Experimenting with product photo

Last weekend I attended a workshop about ligth. We tried various things both outdoors and indoors and now I have experimented a little at home with my little light-tent setup, I replaced the blue cloth with a white cardboard.

The flash on the left is a 580 EX I, the other one is a 580 EX II. Both controlled via the 5D2 menu system.

How do you think I am doing ?

On this one I held the 580 ex II on the rigth side and a little up.

Overall, the images look flat due to the relative eveness of the lighting from the two flashes. Setting one flash brighter than the other (between 1:2 and 1:4 ratio) would make for a more "3-D" looking product shots (of course, flash placement is important, too). But then, you'd be faced with harsh shadows. That can be corrected by using a modifier, such as a diffusion panel or a softbox, with the flashes to increase their apparent sizes, in effect, softening the shadows. BTW, I don't necessarily agree that shadows are a bad thing and should be eliminated. Using lighting to eliminate shadows will result in a flat product image. For some products, that may be desired. But for others, no.

There is a glare off the front of the lens. This is due to the lens reflecting the white wall of the tent. You can correct this by placing a black gobo between the lens and the part of the wall that's being reflected off the front element of the lens. Just make sure to place the gobo so that direct light from either of the flashes does not cast a shadow in the image.

As was already mentioned previously, use a smaller aperture to increase DOF to get more of the product in focus.

Thanks. The flashes was set on different ratio.

Whats a gobo ?

tommykjensen wrote in post #9183098
Thanks. The flashes was set on different ratio.

Whats a gobo ?

It's like a mask or a flag of whatever shape and size is needed to shield light or reflections from the subject or part of the subject. They're usually black to absorb light. There are other uses of gobos but in still photography, that's their primary purpose.

You know what, Tommy? Just moving the flash that's left of the camera up higher will get rid of the glare since it's the flash that's actually causing the glare (the flash is too low). A gobo would darken the front of the lens too much since it'll be blocking the light from the flash so I take back what I said about using the gobo in this case.

Thanks. I will try and figue out a way to hold two flashes and trigger the camera at the same time

How about a tripod or two?

apersson850 wrote in post #9184086
How about a tripod or two?

I only have one tripod which I have the camera on. I'll figure out a way.

tommykjensen wrote in post #9184124
I only have one tripod which I have the camera on. I'll figure out a way.

A light stand is indispensable if you're going to be doing any kind of flash work. And that goes for the umbrella bracket also since the bracket is what mounts the flash to the stand.

PacAce wrote in post #9184146
A light stand is indispensable if you're going to be doing any kind of flash work. And that goes for the umbrella bracket also since the bracket is what mounts the flash to the stand.

I actually bougth a set today. I just didn't use it since I could not get it close enough to the setup. I have to re-arrange the setup on my table in order to get the stand close enogh.

tommykjensen wrote in post #9184183
I actually bougth a set today. I just didn't use it since I could not get it close enough to the setup. I have to re-arrange the setup on my table in order to get the stand close enogh.

This is what I use in a similar situation. It's a reflector holder but you can also mount an umbrella bracket on the other end to hold the flash close and or lower/higher to the subject.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ble_Reflector_H​older.html