The lighting angle

The camera was set at the same level as the subject of the photograph attached to a tripod and fired by remote control. Aperture value was used and set at f2.8 to limit the depth of field. A flash was used off camera using TTL. All images were shot in RAW and the same level of enhancement applied to all in the Camera RAW conversion software.

In this image the flash is in front of the image and at the same level.

In this image the flash is to the side of the image.

In this image the flash is behind and to the side of the image at approx. 45deg.

In this image the flash is immediately behind the image as can be seen! I could not work out how to avoid this result with the equipment and space available One thought that occurred was using a soft box of sufficient size to appear as a 'white' screen.

The flash has now been raised above the subject and the shot taken from the front.

In this image the flash still above the subject has been moved to the side.

The flash still above the image has now been moved behind and to the side of the image at approx. 45deg.

The flash still above the image is now behind the image.

The flash is now directly over the image.

In this image the flash is above but slightly in front of the image.

The final shot is with the flash over the subject but this time slightly behind.

In this set of images the ones giving the greatest sense of the three dimensional nature of the subject are those taken from the front with the camera and light at the same level as the subject. Those taken where the flash has been moved to the side but still at the same level also give a sense of form.

My preference is the second image taken from the side and with camera and light at the same level. The amount of detail  is good and for me there is the greatest sense of a 3 dimensional image.

A very useful exercise that made me think about the positioning of light and the value of being able to move the source off camera to achieve the desired effect. I took many more photographs than those shown partly to familiarise myself with the use of the flash and moving it off camera but also to make minor changes to the position to assess what effect they had upon the result.