Photographing a pot with a shiny surface

How would you guys light a cooking pot that has a mirror finish on it? and making it look like its shiny. I used 2 580ex's pointed away and upward and on a white paper backdrop. it lit nicely but the white gave it a matte finish. let me know your thoughts.

Flash from the sides, or flash from above. I will post an example wait a minute

Both lighted from the sides.

I have had 2 items photographed that required a lightweight spraying of whatever it's photographers use to urge obviate shiny spots. I had photos taken of before and when. The spray, whereas eliminating the reflective bright spot, will modification the design of the piece. On one piece it had been OK, on the opposite (a bowl) the modification wasn't faithful the piece. My question is: will employing a soft box eliminate the shiny spots, or a minimum of diffuse them?

here is one way... http://www.photigy.com …ography-behind-the-scene/

I've shot a fair amount of reflective material. Pots, pans, flatware, etc. It's painstaking work.

Typically, we use a lot of foam core panels to reflect white in the surface.

Funny thing is, after all of the work; card placement, light placement, camera placement, etc., very few items end up looking like the perception that we have of them.

Search the web for some on-line stores. Williams Sonoma for instance. Look closely at what they're doing. Pay attention to the reflections, it'll be a good education.

Mark1 wrote in post #15190277
here is one way... http://www.photigy.com …ography-behind-the-scene/

great link, thanks! I kinda had an idea but its nice to see how others are doing it.

redfire2002 wrote in post #15188868
mirror finish... it lit nicely but the white gave it a matte finish.

If it's the usual white paper, the "matte finish" came from the angle of the light on the evenly lit paper & not the paper itself. You may be trying to get an even light, where some light fall off would look more natural.
That statement might be confusing, so look at the knife & Browning threads here: FAQ - Studio Lighting

I am far from a pro but would a CPL help?

Possibly, especially when you can't control the light, but when you do have control as in the links I suggested, then I've never had to use one.