Product Photography/Lighting

jockwav

jockwav

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Ok need all the help i can get here with small studio lighting.
These are some swarovski crystal i have just taken as the wife trades in this stuff.
They are all taken with a softbox directly behind and above using a speedlight 430ex11,i have another yn465 flash which i did not use on these,any advice on the lighting appreciated.:thumbs:
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Yep i did use the shadow detail in CS3 as i thought it was a little dark so i could be wrong here.:gag:
 
yeah don't do it in post, you have a small margin that works otherwise do it in camera, do it in camera always if poss. Besides you were going for a black background?
 
Use the white background and put a piece of black card - vertically down each side of the shot - out of camera - to reflect a black edge to the product.
 
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:thumbs:Will take in everything on here & have another go with it,the problem with this crystal is it really bounces the light,hard stuff to do,so reflective.:gag:
 
Re-photographed these 2 & i only resized them & a little sharpen,i used to bits of black card either side of it:)
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there are a few dust bunnies on your sensor!

You just need to play with the size and exact position of the card to get the best definition you can. :thumbs:
 
Yep you think Ffordes would have seen them & cleaned it for the time they had it.
Hopefully i am on the right road now,thanks for your comments.:):thumbs:
 
the lighting is very poor

You really are only showing off a product like this by the reflections in it. This means you need to get the specular highlights right... That means caerfully controling the shape, texture, position, and size of the lighting

You need to learn about "dark field" lighting

Additionally, you might consider placing the object over a apeture in a piece of black card that is slightly smaller than the base, and underlighting

Additionally, you are currently not really lighting the front (non glass) details of the product in any way that shows it off
 
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Yes i know the lighting is not right,that,s why i am asking advice,i looked at these flat panel lighting things for underlighting but i dont really want to get into too much expense on this.:):thumbs:
 
I can't help with your lighting. But out of interest I thought I'd have a look and see how Swarovski themselves present their own products on their website and I don't think they've got it right.

One of the "features" of this product (certainly in the real world point of sale displays) is the attraction of the multiple crystal facets and sparkling effects - none of which seem to have been captured in the majority of their "whiteout" product shots.

I think you're closer than they are to producing an ideal product shot and it'll be interesting to see the effect of the suggested underlighting!
 
jockwav said:
Yes i know the lighting is not right,that,s why i am asking advice,i looked at these flat panel lighting things for underlighting but i dont really want to get into too much expense on this.:):thumbs:
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It's not the total lighting soloution.. but as an experement, do the trick with the black card, and hole, place a flash or as an experement a simple halogen light under the hole - dont set fire to anything. If you want to be really posh, and the card is big enough - pop a curve on the back of the card, so you get a seamless thing going on

Forget the reflection on whatever it is you are placing the product on for the moment for the moment, just get the lighting for the product right

You wil need to do this in a fairly dark room, or put some further sheets of card about to control the ambient
 
Any improvement on this?did this before your post there.:)
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Had a go with the hole cut in a card but the wife hated it,she said it will look crap for ebay,so i wont post that one.:):D
 
How about this one.
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I think the last image is the best so far, but I would personally have the face in full view.
 
Thanks for that,i do 3 shots of it for ebay,left,right,straight on.:):thumbs:
 
Any thoughts on the lighting on this?.:)
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jockwav said:
Any thoughts on the lighting on this?.:)
QUOTE]I'm not sure that it's really worked, but a good effort.

The lighting from the front has caused loss of edge detail against the white background and the lighting from the rear is far too square on to it, creating an unwanted specular reflection - it would have been far better if the light had been honeycombed and further back, and the loss of edge detail on the front would have been avoided if you'd started off with a large overhead softbox, pointed a little forward, and then just used reflectors and/or extra lights on the front as necessary.

And I'm not sure that the reflection helps with this shot, although that's just personal taste.
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Thanks Garry i really appreciate your input,i will change a few things & try to follow your guidelines on it.:):thumbs:
Meant to say i used a speedlight 430ex11 from the left hand side through a softbox,no other light used.
 
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Are these getting any better.:)
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1st one ^^^ looks very noisy for some reason
 
Can,t see how at 100 iso:):shrug:
 
I can see it's 100 ISO but it is VERY noisy in all the shadow areas.
 
Hmmm,need to keep trying then lol
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Trying to get to grips with it still.:)
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Added a second light to the right in these 2
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I think the lighting looks best on the first of your van photos!
 
f1charlie said:
I think the lighting looks best on the first of your van photos!
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Definately not, it's best on the last of them, although personally I would have put a little light into the inside of the cab.
Having said that, it seems to me that you've just changed the model around to avoid the problem of the unwanted reflection on the back doors rather than cure the problem by positioning the light properly.

Trial and error can work sometimes, but it's much better to understand the nature of light and so avoid the problems in the first place.

Light: Science & Magic, 3rd edition, or my Photolearn tutorial on still life lighting will both explain the principles of light.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Definately not, it's best on the last of them, although personally I would have put a little light into the inside of the cab.
Having said that, it seems to me that you've just changed the model around to avoid the problem of the unwanted reflection on the back doors rather than cure the problem by positioning the light properly.

Trial and error can work sometimes, but it's much better to understand the nature of light and so avoid the problems in the first place.

Light: Science & Magic, 3rd edition, or my Photolearn tutorial on still life lighting will both explain the principles of light.
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Thanks Garry,no i didn,t intenionally re-position it,never thought about that:)
I added a second light off to the right for these 2 shots,i will keep at it,cheers m8:thumbs:
 
I hope i am getting somewhere.:)
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your shots are defo getting better.. but this one above looks soft. the name on the van is not as sharp and looks like camera shake?
 
muscleflex said:
your shots are defo getting better.. but this one above looks soft. the name on the van is not as sharp and looks like camera shake?
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Thanks for your comments,you could be right there.:)
 
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Not sure if this is my best to date.:)
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