Lighting hundred of stainless steel pieces, avoiding dark areas on the metal

<p>-----------------------------<br /> IMAGE SAMPLES<br /> I have included a gallery of 4 images. 1 retouched, and 1 untouched version of each of the two samples:<br /> http://imgur.com/a/0i0nA<br /> ------------------------------</p>

<p>Hello Everyone,<br /><br />I’ve recently been challenged with a project that requires me to photograph hundreds of stainless steel units on-white, for use in an online catalog. The items are various components that make up a large assembly. Everything from tubing that is a foot or more in length, down to tiny nuts and bolts. I have shot and retouched a couple of the units already, and the client has approved the look. They have stressed the importance of matching this look for the entire product line. The main thing that I did was to shoot the units in such a way as fill a good portion of the family of angles causing direct reflection, and then I retouched any remaining dark reflections out of the images in post. The client strongly prefers that the items appear as bright and clean as possible, in order to highlight the fact that the product is stainless steel, and not other lesser polished metals, such as aluminum. I have won the job, and now find myself trying to figure out how to most efficiently photogrpah hundreds of pieces, many with a near 360 degree family of angles of direct reflection to worry about. I prefer not to shoot in a tent, in order to have some control over my light. I just don’t want the pieces to appear totally flat. I want some shape to come through. <br /><br />These are two of my samples, with unretouched and retouched versions:<br>

http://imgur.com/a/0i0nA<br>

As you can see, I retouched out some dark reflections. I am now hoping to capture nothing but bright metal and white highlights in the camera. So today I started covering as much of my studio in white seamless paper as I can manage. I brought in my big softbox as close as possible to a new unit (roughly a foot from it). However I’m still seeing some black, which, in writing this post, I now assume to be the black rim of my Chimera. My biggest challenge so far is figuring out how to eliminate all black areas on the metal in the camera, while still maintaining the appearance of a well defined shape of each unit.<br /><br />SAMPLES<br />For reference, I lit all of these samples with a roughly 4x3 softbox in very close, just out of frame. I had large white foamcore and seamless around the product as well. I’m trying to keep my focal lengths longer in order to minimize my family of angles as best I can, as I understand that a longer lens creates a tighter family of angles. For these shots I believe I was at 150mm. The raw images did have some reflections of unlit studio areas that of course appeared as black, which were retouched out. I just really want to create this look in camera, if at all possible.<br /><br />In summation:<br /> - I am trying to nearly or completely eliminate black reflection from the metal units. It needs to appear bright, in accord with the retouched samples. I am hoping to get this in camera if possible. Is there a way to completely eliminate these dark areas from the raw images? I am very skeptical of shooting in a tent, as I value the form of the individual pieces, and am afraid that the units will appear way too flat if I were to go this route. I’ve read the metal section of Light Science Magic, and am wondering if anyone on here with experience in a similar situation can advise me on some further tips or tricks. <br /><br /><br /> - I foresee some issues being able to clearly discern the unit from the background during close-cutting. The retouched images are close-cut, and laid onto a true (255,255,255) white background. This was a bit difficult on the top of the bolt threading, as the tones on the metal were very close to the shadow cast from the key light. All images from this job will need to be close-cut. Any tips on this? Im thinking perhaps shooting on a clear piece of plexi, positioned a few inches above the white seamless that the units are sitting on could help separate the shadows from the units. thoughts on this?<br /> <br />- The pieces are various shapes and sizes, which will necessitate moving lighting/camera around a bit. I'd like to maintain close size relationships across the range of product images, but am a bit stumped on how best to do this.</p>

<p>-----------------------------<br /> IMAGE SAMPLES<br /> I have included a gallery of 4 images. 1 retouched, and 1 untouched version of each of the two samples:<br /> http://imgur.com/a/0i0nA<br /> ------------------------------</p>

<p>.<br /> .<br /> .<br /> BTW, This is my first post, though I have valued this community greatly over the years for its professional discussions on various photo-related stuff. I greatly appreciate any input you guys can provide, and look forward to contributing in the future.</p>

<p>You might want to grab a copy of this:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461308368&sr=8-1&keywords=light+science+and+magic">Light Science & Magic</a></p>

<p>Probably the definitive tome on lighting metal and glass. Based on what you've said you want to do, I think everything you need to know may be in there.</p>

<p>If I were starting this from scratch, I'd have made a full-surround light tent with a hole for the lens, then put darker objects in the tent to make the only reflections I wanted to see, where I wanted to see them, avoiding time-consuming retouching any way I could. Now that you're stuck with a certain look, I don't know if that would work.</p>

Completely surround the object with matte silver (not white)cards. Cut a hole in the card facing the front of the set to

shoot through.

 

Why matte silver instead of white? If you use white the color reflected by the metalic objects will be white and you want

them to look like metal.

 

Keep in mind that if defining shape is important some small black cards in different shapes and sizes will be useful.

 

Use a softbox over the top of the set.

 

IF you are using flash units with 7" diameter reflectors and IF you can find one, the very rare Balcar 55 box light will be

useful. Essentially it works like a ring light but the light is completely indirect. the flash attaches to the base of the unit

and the light is directed to the sloping sides. There is a port on the back of the unit to shoot through. The front of the unit

is 16x20 inches and the overal shape is like a vertically bisected flat top pyramid. Balcar made these in the mid-1970s

specifically for photographers photographing watches who needed a directional light that very clearly lit the watch face

and mechanism but cast no shadow and produced minimal highlight glare. As I said these are very rare. I have only sern

two of them and one of those is the one I bought on eBay several years ago.

<p>Hi Ellis,<br>

<br />Thanks a lot for your response. I will probably respond to you in detail but I have one quick question right now: what exactly do you mean by matte silver? Wouldn't that simply be a light gray color?</p>

<p>Shooting in a tent doesn't mean giving up control over shading. You can selectively choose which part(s) of the tent to light, or even tape over the outside of the tent to give a shadow line. No tent material gives a 360 degree diffusion, so wherever you shoot light through will appear lighter, and where you don't light the tent it'll be darker. It seems to me that in order to get the look required you'll be surrounding the SS parts with reflectors anyway, and effectively recreating the look of a light tent.</p>

<p>I'm with Michael. I think shooting in any other environment than a tent is asking for trouble.</p>

Light gray is not the same as matte silver.

<p>Ellis,<br>

Can you please link me to a matte silver fill card or paint, please? ive poked around a bit and am curious as to what exactly you mean. thank you</p>

<p>AFAIK any kind of silver metallic paint on the market requires a lot of clearcoat layers to become really glossy. There must be "silver" coated paper (as found inside cigarette packs) or similar foils with a micro structure embossed into them too. - Maybe the lid on your yoghurt cup? or the backside of household aluminium foils? Average ready made photo reflectors come in silver too but have a kind of matte surface.</p>

<p>Matte silver = diffuse surface not glossy. Similar to sand blasted or etched surface. Check out ordinary aluminum foil which has (at least the kind bought in a grocery store does) one shiny and one matte side.</p>

<blockquote>

<p> I have shot and retouched a couple of the units already, and the client has approved the look. They have stressed the importance of matching this look for the entire product line.<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Do that ^^. You need to organise your lighting to fit your product ranges the best possible then retouch the images to suit what you have already supplied.<br>

<br>

Theres no magic bullet.</p>

<p>I appreciate all of your input. I've shot another unit, this time with more tonal variation. I have requested another meeting with the client tomorrow, in the hopes of convincing them that a bit more tonal variation is actually more flattering to the products. I shot the below image today. The unit was sitting on the floor on my white seamless. The vertical part of the seamless acted as key (bounced a strobe off it from across the room), and I brought in white fill cards on the other side of the unit, but kept them about a foot from the unit, which produced the black line that I think adds more dimension. I think it is a very nice image of the product, however I welcome critique, especially from those who have experience shooting metal.<br>

<br /> http://i.imgur.com/8sTksJo.jpg<br /> I have attempted a diagram to show my light setup here. My apologies for kindergarten-level drawing skills :D<br /> http://i.imgur.com/ViYrloZ.jpg</p>

<p>P.S. I have become curious as to the matte silver showcard look, however I was not able to find any matte silver show cards locally. I might order some online to test with.</p>

<p>Id also like to add that I shot this unit with a different setup, but again, without a tent. The units are not polished so much as to be at a mirror-like level of direct reflection, and not needing to shoot anything straight on yet, I therefore currently still do think that a tent is mandatory.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I have requested another meeting with the client tomorrow, in the hopes of convincing them that a bit more tonal variation is actually more flattering to the products.<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That will be really confusing for them - you already convinced them you would be retouching the dark areas out - and thats what they agreed they wanted (!?)</p>

<p>Thanks for your input Ian. I can see why someone reading this thread would feel that me going to the client with a new look after winning the job on another look is a crazy move. However, I can't, and frankly no one would want to read, transcribe here all of the minute detail of every conversation I've had with them. I've spoken with the owner and the technical director this morning, and after presenting them with multiple look options, they've actually now agreed that keeping a bit of managed blacks in the reflections makes the unit pop. Its probably just going to proceed on a unit-by-unit basis. Which, considering that the rate is fair, I am ok with. I will keep this thread updated. I appreciate all of your input greatly. Just typing this all out has probably helped me explain things to the client in a more clear manner.</p>

<p><img title="" src="http://i.imgur.com/qeIKplL.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1000" />just figured i'd drop one of the units in here. I'm seeing that a bit of black reflection (if you could even call it that) is crucial to making the metal pop. IMO the key is to keep that line thin, sharp and well placed. As the shape of the units change, my camera angle/fillcard/light positioning changes a bit as well. And in concert with the white reflection & grey, the tonal variation provided by the deep blacks is making the units pop. Thankfully the client now agrees with this and the job is going well. I'm happy to answer any questions.</p>