Setup for auction catalog like Sotheby's or Christie's

[ma_fan]

<p>Hello,<br>

I was just given a three day deadline to photograph very valuable antiques for a large auction house. They will be made into a catalog comparable in format to what Sotheby's and Christie's produces. The equipment I have at my disposal are: D700 + three incandescent hot-lights (with some output control knobs) and three soft-boxes. I can pick up little stuff before this weekend, like flags/reflectors/etc when I get started, but a different lighting kit isn't an option this time.<br>

My questions:<br>

<br />1. Support objects for standing plates and saucers is invisible in the large auction catalogs (leaving objects looking like they are standing up magically). How are objects like this held up safely? (i don't want to break a million dollar piece of china trying to do something is normally done in post instead).</p>

<p>2. Can you suggest any generic lighting setup/diagram for the gear I have? I'll be shooting plates, cups, bowls, jade, ivory, gold, and bronze sculptures, and anything else you can imagine, including paintings and scrolls. Light falling off behind the objects and distinct but not harsh shadows under the objects seems to be the standard for this. The light is usually soft but not flat and with good highlights in the right places. (I'm including a possible lighting diagram here I'd appreciate opinions on)<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/16559994-sm.jpg" alt="" width="167" height="200" /></p>

<p>3. Most of the top auction catalogs have items set on what looks like paper (I don't think it's black glass most of the time),<br>

What kind of paper is used?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for any help!</p>

<p> </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>1) Can be blocks of wood, pieces of modeling clay or even some type of bracket behind the item, or even fishing line from above. All can be taken out in photoshop afterward. Sometimes you poke a support rod through the background paper in a way that the object blocks the support.<br>

3) Seamless background paper. Or light tables that have a translucent "sweep" of plastic that can be lit either from the front or behind.</p>

[doug_williams4]

<p>For me the most important thing is to have even light so that the piece can be seen. People will not bid on things they can't see so don't get to creative. This is still catalog work.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Let's see....you, a photography beginner, want to create images for a catalog like the professionally produced auction house catalogs staffed by experienced professional studio photographers using state-of-the-art studio tools to photograph rare and irreplaceable art objects of a wide range of size, material and handling difficulty and you have three hot lights? Have I got this right? Oh, and you want competency achieved via "tips" on generic approaches within<strong> three days</strong> and you have no idea of what even seamless paper is?</p>

<p>ma, you are far over your head. Generally, I like to help and encourage people in shooting art works but in this particular case my best heartfelt advice is...back out now before you botch the job or, worse, destroy something irreplaceable.</p>

[ma_fan]

<p>Thanks for the responses guys. Luckily I was notified that I had a few extra days to shoot because more items are being picked up for the catalog. Still that only leaves me a few more days.<br>

I was able to shoot a little bit yesterday and play with the setup. The results weren't great, but they weren't terrible either. The safety of the art of course was my top priority.<br>

I'm not a beginner in photography, but I don't work in the studio often. (I was asked to do this because of my photojournalism work)<br>

Now during my first test shoot i quickly found a few limitations in my ability to light the objects. <br>

I used 3 soft boxes, for the most part set up the same as the light diagram I posted previously. One almost directly above, sometimes slightly behind. One at a right angle to the object, and another just camera left dialed up a little higher than the others. I played with the luminance settings on each 1000w hot-light, and the positions of the lights, but couldn't get very nice shadows. All the soft-boxes just mixed together and made me feel like i was shooting in hazy weather. The Sotheby's catalogs have nice shadows, select highlights, and soft fill. What are they doing differently? I'm wondering if my soft boxes are too big (90 x 60cm)?<br>

I'm posting a test shot here, in hopes someone can see what I'm doing wrong/right.<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/16565479-lg.jpg" alt="" width="333" height="500" /><br>

I just want to do the best I can. Any suggestions or help is very appreciated. <br>

Thank you!</p>

<p> </p>

[doug_williams4]

<p>Not bad ma fan. I took a look at the Sotheby's web site and found a similar auction. They were using a white background and I could see the shadow you were talking about. I think this would be easier on white if you can use it. I have been able to get similar lighting using natural light. The main light (either big window or open garage door) comes from the left at a 45 or 90 degree angle and I use just a reflector on the opposite side to even out the light without blowing out the shadow. You may be using to much lighting when less may work better. I only work with natural light so I am afraid I am only of limited help. Maybe use one large light on one side and just a reflector or much smaller light on the other so that you retain more of the shadow. I am not an expert in the studio but I hope this helps.<br>

By the way Louis, when I was in college I worked as an intern at Sotheby's in LA and we did not use professional photographers exclusively, more ofter than not I or someone else had to take pictures using very simple lighting.</p>

[harry_templeton]

<p>Ma fan, you did a pretty nice job on that test shot. <br>

If you want more directional light, you could try using one or two lights on the subject. One (main light) set much stronger than the other (fill light). <br>

Then you can use the other lights on the background to take out some of the shadows there if you want a lighter overall background.<br>

For a white background and 3 lights, you could take a look at this link, i found it really helpful:<br>

http://www.zarias.com/white-seamless-tutorial-part-1-gear-space/<br>

The whole series on white backgrounds is good, he is doing portraits and using flash, but it is very much the same idea for your set-up. You can use two lights for the background and one for the subject, and just do some tests until you find a result you like. </p>