Lighting question for internet posting?

I have an offer from a sort of big company that makes car gears. They want me to take pictures of all of there parts to put on a web site. The problem is that all the parts are shinny steal small parts. I don't think I can use a flash cause it will just reflect off of the parts. What should I use and how much do people normally charge for something like that. They have like 5000 different parts that range in size from 1inch by 1 inch all the way to 5 feet by 5 feet. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Indirect flash is your friend...or some other form of diffused lighting. Don't know about cost though

For the small stuff, get a light tent, or do what i did and make your own with either cloth or paper. For the big stuff, you could try as many strobes as you can bouncing off a white ceiling (works quite well sometimes), but 5' x 5' is no easy task... more for camera angle than anything.

Rob

EDIT: Oh yeah, and you will need to worry about flash angles and find a balance between where the flash reflects and makes the steel look like silver, and doesn't reflect which makes it look black. I do alot of product photography, and never really enjoy shiny stuff, unless i find a way to really pull it off where it looks great.

Ahh hah...something I can finally answer and make myself sound somewhat inteligent. HAHA...well, maybe not. Your answer lies in a book from Dave Montizambert entitled "Creative Lighting Techniques for Studio Photographers" Check out his site at http://www.montizamber​t.com - He has a section in the book for this very thing and it really makes since when you read it. He is/was a film user at the time of the book coming out but the same principals still apply. Enjoy!

http://www.amazon.com …-0370442?%5Fencoding=UT​F8

This is also an excellent light book. You're going to have to use lots of different lighting techniques, tents, etc. Use black curtains to contain reflections of camera, etc.

Not a simple job. 5000 parts, Whew, that's a lot of work. Probably do about 10-20 a day. Give 'em a day rate depending on where you are, anywhere from about $800 -$1200 or so is fairly normal.

Good Luck.

A light tent with a few off camera flashes/strobes is your friend. That lighting book Jeff linked to is excellent for this type of thing.