We live in a consumer society. Virtually every product
that is marketed, traded or sold, is advertised in print media. We also
live in a visual society. It is the job of the product photographer to make
products look attractive and appealing to the consumer.
Lighting Strategies
Lighting strategies for photographing portraits and table top products are
quite different. In many respects, photographing products is easier. As
a general rule, portraits are lit from the front, and products are lit from
above. It is routine for portrait photographers to use 3 to 4 lights to
shoot a portrait. Many table top shots can be done with one light and a
few reflectors.
Part of the difficulty in photographing shiny reflective objects is that
unwanted reflections of things in the camera room can appear on your subject.
Specular highlights should be large and "clean". The image should
show the detailed surface qualities and textures of the product.
The Illustration:
A single 2000 watt/sec Norman head diffused by a 42 x 42 inch Lightform
panel lit the table top. White reflector cards were placed out of picture
area, in front of and to the left of the products. The diffusion panel also
provided a "clean" reflection in the mirror. A small aperture
was used to provide top to bottom sharpness.
Equipment:
Calument 4 x 5 NX
Caltar 210mm lens
Davis and Sanford Airlift Tripod
Norman 2000 light kit
Lightform 42 x 42 inch diffusion panel
Minolta Flash Meter 4
Film:
Kodak Ektachrome Readyloads
Polariod Type 69