How do I take pics of items with a mirror finish?

paul williams

paul williams

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So I've got some items with a mirror finish that I'd like to photograph - is a light tent, with the camera shooting through a gap the only real option?

I have quite a bit of studio equipment - but no tent - so what would be a good basic set-up?

Paul
 
There's a couple of very good video tutorials on the Profotolife website. The solution is a lot less complicated than you'd imagine. I can't point you to the exact link right now as I'm at work, but you should be able to find it on there.
 
A light tent is probably the easiest but least suitable solution.
The lighting needs to be controlled, and everything is explained here - diffent subject but the same principle
 
Thanks for the links - I'll look at those at leisure tonight.

The main issue for me (which isn't a problem with tomatoes ;)) is that with a combination of mirror polished stainless steel, polished gold detailing, very high gloss black paint and curved glass, everything is not only reflective but literally mirrors it's surroundings. This was initially why I thought it would have to be a light tent, but as I don't have one, wondered about other options. Should have been more specific perhaps.

Paul
 
you'll always get something reflected even if you use a light tent (you'll still see the lens poking through for example), I used to just shoot in a darkened room, use a huge softbox on one side and a white card/reflector on the other, also use some white reflectors places around the object to fine tune the reflections, here's an example of an old bread and butter shot I used to do a lot for POS stuff, you can see the reflectors/softbox in the glass

croft.jpg
 
paul williams said:
Thanks for the links - I'll look at those at leisure tonight.

The main issue for me (which isn't a problem with tomatoes ;)) is that with a combination of mirror polished stainless steel, polished gold detailing, very high gloss black paint and curved glass, everything is not only reflective but literally mirrors it's surroundings. This was initially why I thought it would have to be a light tent, but as I don't have one, wondered about other options. Should have been more specific perhaps.

Paul
Click to expand...
It's a combination of creating diffused specular highlights, creating light from the angles that don't reflect back into the lens but that do pick up detail, getting the camera angle right and avoiding unwanted reflections - which is done by surrounding the shooting area with black velvet/blackwrap or similar.
 
So two differing options there - guess I'll have to try them both and see which is preferable.

Paul
 
What Gary is telling you is all true - I posted the profotolife link because the guy explains it really really well and demonstrates it step by step, the way he shows it in the video is very simple to try and to understand.

The "stick-in-a-can" is pure genius :D
 
Yes, that video is helpful.
'Sequence shortened' as they say in the iPhone ads - but still helpful.
 
Well all fired up I pulled out some gear to get ready for a go at this. Unfortunately one of my flash heads was not firing so spent the evening pulling it to bits instead - conclusion - needs a new flash tube:( Mind you that's only based on the fact that I can't find anything wrong with it!
Still can't complain too much, looking at the receipt they are 26 years old, but it'll be £75 for a tube and that's probably more than the head is worth.

Paul
 
Hiya,
really curious about the stainless steel photography. I tried to photo a champagne bucket last week and failed miserably!

what are you photographing?

All the best,
John
 
Well not the item I was talking about but just put together a basic set-up to try the technique;
paramour_photo2.jpg

Hmmmm, obviously didn't do too good a job on the cleaning - interesting how the process make things seem much worse than they really look. Should have just 'focused' on one amp unit at a time as well.
 
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