How to light a lucite sculpture?

A friend of mine has asked me to shoot a 3-foot tall lucite sculpture called "Mother and Child." I'll be doing this tomorrow, Saturday, 12/10. I haven't seen the piece, but I know that it could give me some tricky lighting problems. It stands on a pedestal, and I'll be shooting it in his living room.

Here's the list of equipment I plan to take to cover most of the contingencies I can think of:

10D camera
28/2.8, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 17-40L zoom
550, 420 and/or Metz flashes
flash meter
light stand with umbrella
ST-E2 transmitter (using 550 & 420 combo)
Gary Fong diffuser (I get very good results for people shots using the Metz & this.)

A flat white ceiling is there for possible bounce.

For background, I have two options: bokeh with the 85, or a large piece of black felt that I could possibly hang or have the client's wife hold (he uses a walker).

Although this isn't a paying job, he needs 5x7's to send to a NY appraiser before he donates it to a local art museum. So I'd like to avoid disappointing him.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Floyd Lawrence

I don't know how opaque it is or how translucent it is, however, if at all possible, I would try to get a light either inside it or underneath it shining up. In other words, light it from the inside out.

---Bob Gross---

Why don't you post a picture of .... wait, that's the problem.

I second Bob's suggestion, if at all possible light from within.

And could you post your results? Interesting problem.

What Bob said, +
Table Top Studio Jewlery, coins, glass, flowers...

If that's not possible, try side lighting it from two directions from a high angle. Lucite and glass are difficult because it's only the edges of the sculpture that will catch/refract the light. If I were home I would see what Light - Science and Magic, Second Edition : An Introduction to Photographic Lighting says about this subject, as it's an excellent resource for these types of difficult lighting situations.

Ah, well - I just saw that the shoot was Saturday. How did it turn out? What lighting did you use? Educate us

Mark

Better late than never?

How about like this?
http://www.photoflex.c​om …louvers/popupLo​uvers.html

How did it turn out by the way?

How about like this?
http://www.photoflex.c​om/photoflex/p...upLou​vers.html

Nice, but a $2 "flag" will do the same thing.

PhotosGuy wrote:
Nice, but a $2 "flag" will do the same thing.

Yep, black foamcore from a hobby shop works great! I get the big sizes - a little more than $2 I think, but much cheaper than the louvre.

Mark

Well it's the idea of how to do it... not the equipment that I was pushing.
There is (almost) always a cheaper way to do things.
Still wondering how the project turned out though...