Photographically speaking, different people know me for different reasons. Some see me as primarily an outdoors photographer (landscapes, wildlife), others as a portraitist (which is actually rare), yet others as a small studio-style (still life) photographer. In reality, of course, there is no delineation – it’s just one person doing whatever he feels like.

Due to my strobist-style activities, however, people do have an expectation that use a fairly professional setup for most shots.  So the question came up: what flashes & pattern did you use to create such soft, low-contrast light in the How to Eat Vegemite shots?

The answer:I didn’t. Or rather, this was still a “sorta strobist-style” shot, in the sense that I used a giant gaseous ball of flame that’s about 150,000,000 km from the earth.  For reflectors, I used the entire outdoors, diffused through a wrinkled sheer fabric.

In other words, it was Rembrandt lighting: a north-facing window with sheer curtains diffusing the light. This gives softness, low contrast, and even lighting.

Not exactly what the questioner expected…