How to reduce reflections of paint tine

[KoolM1]

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Spammer, using embedded links.

Edited January 28, 2021 by William Michael

[Bill C]

Hi, most likely the problem is very harsh bright reflections of the light sources. The normal way to deal with this is to make the light sources "larger" (as "seen" by the subject). The result is that the shiny (specular) reflections will become larger and less bright. One way to make the light source "larger" is to put a larger piece of "diffusion material" (perhaps tracing paper, etc.) between the light and the subject. Or reflect the light from a larger white card, etc. If you don't understand what I'm saying, imagine that you have replaced the subject with an angled mirror - you should see that the reflections are actually an image of the light source. So the apparent size of the light source has a big effect on how harsh the reflections are.

 

A number of years back a couple of photo.net members had done a series of lighting tutorials - you can find a pertinent one here - WEEKLY LIGHTING THEME: Controlling Specular Highlights............

 

In Brooks' example photos, pay attached to the shiny (specular) reflections on the top of the tomatoes. This shows the effect that I am trying to describe, and will hopefully lead your friend to a way to improve the photos.

[rodeo_joe1]

Unfortunately I havent got an example of the type of image they are producing

Without that, there's not much we can do to help.

 

I tried the link and briefly got a small thumbnail view of an incorrectly used light-tent, before the image disappeared to be replaced with a 'cannot display image' message.

 

From the small and brief viewing, it looked as if the tent was in front of the cans, and not diffusing the light at all. A totally useless positioning.

The tins should be enclosed within the tent and the light shone through the tent material.

 

There's also 'dulling spray', which is like a non-permanent matt varnish. This can take the mirror-like shine off metal objects to be photographed. It was rumoured that diluted milk applied with an airbrush could do the same job, but when I tried it the milk simply beaded up and dripped down the silverware that I was attempting to photograph. So try it at your own risk.

 

The tutorial linked above is good, but a little short on showing the setups used.

 

Search YouTube for tutorials by Steve Stint. These are extremely practical and show how to create complex lighting setups using basic materials like tracing paper, wood and lighting clamps.

Edited January 26, 2021 by rodeo_joe|1

[KoolM1]

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Spammer, using embedded links.

Edited January 28, 2021 by William Michael

[q.g._de_bakker]

You can dull tins using, for instance, dulling spray mentioned by Rodeo. But shiny tins are shiny tins, and should appear showing lots of reflections.

So what to do is not to reduce the reflective nature of tins, but control what is reflected by them. Put black screens around the tin, so that they are what you see reflected (i.e. not see anything in the reflection). And indeed pay attention to the position of the lights. If the design of the photo allows, use large diffusors.

 

The amount of light thrown onto the subject does not matter. A little light also means you need more exposure for the less reflective parts, with the specular reflections always being a lot brighter, and highly visible.

 

Not using strobes make no difference at all. Continuous light is the same as flash, except in duration and the distribution of intensity over time. Not in how things look.

 

So what was your solution?