Reflections in product photography

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've been doing small product photography jobs for the last 6 months or so, here and there as I get them, and while I am getting better at it I am still finding it nearly impossible to eliminate the nightmare reflections that I get from shooting anything metal or even plastic. I'm required 99% of the time to shoot the products straight on, which means 99% of the time my camera or tripod or both are reflected in the surface of the product. I've tried moving the camera further away and that helps but still doesn't help enough. I've also tried shooting at an angle but that a) doesn't help much and b) tends to distort the image too much.</p>

<p>You can see in my example here that while the ugly reflection isn't necessarily identifiable it's also very undesirable. It's also too much for me to have to try and Photoshop it out because in this example alone I had to shoot 4 or 5 similar tins. That's for a job that was 90 products and I have enough editing to do already. So what can I do? Also what can be done about the big dark strip down the middle where the room I was in is seen reflected? I've been looking on here and searching Google for hours and can't find much help on this, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem. What's the best solution? Thanks for any help!</p>

<p>Sincerely, still life noob :)</p>

<p><img src="http://www.jamestrory.com/_MG_7592.jpg" alt="" width="667" height="1000" /><br>

<img src="ftp://jamestro@ftp.jamestrory.com/public_html/_MG_7592.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Use a view camera, or at least a T/S lens. This will allow you to get a nice perspective (ie, without keystone distortion), with the camera not shooting perpendicular to the front of the object ... hence, no reflections.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>Correction: Actually, not "no reflections", but with such a lens you have freedom to get a reflection of something other than yourself, eg, like the smooth inside of a light tent. </p>

<p>I sometimes shoot through a lens-sized hole in a large sheet of white foam core. It's easy to 'shop out a small round dark lens-sized reflection, but some convex objects can still pick up a very large swath of the room, which makes the use of large scrims/reflectors or other flags very helpful. Essentially, you need a set that plays like a large tent, if that's what you're up against. Or, the spendy solution Tom mentions, which is to shoot off-axis, and either fix that as you shoot using an exotic lens, or fix it in post using perspective correction (de-keystoning).<br /><br />The viability of the fix-it-in-post solution hinges to some degree on how the images will be used. Just web-ish resolution? So much easier. High-res print use? That's more demanding, and your rates for that should reflect the overhead of owning the fancy lenses that make such shooting more do-able on the fly.</p>

<p>Right well the problem for me actually is that the client doesn't want any reflections but is also not willing to pay for the extra time that it would take me to completely remove them. So anything I can do outside PS to avoid all that post is ideal. Ultimately though I need to reiterate to them that it's going to be next to impossible to do what they're asking on the kind of budget they have. Typical photographer/client relations :)</p>

<p>James, you may not have the time to read it for this project however all of your questions (which I have gone through as well) are totally answered in "Light, Science, Magic". Well worth the investment and read when you have the time.</p>

<p>Those highlights and shadows can be some of the most interesting parts of a metallic/mirrored subjects photo. Assuming you have experience shooting using white cards or reflectors as flags or GOBOs, one technique I've seen is to use a large piece of black or white foamcore (or suitable material), cut a lens size opening at the proper hight and shoot through it. You will mask yourself and the tripod and have a much smaller and less noticeable 'gear' highlight to worry about. It may take some tweaking but can yield very acceptable results.</p>

<p>*Edit* alas Matt beat me to it.</p>

<p>Follow James' advice: get "Light, Science and Magic." It is a must read for the type of work you are doing. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will try out the blocking technique, I'll need some pretty big foam core for that but it sounds like it should work. And I'll pick up a copy of the book.</p>

<p>Would a polarizing filter help at all with these products, not so much for the reflections but for helping to keep the light a little more even? Or would it just flatten the image too much?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>the problem for me actually is that the client doesn't want any reflections but is also not willing to pay for the extra time that it would take me to completely remove them.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>If you've already got a contract and your pricing is locked in, well, that's that. Next time, figure some amount of post processing into your bid / quote, but don't make it a line item unless it's going to be a major part of the project. The reason for this is that many clients, given the choice, will opt not to pay for post when the reality is that all shots need post whether the client understands this or not. So roll your retouching fees into your pricing and you're covered from the start. If the client needs the photos ASAP then you may miss a night's sleep. Figure that into your pricing too. :)</p>

<p>Hole in white foamcore. Buy the book, it has large sections on lighting shiny objects.</p>

<p>This won't replace the foamcore, but another tool for your bag is dulling spray (Google it). It may have been used on this shot.<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Godiva-Chocolate-Covered-Pretzels-Tin/dp/B007AVTU0I">http://www.amazon.com/Godiva-Chocolate-Covered-Pretzels-Tin/dp/B007AVTU0I</a></p>

<p>James, a polarizer won't work. Reflections from glass or metal aren't polarised.</p>

<p>A T/S lens or view camera will allow you to move the reflection of the lens off centre, but with a cylindrical object it's going to be almost impossible to offset the lens far enough to make the reflection invisible.</p>

<p>What you can try is to place the camera behind a large sheet of thin glass placed at 45 degrees to the camera. Reflect a white foamcore or lightbox in the glass from the side to get your frontal light or fill, while keeping the light from illuminating the camera behind the glass. From the subject point of view all that's visible is the whited-out glass, but the camera can see through the glass to the subject.<br>

Good quality picture-framing glass won't distort or degrade the image too much. The glass won't flare either if it's properly clean.<br>

It might be worth constructing a black painted open box with a 45 degree front if you're doing a lot of this work.</p>

<p>Another alternative is to make an artificial window frame with dark panes. This only needs to be a simple rectangle of white card painted to look like a window. Shoot through a small hole in one of the empty "panes" to get a more acceptable reflection pattern.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Or, the spendy solution Tom mentions, which is to shoot off-axis, and either fix that as you shoot using an exotic lens, or fix it in post using perspective correction (de-keystoning).</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You don't need to use an exotic lens or correct perspective -- shoot with a too-wide lens, put your subject off-center, then crop.</p>

<p><em>"James, a polarizer won't work. Reflections from glass or metal aren't polarised."</em></p>

<p>I remember using a polarizer filter to shoot through glass windows on many occasions. So why not here ? <br>

<a href="http://www.soyouboughtacamera.com/files/c86254b631c11bb7b217260c86b2796e-6.html">http://www.soyouboughtacamera.com/files/c86254b631c11bb7b217260c86b2796e-6.html</a></p>

 

<p>Most of your issue here is just that "white" that is lit is going to reflect into your product. You can use black foam core but you might find other, thinner, black paper might be better as you can put it on top of another sheet to be sure it is where you need it. I often used 20x24 sheets of black construction paper as it was extremely flat and I could put one perpendicular to the camera and two angled away from the product but towards the back to control how much reflection I wanted on the edges of the product. Keep the studio dark and if you must, shoot through something "black", white will just reflect back into the product. I didn't need to do it too often, but I had a very flat black fabric that I had cut a hole in and suspended it above the camera with a standard grip arm.</p>

<p>James,</p>

<p>Sure, I could refer you to read a book, and the book mentioned is pretty good, but this is an interesting exercise so let's try to shoot something similar.</p>

<p>You're going in the right direction in that you chose a low camera position to look up at the product. If the product is a glossy cylindrical shape, and you aren't required to show the top, looking up helps minimize reflections of your camera and lighting and gives the product a heroic feel.<br>

Another tip would be to position your subject at the very front edge of the sweep so you don't cut off any of the product's bottom with your low camera position.</p>

<p>Since judging by your sample you're going to be stripping the product out of the background or if you have a choice of background other than white, choose a soft grey paper or formica sweep. A grey will minimize any spill light from the background around the vertical edges of the product. You can also place black cards against the background, just to each side, not quite behind the subject to minimize any spill.</p>

<p>With your lower camera position the lens is below the subject so it won't reflect in the front of the subject at all so that's a major issue solved. If you use a longer focal length lens you can also minimize any keystoning that the lower camera position will create and any keystoning visible will be slight and can easily and quickly corrected in PhotoShop.</p>

<p>You say that your client doesn't want any reflections in the surface of their product. What they really mean is that they don't want hard opaque white reflections with straight edges from the lighting and they also don't want reflections of the lens, camera or you.</p>

<p>The lower camera position has eliminated any reflections of the camera. Positioning a soft box high overhead and slightly in front will walk it's reflection up and off the subject's front surface.</p>

<p>The lighting is a bit flat with the light positioned there but if that's the look the client wants, and there's no educating them otherwise, that high overhead positioned soft box will do the trick. You also might have to add a white fill card underneath in front to fill the bottom of the product. Be careful not to position it too high so it reflects in the product.</p>

<p>With the light overhead and no reflections, it's difficult to visually describe the surface qualities of the product. Does the product have a matte surface, is it shiny or does it have any texture? Is it a round cylinder or flat box?</p>

<p>To answer those questions, I like to add a subtle reflection of a second light from the side. If I use a soft box the highlight reflection will have a hard edge but if I place that soft box behind a large diffusion panel I can light only part of that panel and create a soft-edged highlight. This softer edged hightlight at the proper exposure level is translucent and describes the surface and shape of the product and still does not obscure any type or graphics on the product.</p>

<p>The closest subject I could find on short notice is this shiny can of bug spray. Here's a step by step demonstration of the above technique photographed with a 200mm lens on a full-frame dslr using strobes. Exposure of f/11ish and 100 ISO.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>That "up to four weeks' comment ....I used spray to knock out a fly in the bathroom recently and a few days later there was another fly dead lying in the basin .... so it must be true :-)</p>

<p>The basis of all this is that if you don't want reflections then ensure that what the camera sees through the object is either suitable or too dark to register on the sensor, or cut by the CPL.</p>

<p>Use telephoto lens to put you back farther in the room like a sniper. Use grids on your lights to control spill light from lighting up whole studio. That alone would have made your middle line cleaner without you in the picture. If you want the line to be thicker or thinner angle the show cards like a pizza slice. In this case since the color of the can is dark brown you don't want the white cards to reflect off the front of the can. You want contrast with the brown can to the white background and contrast with the words, not a milky cloudy white haze. Ditch the white show cards and use black. You will need to use a focus light on this light a fresnel or some type of iris that can make a small circle of light just to hit the can. This light will illuminate the words and any color on the can and keep the brown nice and dark. Placement of the lights will have to be determined but start with overhead just in front. The black show cards may have to be swapped out for 30x40 black foam core to allow you to move the core a little further away from can to allow light placement flexibility.</p>

<p>I quickly did a setup using a focus spot that controlled the spill light. notice the white foam core making the product look milky and low contrast. Now black foam core and focus light which is a small point of light by the way.</p><div></div>

<p>I could't figure out how to post two images at the same time.</p><div></div>

<p>Grant it this was a two minute set up but I think you can see the idea. I only used one light by the way. You will need to add another two lights to light each side of the can to keep an even illuminance. good luck.</p>

<p>Let me add that one way is not better than the other. It is what you like or the client who is paying likes. You just need to know how to do both. Most product shots i see are more like my first example with the white boards. You just need to make it clean looking without adding your own reflection. </p>

<p>Hi James,<br>

Check here:<br>

http://setshoptutorials.com/item/5-the-fill-card-tutorial<br>

Steve Sint<br>

steve@stevesint.com</p>