Sunglass Photography Strobe Setup?

I'm looking for some lighting setup suggestions for sunglass photography. I've been shooting with 1 strobe setup and softbox. However, the gradient tint on the lenses is not always true to the color. And either 1) image is overexposed but white background looks excellent or 2) underexposed on white background which turns grey.

I've had to manually correct each image in PP, but that is very time consuming. Wondering what is the setup that someone could suggest here. I'm thinking of flashing the backgroud with a speedlight, but wondering if that's enough light.

Equipment used:
1) Canon 5d3 / Sigma 105 OS macro
2) Adorama Flashpoint 300W strobe at full power with f/22 aperture on camera, positioned at 45 degree angle. 32x60" softbox.
3) White background

Here are the images of Before and After:

I would but a black card or white card in front to remove the detracting reflection in the glass

What about the background?

Small tabletop photography is often best accomplished by using a DIY light box-]

Never tried it myself but have seen others use similar with pretty good results

Thank you! I already have a photo box, so I will try to use that. Just wondering if it makes sense to flash the background with a speedlite? And if it could possible match up to the power of a 300W Strobe.

You are on the right track. A speedlight will blow out the background. Just give yourself space as you have two pairs at different angles and want the lenses to match somewhat. Abbadon is right you need to watch the reflections. Try more foreground plus changing angles.

Another option would be to leave the camera locked down, and shoot the two pair individually, the composite them in 'shop.

So yet another question for all you Light pro's out there. Would a speedlight (580 II) be able to blow up the background when I'm lighting up the frames with 300W strobe at 3/4 of power ?

My curiosity is why so much power and f22... it seems one wouldn't need the DOF provided, for this shot...

For glasses, you do have to have lots of DOF due to the hinges which extend way beyond the glass that you see. And a lot of the times I'm shooting with the frame at 45 degree angle facing the strobe where I also have to have the model number or brand in focus (which is found at the far end of the hinge).

bikfoto wrote in post #16707442
So yet another question for all you Light pro's out there. Would a speedlight (580 II) be able to blow up the background when I'm lighting up the frames with 300W strobe at 3/4 of power ?

Why don't you try it and see? Close to the background it just might. You might need to improvise a barn-door to prevent light contamination from the flashgun, though.

bikfoto wrote in post #16708222
For glasses, you do have to have lots of DOF due to the hinges which extend way beyond the glass that you see. And a lot of the times I'm shooting with the frame at 45 degree angle facing the strobe where I also have to have the model number or brand in focus (which is found at the far end of the hinge).

I get that.
Here's what I see, though: If you're working at a 45º angle, then the back of the glasses are going to be brought into a tighter DOF that's more aligned with the lenses; you're essentially bringing the back of the glasses 'up' and more 'on top' of the lenses, into the vertical plane. Seems to me you could drop to f16 and have a useable DOF, lower your key and raise back lights accordingly.
Using my DOF calculator on the iPhone ('cause I'm not a math enthusiast), a 50mm lens set at f16 and 3 feet from subject would yield an 8" DOF, starting at 2' 9" and ending at 3' 4".

bikfoto wrote in post #16708222
For glasses, you do have to have lots of DOF due to the hinges which extend way beyond the glass that you see. And a lot of the times I'm shooting with the frame at 45 degree angle facing the strobe where I also have to have the model number or brand in focus (which is found at the far end of the hinge).

You are referring to the temples. For others following this, he means the arms which need to be in focus for other views, not really shown by the sample above. I suggest you add an overhead scrim directly above the subject for double diffusion. Your light will become much better. I assume you're at ISO 100, so bump your ISO to 200-250. It should be much easier from there.

I did a couple of shoots for an importer that included several hundred pairs of sunglasses.
I built a plexiglass stage, put one light behind the stage in a large soft box to create the white background. The used large diffusion panels on either side to get the lighting I wanted on the glasses.
I shot tethered, with a 90mm Tilt-Shift lens on a 7D.

Used this setup so that I could easily position the glasses, to simplify the conversion to JPG at proper size for web use.

The lights were 3 E640s. Aperture F11 with some tilt to ensure greatest depth of focus.

I think the lights were about 1/8th power or less so you could do the same thing with speedlites or hybrid strobes like the Cheetah/Godox 180/360.

dmward wrote in post #16710693
I did a couple of shoots for an importer that included several hundred pairs of sunglasses.
I built a plexiglass stage, put one light behind the stage in a large soft box to create the white background. The used large diffusion panels on either side to get the lighting I wanted on the glasses.
I shot tethered, with a 90mm Tilt-Shift lens on a 7D.

Used this setup so that I could easily position the glasses, to simplify the conversion to JPG at proper size for web use.

The lights were 3 E640s. Aperture F11 with some tilt to ensure greatest depth of focus.

I think the lights were about 1/8th power or less so you could do the same thing with speedlites or hybrid strobes like the Cheetah/Godox 180/360.

Thanks! That's been very helpful. I was shooting with 300W strobe, and have just ordered a 2nd strobe (alienbee b800) to light up the background.

Just curious if it does matter to light up the background from behind or from the front?