Softbox and lighting setup for ceramic tableware shooting

[doodledsnaps]

Hi - new to this forum and fairly new to photography!

I've managed to sort out a basic tent set up for taking packshots of the ceramic tableware we produce but I now need to create shots of product selections and the tent is too small for that. The space needed is about 70cm x 150cm - say a dining room table - where the products can be laid out.

What I would like to achieve is something like this: www [dot] porzellantreff [dot] de/webimages/categories/large/Magic_Grip_Table_02-uabjwm.jpg but with less shadow

From what I have read around the web I need three softboxes. One either side of the camera and one on a boom above the table. I've also read that when it comes to softboxes for this kind of photography then the bigger the better but with a ceiling height of 2.4 meters we have limits! On the other hand if we really need something that requires a ceiling height over 2.4meters then I don't want to waste money on a half cut solution that doesn't work anyway.

I was wondering what softbox sizes people would recommend to achieve this?

PS - I have a strong preference for soft boxes vs a flash set up as they allow us to see (via Canon Live Preview) the shot before we take it

 

[Bobsyeruncle]

Your link is not right

 

[Kodiak Qc]

PS - I have a strong preference for soft boxes vs a flash set up as they allow us to see (via Canon Live Preview) the shot before we take it

•
A soft box, Tim, is a light modifier not a light source to which it is attach. What
you wanted to say,I think, is that you would prefer a continuous light source or
a flash with a modelling lamp.

The picture you refer to is quite decent! It has a correct amount of shadow, well
lit and framed… what you may see as a shadow under the plate with the apples
is, in fact, a cutout!!! The only thing that I would have done differently is to switch
on the two lamps.

I think your question should read:
What continuous light source would be recommend to achieve this?

 

[Garry Edwards]

Tim, there's nothing difficult about this but, with respect, your approach is wrong,
Yes, you need an overhead softbox fitted to a boom arm, and most of the time it will be directly overhead and angled slightly towards the camera, not positoned off to one side as in the photo above. This is the light that will do about 90% of the work. Size? As big as possible, so something like our 150cm Profold will be suitable (other makes are available).

I'm not sure what you mean by "less shadow" - it's the shadows that bring life to the subject, make it interesting, make it come alive. The trick is to create the right shadows of the right density in the right places, not to eliminate them. If you want the shadows to be softer (with the shadow transfer edges less clearly defined) then you use a larger light source (softbox in this case) or move it closer, or both. If you want the shadows to be less dark, then you adjust the power of the fill light until you're happy.

A softbox each side? Maybe, but that will never look natural, because light will now be coming from 3 different directions, and there's only one sun on this planet... Think in terms of one smaller softbox from (say) front left, and sometimes you will want to put a honeycomb grid on it to stop the light spreading into unwanted areas. And if you place a 5 in 1 reflector on the opposite side, this will fill in shadows to taste, An alternative to a 5 in 1 reflector is a large sheet of white board, and sometimes a 8'x4' sheet of white polystyrene insulation board is the best thing you can get.

A thrid light is sometimes needed, fitted with (typically) a 10 degree honeycomb - this is used to highlight a specific area and also, when used at an acute angle, to create and reveal texture.

And, finally, you say that "PS - I have a strong preference for soft boxes vs a flash set up as they allow us to see (via Canon Live Preview) the shot before we take it". Softboxes are in fact just tools that are fitted to lights, they can be fitted to both flash and to continuous lights. But, they can only be fitted to the most expensive continuous lights, and there is absolutely no benefit in using continuous lights for various reasons, including the less than perfect colour rendition of continuous lights, the expense, the very limited power output and the very limited range of power adjustment. Nearly all pro photographers use flash for a reason, and these ElitePro flash heads or their smaller cousins, the SmartFlash, will do the job perfectly - as will other makes with similar performance. As for seeing the effect that you're going to get, that's what the modelling lamps are for.

 

[doodledsnaps]

Thanks for the replies:

@Bobsyeruncle - assumed there might be trouble if my first post contained a link - hence the format
@Kodiak Qc - sorry, yes, continuous light source

@Garry Edwards - thanks for the detail. I see many continuous light softboxes around at all prices points. What do you mean

they can only be fitted to the most expensive continuous lights

Overall your recommended set up would be:
- 150cm softbox overhead
- one 70x100 soft box front left
- a reflector front right??

 

[Garry Edwards]

Most continuous lighting setups are CFL (Fluorescent) - the bulbs for these are massive and there are usually at least 4 of them, they usually come complete with a small(ish) softbox. Because of the physical size, other modifiers cannot be fitted to the lights, The exception to this is LED, which is much smaller, and LED lights can be fitted with different modifiers, but they are expensive, they don't have much range of power adjustment, they have limited power and (despite claims to the contrary) they do not reproduce all colours equally and accurately.

Overall your recommended set up would be:
- 150cm softbox overhead
- one 70x100 soft box front left
- a reflector front right??

Yes.

 

[doodledsnaps]

... so looking at the QuadLite you stock - how large is this softbox? Are you saying that your 70x100cm profold softbox or the 150cm profold could not be used with it?

I have also heard LED doesn't do colour well so I had discounted this idea.

 

[Garry Edwards]

The QuadLite softbox is 85x85cm and no, other softboxes can't be used with it.

 

[doodledsnaps]

But why is that? Surely a 150cm profold is big enough even if you had to go at it with some scissors and an awful lot of duct tape?

 

[Garry Edwards]

But why is that? Surely a 150cm profold is big enough even if you had to go at it with some scissors and an awful lot of duct tape?

As I said earlier, the QuadLite (and others) don't have an interchangeable accessory mount, because of the physical size of the bulbs. And, even if it's possible to bodge it by cutting great lumps out of the sofbox and destroying it, I doubt whether many people who want to buy a cheap continuous light would want to buy an expensive softbox to go with it,

 

[doodledsnaps]

Makes sense.