Product Photography Woes

[Mudgey]

Hi guys,

Having a bit of difficulty photographing silver products on white backgrounds and I was wondering if I could get some advice from the PH massive!

My current rig set up is a desk with white paper draped down the back and along the top of the table with 2 floor standing lights like these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Photography-Studio-2x135...

For a camera I use a Canon 550d with a Sigma 17-70mm lens.

I also have a 20" adjustable ring light.

This shot came out rather well, however since then two things have changed:

1. My previous setup was blessed with natural light coming in from many roof windows, unfortunately now it is located within a room with a low ceiling. The space is approx. 7ft wide and with a roof 8ft tall. The room is lit with two strip lights.
2. The parts I am trying to photograph has flat sides and the surfaces are highly reflective.



Here is the problem product. Please note this is a completely unedited shot apart from image size.



My initial thoughts are that as I no longer have natural light beaming down and therefore the background is not overly saturated.

This is my plan:

Get some really powerful directional lights to over saturate the background, put the product on a white pole so the bench top isn't in the picture and softly light the product itself using the Ring light.

What would others do to achieve detail with a white background?

Any help is greatly appreciated

[The_Jackal]

Can't you use a reflector or some white board to reflect some light back into the shadows?
Or a 2 second adjustment in PS or Lightroom?

[singlecoil]

Get a light tent of a decent size. Arrange the lights till you are happy with what you see through the viewfinder. Shoot on a tripod in manual, with a small aperture at different speeds til you get the effect you want. If the 550D has an HDMI socket and live view, use a TV as a monitor to get a clearer idea of what you are going to get.

If you have Photoshop you can probably use a curves adjustment layer to get it just right.

[Phunk]

Or use your current light and blend multiple shots.

E.G. Take 4 shots each with the light in a different position.

I'd also look into focus stacking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAXDV-NMoMc

[Simpo Two]

Mudgey said:

What would others do to achieve detail with a white background?

I'd send it to me with a cheque for £50

[Rogue86]

Some solid advice all round really. I know it's unedited, but you have some fundamental issues that you need to take care of.



Obviously the light is uneven and the background isn't clipped. It looks like your main lights are also too close (hence the hot-spots circled) and you have a coloured reflection. You could fix all these in post if you had the time, but you could do a lot worse than buying something like this for not very much cash:



It would probably represent the easiest single solution to the above issues. You're also making your life more difficult by mixing natural/artificial light too as they carry different colour-temperatures. You're better off eliminating natural light entirely and instead fixing your set-up.

Alternatively, you could DIY an infinity-table if you have a glass table knocking around. Close the curtains, set the lights up as below to blow out the background and then use a third light source for the subject. In a dark environment you could even light-paint.



I probably wouldn't outsource the photography when you've already invested in the kit unless you dont have the time.