Shooting reflective products on white background - how to achieve this (with example)

Marie123 · May 7, 2014

Hello! I am new here and have been searching the threads for a few hours but haven't come across what I'm looking for so I thought I would start a new thread. If you are a regular here and you've seen this question before I would love the link so I don't waste your time.

If you do want to answer or have any thoughts, here is what I am looking for:

I have been shooting beauty product photography for 3 years on my blog- first shooting with natural light and then for the past 2 years I have been shooting with a softbox set and using that to get product shots. Although I do product shots I currently like to arrange them in more of a "artistic setting" vs. just a straight product shot (think glossy magazine), but I have always wanted to perfect shooting on a white background, especially to group various products together. Here is a link to what I would like to achieve, which when I look at it still looks artistic and magazine-like which is what I am going for. (scroll down to group shots of products - eyeshadows, then group of lipsticks).

Spring Beauty at Bergdorf Goodman

Do you have any thoughts on the equipment and/or technique of how these product shots might be achieved?

Here are my questions and thoughts:

In the group shot composition it looks to me like the products were arranged together in the shot and then the shot was taken (vs. just shooting the product on its own and then adding it later?)...but I could be mistaken.
Unlike most white background photography guides on the web I want to preserve shadows just like in these shots. What I cannot tell is if the shadows were added in post or if they are the products' actual shadow?
Can this type of shot can be achieved with continuous lighting or if it is done with strobes or speedlights?
I also wonder if the products were shot on a white background or on a clear stand.
I also am curious if the products were shot from above how they do not have glare from lights or a black dot from the lens/camera reflecting, especially since these are reflective objects. Perhaps this was removed in post. I am not doing this to take paid-professional shots so I do not mind light reflecting off of the objects here and there, but seeing a "square" of light from the softbox or the black lens is something I want to avoid.

I am trying to set up the shot and learn new lighting tricks so that the post production is not extremely intensive, but I am unsure if this is something that can even be achieved, or maybe this is achieved mostly in post...perhaps I am dreaming, lol.

For reference I am shooting with a Canon 6D and a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens. My current set up is with three lightboxes that house CFL daylight balanced bulbs - two on either side of the product that I move around to get the right intensity, and one lower power light above that I can swing around to light up the background if I need to. I also hold a whiteboard in front to provide fill light on the front of the object when shooting it upright, but when shooting the product laying down it is more difficult.

If you have any thoughts on how I might achieve this or the equipment I would need I would love to continue my experimentation.

Thank you in advance for your help or for any links you might know of where I could do more research on my own.

tirediron · May 7, 2014

Start by buying a copy of the lighting bible!

Those shots are of course VERY well done, and I suspect that there is a LOT of post-processing work that's been done. My guess is that the group shots are composites; maybe not all individual items, but if you look carefully, the shadows don't match up 100%. I suspect that the shadows are enhanced in post definitely, but that they started with some degree of 'real' shadow, simply enough done by having your key lights slightly above your background lights (in terms of output, not position). Since these items are stationary, continuous lighting will work, however lighting almost anything with strobed light is MUCH, MUCH easier. Again, guessing, but I suspect that those are mostly shot on seamless white paper. They may have also been done on a chromakey background, but I'm guessing just plian old white.

If I had to shoot this, I'd want a roll of seamless white (Savage pure white), a half-dozen or more speedlights & triggers and a variety of small & medium soft-boxes. I'd also want a LOT of flags and scrims (little pieces of black & white card to "control" the light) and a bunch of small clamps, clips, Blu-tac, etc to position stuff. Read the book I linked to; it will tell you exactly what you need to do for shots like this.

Marie123 · May 7, 2014

Wow thank you so much! The book looks like what I need to learn lighting techniques, so I definitely will purchase that. There are so many books out there it is hard to know which one I purchase will contain what I am looking for so again, thank you!

I also appreciate your insight on what they might have done and I just have to say another WOW because this is definitely a much larger setup than I have now! I will look into seeing what I can get to get closer to achieving this type of look after reading the book. I have been wanting to look into speedlight photography, which I imagine is a whole new ballgame, but I am prepared to make changes to keep improving.

Thank you for the taking the time to reply today. With more detailed inquiries like this sometimes Google searching just doesn't cut it, so I appreciate the human response!

Take care, and depending on how soon I can get a new setup, I'm sure I will be posting on here again for advice on how my shots are coming along.

astroNikon · May 7, 2014

There was a thread on here that showed how to elevate your product above the white background/base. They basically used a wine glass upside down. The glass base was where the product was placed and the stem basically disappeared in the flash. And the product was left. A good demonstration but I can't find the thread. lol

The book above that tirediron lists is worth every penny. It takes time to go through it, and experiment with the book demonstrations, but you learn alot.