Ideas on lighting a piano for photos?

dott99

TPF Noob!
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
We have a showroom of pianos and I'm looking to give our photos a really nice look. I'm looking for advice for what type of lighting might bring great results. You can view our inventory at the following link: Steinway Grand Pianos for Sale

Some people have mentioned to use light modifiers like umbrellas or softboxes and the Speedlite 430 EX II or 580 EX II. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
What's your budget and what equipment do you have? I could easily spend $3k on the basics needed for a project of that size.
 
it might be more cost ffective to hire some them to buy all the equipment an learn photography.
 
I'd also suggest you get in a pro, the ones on your site are terrible, they may as well have been of one piano, get a pro and tell him/her to be creative with lighting and angles. H
 
When Flash Harry said they were terrible, I thought to myself that they could not be that bad. The first one I saw had so much digital noise I cringed. The second one I saw looked like it was taken with a simple point and shoot camera and the flash just blasted the piano rendering 30% of that picture utterly useless.

After seeing that... I think that Flash Harry was being kind when he said they were terrible.

You do have two choices as I see it:

- You can easily spend a month or two learning the basics of photographing pianos and spending several thousand on proper equipment

- You could hire a professional to do it right for a large savings in time and money.

In a business such as yours, time is money. Get a competent professional to do the work for you is what I would suggest.
 
Not to be a constant skeptic, but I would wager this is a post to build a link to his site more than it is to ask a piano question. The entire site is poorly designed/amateur so I doubt he's really concerned about the quality of the piano photos.
 
I am not sure how many pianos he is going to sell in Canada, but his site pictures are quite poor and would likely cause no increase in sales. He *really* does need help with those pics... they are awful and are more likely to push people away from his site than help sales. Any reasonably smart business person would know and see this and he is asking for help in a photography forum.

I don't think it is a scam to get people to visit his site. It would be a pretty dumb way to do things... especially on an international site such as one like this. A photography forum has nothing to do with piano sales and would not help out in that manner at all.
 
This is definitely not a way to get links to our website. (I do not think google looks to highly on links from forums anyway)

I'm really looking for advice and help because I know very well that our images are poor and I'm looking for the best possible option. I just thought that most of the time the pianos will be in the same position so once I get the equipment and the right angles, I could repete that for each piano. I'm willing to pay several thousand to get set up, etc. Anyway, I really appreciate all of the ideas mentioned. Thanks again.
 
Before spending money, start the information going... that is way more important than how much you can spend. Visit Strobist and work your way through Lighting 101 and 102.

Although they specialize on battery powered flashes, the same concepts/techiques/ideas can apply to 110-220 volt studio strobes.
 
JerryPH - Thanks so much for that link...I just read through a little of it and it seems to have a TON of helpful information on lighting. Thanks alot! Really appreciate it.
 
Too bad that he passed away at a younger age, he was one of the few that shared a lot during those days.
 
Last edited:
You should also go here Strobist: Dean Collins - Live at Brooks Institute

On something as large as a concert grand you're going to need to be serious. ;)

If you do get the DVD set, pay particular attention to the way he lights the car.

A piano is very similar to a car when it comes to lighting, It is a bit of a task to light a huge glossy black object. I do concert and event lighting, and once lit a BMW 7 series. It was a special pre-release viewing at a golf tournament. The car was enclosed in a tiny room just big enough for a person to walk around for viewing. Truthfully it took a lot more light than anticipated, the black really sucks up the light. In the end I think I used about 16 or 20 fixtures, Thats about the same light output as 160-200, 100w incandescent lightbulbs.

Probably studio strobes and some BIG softboxes are the way to go, keep reading everything on strobist, and don't hesitate to post any questions.

-Ryan
 
A piano is a beautiful piece of art and should be treated as such. Why make the photos so static. You don't need to crop as much as my example, but I doubt highly your clientele is only looking at pianos for their sound alone.

My wife is an opera singer and a music therapist. We own more instruments than a music store, including three pianos. I assure you, sound quality was not the only deciding factor.

Every picture the same? No way. Your clients know the difference, let them see the art.

By the way, this is the most opinionated I have ever or will ever get on a post. Just a touchy subject.

-Nick
3146926974_291b24b54c_o.jpg
 

Most reactions

Back
Top