Product lighting help advice req'd

[doublemint76]

The company i work for have asked me to take some product pictures for them to use at a show and for a brochure etc. I said i would need another flash, which i do for this and they have agreed to buy for me, so ill get an sb700 ordered this morning.

Now back to my main question, lighting the product - i'll post a link at the bottom of this post of the type of things ill be shooting (alot of reflective stuff)
My kit is a D300, 50 1.8, 17-50 2.8 and an 85 1.4. Lighting gear is sb700, sb600, yonguro 465II, 2 stands, 1 brolly (shoot through and reflective) and 1 softbox. Oh and a tripod.

They have asked for everything to be shot on white which i'll probably use a large sheet of paper. I can only use 2 of my flashes as i need triggers to fire the yonguro which i don't have.
I was thinking of using the brolly and sofbox at say about 4 and 8 o'clock relative to the product and in fairly close and using my longest lens which is the 85 although it is manual only. Start off with flashes on just ttl and take it from there? Drop into manual if need be? F11. My main worry is keeping everything white.

I would be really grateful for ANY advice pointers etc. I'm pretty competent in photoshop but would rather get most of it right in camera to save on post work.

http://www.ferrabyrne.co.uk/?page=Bearings-and-Bushes

Thanks
Dan

 

[Garry Edwards]

So your employer manufactures precision engineering products on a pretty big scale and wants to move away from working with specialist pro photographers and get you to do the job?

Fine, if you're happy with that, but you will need a multitude of professional lighting gear and some training to control those specular reflections, put them in the right places and diffuse them. You won't do it with a couple of hotshoe flashguns, a softbox, umbrella and optimism.

 

[doublemint76]

So your employer manufactures precision engineering products on a pretty big scale and wants to move away from working with specialist pro photographers and get you to do the job?

Fine, if you're happy with that, but you will need a multitude of professional lighting gear and some training to control those specular reflections, put them in the right places and diffuse them. You won't do it with a couple of hotshoe flashguns, a softbox, umbrella and optimism.

In the past we have never had a multitude off professional lighting gear and we have never hired a specialist pro tog. The only time weve hired a pro is when the web site was built and even then it was just someone walking around with a hotshoe mounted flash. In fact the last time we had some product shots taken was by a trainee engineer we had working here and he only used 2 flashes without diffusers of any kind against a white cloth.

I'll include a picture from said engineer above so you can see its not spectacular. If it was magazine like quality pics they were expecting then i would not do it.

I was just after some pointers to make the best of what i have.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I can see where you're coming from here, it's a business decision (that I personally think is wrong but it's your decision not mine) that it isn't worth spending money on photography to improve the sales of your products.

Some types of product can be photographed without either knowledge or equipment, and that dull, unfinished bearing(?) is a good example, the surface isn't reflective and it probably doesn't matter in the least that the lighting is pretty random. But the thing next to it is totally different, it needs fine control of the reflections to show not only its shape and features, but also the precision of its manufacture. And that takes care, equipment and knowledge.

If you're happy to just have enough quantity of light, and you're not worried about the quality of the light, then you'll be satisfied with the results with just a light each side as you suggest, and there is really nothing that I or anyone else can say that will improve on these results.

 

[Photodiva]

I'd have thought that one of those ebay-style product light boxes might be ideal for this sort of thing. A friend used to do some high quality illustrations and exploded diagrams for an engineering company
To my mind, it depends on the purpose of the images. If its for general information, then photos may work. If its to illustrate the intricacies of the component, illustration may be the way to go.

 

[doublemint76]

I can see where you're coming from here, it's a business decision (that I personally think is wrong but it's your decision not mine) that it isn't worth spending money on photography to improve the sales of your products.

Some types of product can be photographed without either knowledge or equipment, and that dull, unfinished bearing(?) is a good example, the surface isn't reflective and it probably doesn't matter in the least that the lighting is pretty random. But the thing next to it is totally different, it needs fine control of the reflections to show not only its shape and features, but also the precision of its manufacture. And that takes care, equipment and knowledge.

If you're happy to just have enough quantity of light, and you're not worried about the quality of the light, then you'll be satisfied with the results with just a light each side as you suggest, and there is really nothing that I or anyone else can say that will improve on these results.

Hey, if it was my company then i whole heartidly agree with you Gary but its not and if they're happy with with the type of shot i included then thats fine by me. I did say to get a pro outfit in but it fell on deaf ears. Sadly they have always had the attitude of getting things done on the cheap. Thanks for taking to time comment, i appreciate it.

I only threw out a homemade lightbox recently aswell, doh. Could always make another one i suppose.

 

[adamgasson]

Dan, don't shoot it too long. If you shoot wider and crop afterwards it'll allow you to have a deeper depth of focus. If you start shooting at 85mm, even at f/10, you'll find the focus will fall off very quickly (not great for technical shots where you'll need to see the entire product).

One thing I would suggest is to buy a sheet of white perspex. It won't bounce the light back anywhere near as much as white paper will (on that image you attached the part to the left is losing edge sharpness from the flaring off the white paper).

Personally I'd say you'll need three lighting angles to accurately represent the product (so for that image above 4 o'clock, 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock). I'd also use large silver reflectors (large as in larger than your product). You can make these with silver paper (don't use foil) and foam board (white foamboard can also be used as a reflector).

Ideally you don't want to be hitting the object with direct light, instead look to bounce the light off the reflectors to get a nice gradient of light.