Product Phototography - Help with Reflective surfaces

[Phil V]

Thanks guys. So obviously 2 lights with stripboxes, would this be sufficient?

Also (and hate to ask this but every penny counts), if I went with the Lencarta lights, would the Godox 160 x 35cm stripboxes do the job? It's just they are a lot less money (£50 inc, grid)

Well notwithstanding you get what you pay for, and that Lencarta's guarantee and after sales service is exceptional.

From what I can see, there's 2 differnt ones, one with an OK grid and one with a useless one. But as Garry says they're not as deep as the Lencarta ones, and that might be worth the saving to you. I'd be tempted to go with Lencarta - one order, and great service (BTW their lightstands are amazing VFM too)

 

[Wissel]

2 will be fine if you're going to cut the subject out of the background, which is very easily done.
You'll need 4 if you want to light the background to make it white, but I doubt whether you even have the space for that anyway

Yep, I'll be cutting them out (no issues here). so basically I'd need:

2 x head (£258)
2 x stripbox (£160 if I could make do with the 140cm)
stands and triggers
Grids?
Anything else?

 

[Garry Edwards]

Buy it as a kit instead, and save some money.
So, this kit https://www.lencarta.com/smartflash-3-twin-softbox-flash-kit-600w
Add the strip softboxes and honeycombs (the honeycombs will only be used when there is relief on the doors)
Leave a message saying that the strip softboxes replace the kit softboxes and there will be an immediate refund for the kit softboxes.
Nothing else will be needed, triggers and stands are included in the kit.

 

[Wissel]

Buy it as a kit instead, and save some money.
So, this kit https://www.lencarta.com/smartflash-3-twin-softbox-flash-kit-600w
Add the strip softboxes and honeycombs (the honeycombs will only be used when there is relief on the doors)
Leave a message saying that the strip softboxes replace the kit softboxes and there will be an immediate refund for the kit softboxes.
Nothing else will be needed, triggers and stands are included in the kit.

That sounds like a good plan Garry. Seems the softboxes in the kit are the same price as the 140cm stripboxes?

Does that mean I'd basically just have to pay the £376 for the kit plus £60 extra for the grids?

 

[Garry Edwards]

Yes, it seems to.

 

[Wissel]

Yes, it seems to.

Well I've gone from feeling sick that I might need to find £600-£1000 that I hadn't budgeted for to being happy at £436

I'll give this some thought for a few days, but think that's what I'll order this week.

Just one last question (that I realise is probably painfully obvious to most of you, but studio lighting is completely new to me), is there an optimum angle in relation to camera and product the lights should be at?
I ask because in certain areas of the room a floor stand would be tricky, but I could easily add a wall bracket.

 

[Phil V]

I'd suggest for ease your lights should be perpendicular to the door, so if you can wall mount so the bottom of the stripbox is close to the floor, that should be OK

 

[Wissel]

I'd suggest for ease your lights should be perpendicular to the door, so if you can wall mount so the bottom of the stripbox is close to the floor, that should be OK

Cheers Phil. To clarify, the surface I shoot on is about 1m from the floor. On that surface is the background which curves up behind and up the wall. The door will be against a stand on the table, at about a 10 degree angle.
If I understand correctly, the bottom of the lights should be inline with the bottom of the door (facing straight onto the door) and each light at around a 45 degree angle to the product (one to either side)?

 

[Phil V]

Cheers Phil. To clarify, the surface I shoot on is about 1m from the floor. On that surface is the background which curves up behind and up the wall. The door will be against a stand on the table, at about a 10 degree angle.
If I understand correctly, the bottom of the lights should be inline with the bottom of the door (facing straight onto the door) and each light at around a 45 degree angle to the product (one to either side)?

I wouldn't stick to the 45 deg angle. If you have to fix a light to the wall make sure you can adjust the angle to the subject.

And you want the bottom of the light lower than the subject.

 

[Wissel]

I wouldn't stick to the 45 deg angle. If you have to fix a light to the wall make sure you can adjust the angle to the subject.

And you want the bottom of the light lower than the subject.

Thanks Phil. I think I'll see how I get on with floor stands to give more flexibility whilst learning this, then maybe add a wall bracket or two if I find I'm constantly setting the stand up in the same place.

Thanks to everyone for there help and patience. Think I'll order the kit above this week, have a play, then no doubt post here again asking what I'm doing wrong

Have a good Easter break all, David

 

[Garry Edwards]

I wouldn't stick to the 45 deg angle. If you have to fix a light to the wall make sure you can adjust the angle to the subject.

And you want the bottom of the light lower than the subject.

Not totally carved in stone, but try to centralise the subject between the softboxes, i.e. with a roughly equal amount sticking out top and bottom.
If the door is leaning back about 10 deg (no doubt to stop it falling over) then of course the camera must be at the same angle, and so must the lights, although the angle of the camera is obviously more critical than that of the lights, you've got 27cm to play with there.

 

[sk66]

I think that's more than large enough for cabinet doors.

I never made the association of "kitchen doors" to cabinetry... I blame it on the english language barrier .
I was thinking in terms of "entry doors" which are substantially larger.

 

[Wissel]

I never made the association of "kitchen doors" to cabinetry... I blame it on the english language barrier .
I was thinking in terms of "entry doors" which are substantially larger.

Appreciate your input Steven - decided to use my living room for the door shots (once the new lights arrive) as a much larger space

 

[Wissel]

Lights now ordered from Lencarta, who were a pleasure to deal with.

I emailed them over the weekend to ask them about swapping the softboxes over the the ones I needed, received an email back this morning saying no problem and offering to create a listing with the items I wanted included.

Nice and simple, should all be here tomorrow

 

[Wissel]

Everything came from Lencarta and I'm very happy with it all. I've only had a bit of a play so far, but already getting some good results

Decided to setup the lights in our spare room as it's hardly used. The room is 6m x 6m and has a double bed in the middle of a wall. I bought a folding table that spans the bed, put the background stands either side, drape the background down the wall and over the table and I have a space that can stay setup most of the time. Seems to work really well and I have lots of room to move the lights around.

My camera was a small learning curve. It's mirrorless (M5) so when I set the camera to expose for the lights, the screen and EVF are almost black. To start with I switched on focus peaking, which made it easy enough to get the shot focus how I want (have to say, the focus peaking on the M5 is better than on other cameras I've used). I later read the manual and found the setting for exposure simulation Anyway, camera now set and working great in this situation.

Now I'm wondering how to get the best exposure?

My workflow at this point is setting up one light, then the second. Once the light is how I want it, it's a bit trial and error with f-stop and flash power until the histogram looks about right.
Once exposure is set I take a couple of shots using a colour card and grey card so I have something to colour correct with in post, then shoot the product.

Is there something else I should be doing?
Is there a better way to expose? Maybe a good guide on this?
Would a light meter help in this situation?

I'm enjoying this far more than I thought I would. Makes a nice change from staring at multiple screens in the office
Thanks for all the advice so far. The lights make so much difference and I'm getting close to the results I was hoping for

 

[Phil V]

Regarding exposure, yes a flash meter would help, but you'll soon learn from experience, bearing in mind unlike outdoor photography you don't have to 2nd guess reflectivity or light levels.

Your 100cm softbox on 1/8 power at 1metre gives the same exposure whether you're shooting a white vase or a blue cushion.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I agree with Phil on this, you'll very quickly pick up on exposure by using a mixture of common sense and trial and error.
There's no real downside, because if you get the exposure wrong then your subject will sit there patiently until you've got it right

I don't want this to sound like a boast, but I spent the whole of yesterday photographing some products, didn't feel a need to use a meter and didn't need to make any adjustments to exposure. It's a bit like parrelel parking a car, with a bit of experience you don't need to measure the space or try to get it into a space that it won't go into - you just know.

Your approach of getting it right with one light at a time is 100% correct.
Don't forget to post some unretouched finished results, so that we can criticise you

 

[HoppyUK]

Everything came from Lencarta and I'm very happy with it all. I've only had a bit of a play so far, but already getting some good results

Decided to setup the lights in our spare room as it's hardly used. The room is 6m x 6m and has a double bed in the middle of a wall. I bought a folding table that spans the bed, put the background stands either side, drape the background down the wall and over the table and I have a space that can stay setup most of the time. Seems to work really well and I have lots of room to move the lights around.

My camera was a small learning curve. It's mirrorless (M5) so when I set the camera to expose for the lights, the screen and EVF are almost black. To start with I switched on focus peaking, which made it easy enough to get the shot focus how I want (have to say, the focus peaking on the M5 is better than on other cameras I've used). I later read the manual and found the setting for exposure simulation Anyway, camera now set and working great in this situation.

Now I'm wondering how to get the best exposure?

My workflow at this point is setting up one light, then the second. Once the light is how I want it, it's a bit trial and error with f-stop and flash power until the histogram looks about right.
Once exposure is set I take a couple of shots using a colour card and grey card so I have something to colour correct with in post, then shoot the product.

Is there something else I should be doing?
Is there a better way to expose? Maybe a good guide on this?
Would a light meter help in this situation?

I'm enjoying this far more than I thought I would. Makes a nice change from staring at multiple screens in the office
Thanks for all the advice so far. The lights make so much difference and I'm getting close to the results I was hoping for

It's great when something like this comes good

Did you get Light, Science and Magic? It's an excellent book and while not everyone's cup of tea, I think it's right up your street

 

[Phil V]

It's great when something like this comes good

Did you get Light, Science and Magic? It's an excellent book and while not everyone's cup of tea, I think it's right up your street

And if you put a 'wanted' post in the classifieds, someone might have one to sell.

 

[Wissel]

It's great when something like this comes good

Did you get Light, Science and Magic? It's an excellent book and while not everyone's cup of tea, I think it's right up your street

I haven't bought this book yet, but think I will. Actually I'm going away for a few days next week and could do with something to read. Off to Amazon

EDIT - PM'ed Phil, posts crossed

 

[Wissel]

It's great when something like this comes good

Did you get Light, Science and Magic? It's an excellent book and while not everyone's cup of tea, I think it's right up your street

Just a quick thanks for recommending this book. It arrived Sunday and I'm slowly absorbing and really enjoying it, not to mention learning a ton.

I went with the latest version 5 after searching for what the differences were with the other, earlier versions. I think any of them would have been great, but in v5 the print is more spaced and I can read without my glasses