Lighting Plastic Packaging

robp

robp

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rob
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Hi, I'm hoping somebody can help me here please.

I have been asked to do some product photography for a mate's company website. Most of the products are in standard cardboard boxes etc but some are in clear plastic, parts of which are completely transparent.

I have provided a swifty snapshot taken on my living room carpet to demonstrate how the product looks - as you can see, the plastic packaging is far from even.



How the heck do I light this to avoid the reflections?

I have two speedlights and two Lencarta Smartflash 2's, plus a softbox and brolly. This will develop into a long term arrangement and so I am prepared to purchase additional gear if it is deemed necessary.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Rob
 
Is it essential they remain in the plastic bag or can you take them out for the product shots. Would make sense, even if the company cannot sell them as new and unopened.
 
Blank_Canvas said:
I'd shoot this in light tent, if they are this size. A polarising filter will also help.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for this, Nick, I had considered a light tent but a polariser never even entered my mind!

shreds said:
Is it essential they remain in the plastic bag or can you take them out for the product shots. Would make sense, even if the company cannot sell them as new and unopened.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the bag is part of the product, Ian - sorry, I didn't make that clear in my first post. It's called a Fly Bag. You unscrew the cap at the top and half fill with water. the brown crumpled up object top left of the product is a fly attractant in a water soluble bag which apparently releases when said operation is performed.
 
The problem here is the lack of eveness, which you can do nothing about because the product itself is making it bulge in an uneven way.
A large softbox (or similar) above and at the right angle will help a lot, but it won't solve the problem completely - nothing will.
A light tent will be a waste of time
A polariser will help to a limited extent, it will only work when the lens/filter is at the right angle to the reflection, which is easy enough to arrange with a flat reflective surface, impossible with this one..

So, what are we left with?
The standard pro approach - a scalpel:)
Cut away all parts of the packaging that aren't printed, i.e. all the transparent bits, and the bits that are printed on the back that you don't want to see anyway. It's a boring, pain in the arse job, but you just console yourself with the thought of how much you're charging for it:)
 
A fairly simple cheat approach... use a tripod, shoot 2-3 exposures with the light source in different positions (so different parts of the bag are getting the reflections), open all images as layers then simply mask the shiny bits as required! Surprisingly easy and effective.
 
Garry, Phil, Keith, thank you for your suggestions. They have given me plenty to experiment with.

The current pic on his site seems to have more reflection than the quick snap I posted at the top so it shouldn't be too difficult to please him. However, if I were just doing a one off of this image as a favour for a mate then that would be fine, but this is going to be an ongoing business arrangement and as such will be carried out with a professional approach. Therefore I will experiment until I can reduce the reflections as much as I possibly can.
 
With all due respect, the bag/packaging is not the product thats for sale here and adds nothing to illustrating the product. I would remove the product and carefully place it on top of the open bag/packaging so that it masks any unwanted reflection. It should be fairly easy to get the actual product precisely lit along with any essencial areas of the packaging and any printed instructions etc shown in a simple separate close up. You also need a good textured backgound like hessian or something to give the polythene a bit more of a warmer/softer atmosphere.

In my humble opinion:)

Steve.
 
I don't really see the problem. Shiny things are shiny. There's nothing wrong with having some reflections, in fact you probably want some to accurately represent the product.

As Phil said, I'd probably look at partially inflating it to make it look a bit tidier, and go from there.

Steve T said:
With all due respect, the bag/packaging is not the product thats for sale here
Click to expand...

Yes it is. See post 4.
 
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