Dandev wrote:
I'm trying to shoot a piston. I have a large soft box with Einstein overhead, and a soft silver 64 inch PLM with diffuser on another Einstein to the side. Shooting on a black paper background.
I get a lot of reflections on the piston from the PLM.
Questions:
1. I'm using an umbrella reflector on the PLM - is that helping or hurting? The light seems to fall off at the edge of the umbrella. So I'm seeing a shadow behind the piston - where I think there should be coverage.
2. Should I try something else vs. the PLM and diffuser? Maybe a shoot through?
Thanks...
When photographing shiny objects the angle of lights is crucial, and larger modifiers are not necessarily your friend (and many times they are your enemy). Boomed lights can be your hero.
Some examples shooting against a dark background. Note that the only mods used on the Einsteins are aluminum reflectors w/grids, and the speedlight bare except for a grid:
Here are a couple of example shooting against a light background using the "Bright Field" approach (if you Google this you will find lots of specific information and examples on this), which is very similar to using a "product" tent: