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03/21/2007 10:49:04 AM · #1 |
I have a friend who owns/operates a glass blowing studio. He asked if I could take product shots for his website. His catalog is absolutely beautiful. I wanted to do it for him to add product shots to my portfolio and he was willing to let me try because otherwise he pays about $1200/day for someone to come and shoot it all.
The items are vases, bowls, perfume bottles, some decorative pieces, gobblets, stemware etc...
My question is on how to light it properly. My first inclination was to build a light tent and use 3 lights, sides and top. What does everybody think, would this give me the best results?
I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one, but no harm in trying. The deal is that if he likes my work on a few pieces, than I will shoot his entire catalog and of course get paid for that.
Any help on lighting stategy would be great.
JM |
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03/21/2007 10:54:49 AM · #2 |
i would also got for a light tent with a white riser, two light each side for me would be enough to evenly light the glass.
Good luck
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03/21/2007 10:56:25 AM · #3 |
you have bitten off more than you can chew. Glass maybe one of the most difficult items to light properly, and there are a few different ways you can set up lighting for it. So really need to know what style you want to use.
But, first suggestion is this, group all the similar type items together, by size and shape. It will make it a lot easer and faster to run through everything.
Here I used a black poster board trimmed down to make more narrow. Domed white poster board over and used a light from above and just back from center.
Now this is a bit different. I used a piece of clear glass supported off the ground as my base and light from underneath, as well as using a white board for the background and from underneath bounced off that to the bottles. Open studio and dark cola bottle was able to give me the dark spot I wanted. And a white board from the side, to get the reflection on the cola bottle.
(edit to add image\s)
Message edited by author 2007-03-21 11:08:38.
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03/21/2007 10:59:38 AM · #4 |
| A circular polariser will help to tone down reflections. |
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03/21/2007 11:01:26 AM · #5 |
grab the book
"Light Science & Magic" it will explain on how to light glass effectively |
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03/21/2007 11:02:16 AM · #6 |
Look through other product catalogs for ideas. The thing you DON'T want to do is plunk some lovely bit of art down on a white board and shoot it straight on. That's boring and probably won't get you more business. You want interesting compositions, but consistency through all of your shots so they flow nicely together. Look at Potterybarn.com, they have some nice product photography.
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03/21/2007 11:02:45 AM · #7 |
| Alternative approach is to take the glass outside and place on a rustic surface, thereby accentuating the smoothness of the vitreous material. On an overcast day (you get them too in VT I know) use some polystyrene or white foamcore as reflector boards. Keep a close eye on the reflections. Be creative in your placement and composition of the objects. Use bokeh to your advantage. Set the white balance with a white card. 0.02 cents. |
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03/21/2007 11:16:39 AM · #8 |
Hmmm...not what I'd have picked for an easy first assignment. There's a reason he's paying $1200/day for someone else.
The trick with lighting glass, especially clear/colored glass is to balance the light coming through the glass showing its depth, color and transparency with the light being reflected from it's surface showing that it's there and not just a blob of arbitrary color.
When I was doing product work, this was my approach to glass stuff: First get the light coming through the glass to work, often this would mean actually lighting it through a hole in the bottom of the set and using a piece if white paper or aluminum foil or something stuck to the back of the object to send the light toward the camera through the glass. Once you have that looking the way you want it, you can generally use a softbox near the camera to light the surface, then use gobos on the face of the softbox to block the light on the surface to allow the light coming through the glass to shine. Then it's just a matter of tweaking it to get exactly the look you want.
Of course, that's all independent of how you light the scene around it, if you have anything at all.
Good Luck.
Message edited by author 2007-03-21 11:27:01. |
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03/21/2007 11:26:48 AM · #9 |
| Dulling spray really helps cut out the reflections. It doesn't harm the product, wipes off easily, and is non-greasy. |
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03/21/2007 12:07:50 PM · #10 |
I shot this using a home made light tent, which consists of some plastic tubes and a old bleached out bed sheet. 2 nikon sb 800s triggered by onboard flash and a polarizing filter.
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