Shooting shiney products front on and at camera level.

Disco Stu

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Stuart
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Hi Guys/ Girls. Im new to the forum :wave:
I am really struggling to do as the title says. I have tried geting the studio as dark as possible and just using side reflectors/ Select lighting but i still get my reflection in the product. I do wonder if the lights I have available are just too bright and my room too small meaning that I have way too much reflected light bouncing around.
Does anybody know of a good tutorial or even any tips they can share.

Thanks

Stu
 
Hi k4stn thanks. I did watch that the other day funnily enough but that is with the camera looking down at the product which means the camera does not get into the reflections. I want to be Horizontal to the product for example aftershave or a round kettle in a dark setting.
 
How about a light tent with slit in one side to poke lens through, they are on eBay in various sizes, with and without lights.

Not used one myself so don't know how good they are.
 
Thanks Guys
I have been told about tilt shift lenses before and my boss told me they wouldnt do what I need. I think he is just being tight and doesnt want to buy me one lol.

Im going through the process of looking at tents as I should have one at least but i think they will probably still reflect the lens.

I just thought there would be some kind of funky angle and lighting tricks and you can get 90% there and then maybe just chuck the brightness down on the center in RAW or Photoshop.
 
That first link explains how it's done, and the theory is right - but very incomplete. The "after" shot is bland, my cat could do better than that, and I haven't even got a cat...

And a light tent, unless used by an expert, would produce similar crap results.

You don't need a tilt/shift lens for this.

What you need is a combination of getting the angles right, so that light doesn't reflect off of the subject into the lens, and using a light source that's big enough (at least 3 times the size of the subject) to create diffused specular highlights.

Specular Highlights - a reflection of the light source - can't be avoided and would look false if it was possible
Diffused - not bright, so that you can see through the highlight to the subject beneath

All is explained in this article on the Lencarta lighting blog. Don't be put off by the fact that I only photographed tomatoes etc for this shot, the principle is identical.

There are a few other articles on the Lencarta lighting blog that may help too, but the one I've linked to is the most relevant for you.
 
i once used a ring flash for this and the camera on a timer. surround the whole room in black then line the photo up and get out the way.

you end up with one bright spot :-D
 
i once used a ring flash for this and the camera on a timer. surround the whole room in black then line the photo up and get out the way.

you end up with one bright spot :-D

A ringflash is probably one of the worst possible options
 
How about a zoom lens? Take the shot from a few meters away with say a 300mm in a darkened room. Just a thought but probably wrong.
 
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