I was recently given a Neewer CB200 COB Constant LED Light to play with, as well as their parabolic SF65Q 65cm Quick Release softbox and I really wanted to try them out in the studio. I didn’t have a model on hand at first, so I bought myself these gorgeous sunflowers to brighten up the studio and make some pretty still-life.

Setting the scene

I used a Katebackdrop foldable backdrop in Antique Brown and a photo board from Adaptalux. For props I used an old timber box, a metal watering can and an old metal teapot. Of course, the sunflowers and some pears too. The above image shows a rudimentary diagram.

Top left Silver reflector
Bottom right: Neewer BC200 and Neewer SF65Q Softbox

For the lighting, I used a Neewer BC200 with the Neewer 65cm. I positioned my lights on the front corner and angled at 45 degrees from the subject, up high, and angled down. The bottom of the softbox was roughly level with the top of the flowers. The silver reflector caught and bounced back-reflected light.

Camera gear and settings

Camera: Sony A7RV
Lens: Sony 50mm f/1.4 GM
Camera settings: ISO640, f/2.8, 1/250 secs.

You can check out the actual setup and the behind-the-scenes video below:

I then went back in a few days later, once the sunflowers had opened up a little more and using the same lighting setup I staged a slightly different still life, with an old door and some trellis as my backdrop. As you can see from the photos and settings below, I played with the aperture on these. I also sprayed them with water.

Camera: Sony A7RV
Lens: Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens
Camera settings: ISO100 – ISO640, f/2.8 – f/9.0, 1/200 – 1/640secs.