lighting a mason jar

[transoptic]

Okay, I have a couple auto flash units.

 

I need to photograph an art piece that is inside a standard mason

jar. I want to know how to set up my flashes so that there are as

little reflections and specular light as possible. I need to light

the art piece inside, but it needs to stay in the jar because that

is how it is presented.

 

Oh and the lid will be screwed on.

 

I don't have heavy equipment, just a 300D, a Sunpak 555, and a

Promaster TTL slave. But I can improvise making/finding diffusers

and reflectors if necessary. Thank you.

[cecil_thornhill]

Once suggestion - use a darkened room. Put the jar on a small prop (like a piece of foam (think about a paper circle - light or dark - under it). Put one light above and behind the jar - diffuse it if you can (card, umbrella, paper, whatever). Put another light with a foil or paper (or whatever) snoot to the side and above. Use that to light the artwork in the jar and use a white card for fill.

 

Just a starting point...there are many other ways to go to...

 

Cecil Thornhill

[stephen hazelton]

I tried this a while back (with Mason jar with peppers in it) and found that no matter where I put the lights, I got a big fireball reflection off the jar. Maybe a real diffused light source would help? Might also help to not use flash so you could see reflections in the viewfinder as you move lights around?

[ken_hughes4]

have you tried taking a large piece of plexiglas, putting it on sawhorses, then make a black mask out of black velvet (or heavy construction paper) with a mason jar size circle cut out of it. then put the mason jar on top of that--light from underneath and go from there.

[mark feldstein]

Hey Justin: First, I think you need to decide how you want to light the jar interior, e.g., from bottom or sides. As one person suggested, lighting, maybe putting some fill light beneath the jar to help illuminate the bottom edge would be good. For the remaining lights, score some fomecore, white and black. Basically, you don't want to use direct lighting but rather bounced off the white fomecore. One way I do this is to cut a hole for the lens in the white board to shoot through that then rig the light opposite to bounce back at the subject. Be careful to avoid flare. You'll have to experiment to determine what angle of flash works with what angle of reflection for your mason jar. You can place the black fomecore on the sides and in the back, so anything reflected won't show. Remember, fomecore is pretty pliable so it bends in a circle fairly easily to surround your mason jar. If you decide against using hot lights, for a modeling lamp, you might try a single light bulb in a reflector with a clamp and shade. You can buy them in hardware stores for a few bucks each. Remember to watch for distortion of the shape of the jar, depending on your camera angle.

 

Good luck.

Mark

[howard_anderson1]

Every year for a number of years, I have been shooting canned goods exibits (in mason jars) at the county fair. I use standard small product lighting technic. I use a seamless white back ground. The main light is a high back light slightly to one side so the shadow falls at a slight angle in front. Then I use a diffused fill light in front (close to the camera) at approxamitly a 2:1 ratio but low enough not to produce a second shadow (even though it might be slight). That's basic backlight technic. Additional lights such as more light on the white backgound to insure it is bright white, etc. I also use continious (hot) lights so I can see how it looks and make adjustments for the look I need and want.

[richard_meyers]

You might want to look for a container which is translucent. I used this technique with a 12 liter plastic 'pail' for lab use. I cut a hole to give me about a 45 degree shooting angle into the container. I used two electronic flashes from about 3 o'clock and 7 o'clock at about a 45 degree angle with good results. I was shooting a small glass vial with a metal cap like those used for vaccines. The resulting images were reflection and highlight free.

 

If you don't have the flashes, try taking the setup outdoors.

 

I used to see ads for a translucent dome similar to above in the back pages of Shutterbug.

[transoptic]

Wow. Thanks for all the great responces. I think I might tinker with lighting from the bottom. The subject is an art piece my friend made. He is a tattoo artist who sells tattooed pig's feet in a mason jar. It sounds kinda creepy, I know, so illuminating it from the bottom might make for an added dramatic effect, without worrying about the lid.

[robert_dee]

You learn something everyday I guess, "tattooed pig's feet in a mason jar" is called art. Why didn't I know that? haha

[brooks short]

Justin,

 

Thinking outside the Mason jar for a moment, if you choose a shooting angle which doesn't show the top of the lid, why not replace the solid lid with one which has a large area cut out of the top. You could still see the sides of the lid screwed to the jar and still get light into the jar from overhead.

 

Just a thought. It could be a very effective special effect for the lighting.

[transoptic]

wow. I feel rather dumb for not thinking of that. thank you. :)

[brooks short]

Justin,

 

You're welcome.

 

If you give this a try, please post the image here for everyone to see.