the flash at that. Remember, you want to illuminate a large area of the reflector to make a large light source. Also remember that most light will follow the rules for reflection, so you have to angle your reflector to bounce the light rays to the subject.
Experiment, and have fun! |
