Product Shots with Black Background

recrudesce

recrudesce

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Russ
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I'm trying to take some product shots for a friend

I have only one 430exII flash unit, which is off to my right, with a diffuser on it and set to 1/16th power. I can't put the flash in front of the product else I cant take the picture (due to the tripod the flash is on being in the way).

How do I sort out the following:

1: my "black" background comes out dark grey, I want it darker.
2: there's too much shadow on one side of the product.

I have the camera set to ISO200, 1/200, f/5.6. I have my metering set to Spot and am shooting in Manual mode.

Advice welcomed, because right now all this kit is heading down the eBay route...

IMG_0016_1.jpg
 
You just need to learn to use it better :) Off camera flash done manually is one of the more difficult areas to master because you are juggling more variables than normal but here are some basics to help sort you out.

1. shutter controls ambient.
2. Aperture controls flash.
3 ISO is the sensitivity of your sensor to light.

Now, let's have a look at your settings ISO 200? you should have plenty of light because you are providing it so back it off to ISO 100.

Shutter speed 1/200 is above the sync speed of your camera so back that off to 1/125 to start with. The slower the shutter speed the more ambient light gets in.

Aperture controls your flash exposure and your tub is actually reasonably well lit. I'd keep the aperture around f8 to start with. The way to think about aperture when using flash is that a big hole lets in more light so f4 will let more in than f11. The aperture will only affect the part that is lit with the flash.

I think the grey has been caused by the ISO setting being too high so it is reacting by gathering more light than necessary.

Since you only have one light and you want more balance on your tub then use a reflector, you can make one quite cheaply if you don't own one.

HTH
 
i thought the sync speed of the 450D was 1/200 ?

i have a reflector, but where would i put it in relation to the product ?
 
I am no expert photographer but I do studio shots fo my own craftwork in a similar set up so here is my very amateur tips.

1 I would move the flash further round to the right and put a reflector (big sheet of white paper card or whatever you have) to the left to fill the shadows.

You have more than enough light on the product the light could do with being softer if you could, maybe bounce it off a white card? having mor diffuse light coming and filling the shadow with the reflector should light the product nicely without putting so much light on the paper and making it come out gray. Obviously you could go to ISO 100 would make the gray darker and I think the product has more than enough light on it.
 
recrudesce said:
i thought the sync speed of the 450D was 1/200 ?

i have a reflector, but where would i put it in relation to the product ?
Click to expand...

Somewhere that will bounce some of the light back into the area you want. If you have trouble seeing light, squint.

I'm not joking, it works. If you ever want to see what a camera will see squint and you will start to see where light falls.
 
okies, I did wonder why there was not a huge black band down one side thanks for clearing that up. It's 1/125 on both of mine, progress eh :)
 
I did some product shots a while back for Mrs. Outlore, and only used one flash. I found the result a lot nicer by bouncing the flash off the ceiling, it lessens the harshness of the flash and also lowers the length of the shadows.
 
ok, how about now

IMG_0003_2.jpg

IMG_0013_2.jpg
 
You've been given some good advice above, just a couple of things to add...
1. If you want the blackground to be black when it has to be very close to the subject (and it doesn't get any closer than the subject sitting on it) then it needs to be black velvet - the genuine article, not the 'velveteen' sold on ebay. Get the exposure right in camera, don't try to adjust it in PS, you won't get the same result and will waste time anyway.
2. Don't view shadows as something to be avoided, they are your friend because they produce interest and depth. The trick is to control them, not to avoid them
 
ok, bit more trial and error required.

so next question is how to take pictures of these white items on a white background :|
 
light them separately :)

If you light the background separately from the subject it allows you to keep separation between the two. Overexpose the background slightly and keep distance between the subject and background. That way they don't melt into each other but you retain edge detail.

That's going to be hard with only one light.
 
i have a halogen desk lamp - would that help ?

not understanding lighting that well, how do i overexpose the background ?
 
Ah right :)

Nope you can't really mix halogen and flash because they have different colour temperatures, you really would need another flash for that.

To overexpose a background you put a bit more light on the background in relation to what you put on your subject.

It's basically studio photography scaled down. I would would set the camera to ISO 100 and a shutter speed of 1/125 (my sync speed) and adjust the light on the subject to f8 using a light meter. Then I'd switch that off and the background one on and again adjust that one until I got to f11.

Both lights on and shoot. That's how I'd set it up anyway. :)

HTH
 
AliB said:
okies, I did wonder why there was not a huge black band down one side thanks for clearing that up. It's 1/125 on both of mine, progress eh :)
Click to expand...

I thought you had a 1DsMk2 (1/250) and 5D (1/200).

I'm pretty sure that no Canon digital SLR has hada flash sync of 1/125 athough that is the fastest speed recommended when using studio flash units!
 
AliB said:
It's basically studio photography scaled down. I would would set the camera to ISO 100 and a shutter speed of 1/125 (my sync speed) and adjust the light on the subject to f8 using a light meter. Then I'd switch that off and the background one on and again adjust that one until I got to f11.
Click to expand...
can i do this with just my camera or do i need a light meter ?
 
EdBray said:
I thought you had a 1DsMk2 (1/250) and 5D (1/200).

I'm pretty sure that no Canon digital SLR has hada flash sync of 1/125 athough that is the fastest speed recommended when using studio flash units!
Click to expand...

You only need to use 1/125sec when using some radio triggers which introduce a slight delay by using (cheap) slower processors. I don't know of any current studio light or flash gun that needs to go slower per se.

The best triggers like Pocket Wizards work at full x-sync speed (the new E-TTL versions actually go even faster than that with their clever Hypersync feature). Optical slaves run at full x-sync and so do auto-TTL remote hot-shoe systems.

recrudesce said:
can i do this with just my camera or do i need a light meter ?
Click to expand...

You don't need a flash meter with only one light. Just check it on the LCD/histogram.
 
ok, maybe i'm being thick here - how do i meter for light by firing flash without taking the picture ? wont i have to be lightning quick to see the meter in the camera viewfinder ?
 
recrudesce said:
ok, maybe i'm being thick here - how do i meter for light by firing flash without taking the picture ? wont i have to be lightning quick to see the meter in the camera viewfinder ?
Click to expand...

Yes, you have to take a test snap.
 
ooh, that makes more sense now :P
 
AliB said:
Ah right :)

Nope you can't really mix halogen and flash because they have different colour temperatures, you really would need another flash for that.
Click to expand...

Ali, you've been a great help so far :] could i use a Daylight bulb instead of the halogen do you think ?
 
You need some black velvet to use as the background, this won't reflect the stray light and will give you much purer blacks without faffing around so much
 
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