HELP photographing a glass!!! HELP

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karlwilson1986

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Karl
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Hello

If i am wanting to take a picture of a pint glass with writing on, i have a black sheet for the background to make the writing stand out.

So now for the technical part ... how do i get a great image with no lighting coming back at the camera or reflections !?!?

is it possible

I have use of 3 flashguns wirelessly a shoot through brolly and a softbox and i thought before i give it a go tomorrow to ask the pros!?!?!

hope you can help
Thanks
Karl
 
karlwilson1986 said:
Hello

If i am wanting to take a picture of a pint glass with writing on, i have a black sheet for the background to make the writing stand out.

So now for the technical part ... how do i get a great image with no lighting coming back at the camera or reflections !?!?

is it possible

I have use of 3 flashguns wirelessly a shoot through brolly and a softbox and i thought before i give it a go tomorrow to ask the pros!?!?!

hope you can help
Thanks
Karl
Click to expand...

You could try shooting it on a raised platform lit from 1 soft light directly above - giving it a soft theatre spotlight effect.
 
You need to light the edges & etching. If you've only flashguns, try using a torch to get an idea where the flashguns need to be.
 
Sit on a sheet of glass and light from below.

Also try diffusing the light with something opaque (like grease proof paper).
 
If you don't have reflections coming back into the camera, you won't see the glass. It might sound obvious but because glass is transparent, the reflections are the only thing that defines its shape.

When shooing glass against a black background with flashguns, your room (Thanks to light falloff distance) essentially becomes a black box. You then need to add white into it to help define the shape of the glass, usually in the form of white strips of cardboard :)

There's a good chapter on this in "Light Science and Magic", a great book on some fundamentals.

Another guide is here: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-photograph-glass
 
Put the glass in a fridge for about a couple of hours. Take it out and shoot it as the condensation is forming.
 
does it have to have a black background?

use a white sheet on a wall with the pint sat on a sheet of glass (from a clip frame etc) on white paper on a table approx 12" from the wall

sheet one flashgun from below the table into the white sheet on the wall.

using black card build 2 sides and a top which sit just out of frame which will give black edges to the glass.

the writing will be silhouetted from the flash coming from the back.
 
Denyerec said:
There's a good chapter on this in "Light Science and Magic", a great book on some fundamentals.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

If you're insisting on a black background then shoot with a long lens from far away and have the black background as small as possible to cover your field of view. Have white cards to the outside edges of the black card and light those. You're photographic the reflections really. Fill the glass with beer or Guiness maybe, and add some large bounce cards from the front sides.
 
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