Quality Fabric Photographing

[tornado360]

Hi Everyone,

I am very very new to photography and would dearly love some help. What I am about to embark on I have not got a clue what to do. I plan to photograph some fabric about 1 meter squared in a normal room with normal lighting. The photo must end up to of the highest quality and an exact or if not very close similarity to the fabric.

Could anyone tell me if the best option would be to use two umbrellas for lighting with some daylight bulb to replace my normal room bulbs too? Or would it be better if I used a good flash unit with diffuser?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

The texture of the fabric is usually very important not just the printed or woven design and colour.

texture can only be emphasized by side light.
Soft lighting can show colour and design very well.
So the answer is often a mixture of the two.

You actually need a pretty large room to shoot a square meter of fabric If you are to have room to have a texture light set at an oblique angle and a fill light from the front.
I assume you are mounting the fabric on the wall for easy access.

If you mix your light sources you will inevitably get strange colour casts, so use either tungsten lights or flash ... but not both.

 

[Garry Edwards]

The texture of the fabric is usually very important not just the printed or woven design and colour.

texture can only be emphasized by side light.
Soft lighting can show colour and design very well.
So the answer is often a mixture of the two.

You actually need a pretty large room to shoot a square meter of fabric If you are to have room to have a texture light set at an oblique angle and a fill light from the front.
I assume you are mounting the fabric on the wall for easy access.

If you mix your light sources you will inevitably get strange colour casts, so use either tungsten lights or flash ... but not both.

I agree entirely, except about the bit about using either tungsten lights or flash.

What you need for this (or at least as a starting point) is an oblique light, skimming from one side of the fabric to the other to reveal the texture, and a fill light (on axis with the camera) to mitigate that effect and produce the mix of soft and hard lighting needed.

The key light, skimming from the side, will need to be a long way away to produce even quantity of light (inverse square law) so will need a lot of power. And it will need a light shaper such as a honeycomb to create the type of light quality needed - both are available with flash, neither are available with continuous lighting.

If this thread gets moved to the lighting forum you may get some other suggestions

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I agree entirely, except about the bit about using either tungsten lights or flash.

What you need for this (or at least as a starting point) is an oblique light, skimming from one side of the fabric to the other to reveal the texture, and a fill light (on axis with the camera) to mitigate that effect and produce the mix of soft and hard lighting needed.

The key light, skimming from the side, will need to be a long way away to produce even quantity of light (inverse square law) so will need a lot of power. And it will need a light shaper such as a honeycomb to create the type of light quality needed - both are available with flash, neither are available with continuous lighting.
If this thread gets moved to the lighting forum you may get some other suggestions

Some people still have Tungsten spot lights, Which are ideal for texture. flash modifiers were designed to try to produce their effects.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Some people still have Tungsten spot lights, Which are ideal for texture. flash modifiers were designed to try to produce their effects.

Yes, some people do still have tungsten powered Fresnel Spots, and I'm also wrong to say that (other) light shapers aren't available with continuous lighting - of course they are - but my answer was tailored for the OP who made is clear that s/he hopes to take these shots "in a normal room with normal lighting."