Dust on Reflective Background

[CrazyChef]

Hey guys, another newbie question...

So I have a couple of high gloss, reflective tables for product photos - one black, one white. I also have a mirror and a polished stainless steel block that I want to use on occasion.

How do I make these into dust-free surfaces? I can get them pretty shiny, and relatively dust free with a microfiber cloth and canned air, but there always seem to be a few lingering particles. Sometimes they don't even show up until I look at the photo - I take macro shots of small parts. Other times, they're just there on the surface in regular product photos, showing up unexpectedly.

Thanks!
CC

 

[table1349]

You don't unless you want to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to build a clean room. Dust free is an illusion. What you do is you carefully clean them before every shoot, once you think they are clean you clean them again. You will also clean them during use. Just the nature of the game.

 

[tirediron]

You don't unless you want to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to build a clean room. Dust free is an illusion. What you do is you carefully clean them before every shoot, once you think they are clean you clean them again. You will also clean them during use. Just the nature of the game.

And lastly, you will 'clean' them in the computer. Don't worry about the odd dust speck; it's literally one mouse-click to remove, and you need to apply the law of diminishing returns to the act of physical cleaning compared to using software.

 

[astroNikon]

Dust lingers in dry air.
If you increase the humidity in the air the dust will settle.

I learned this doing woodworking .. creates a lot of dust. With wood though I was always putting it in a proper environment to prevent shrinkage, etc and noticed when my humidifier was next to my lathe one time cutting down wood the dust was not lingering in the air, but just dropping down.

Try it with kleenex sometime. Ever notice all the dust pulling a kleenex from the box creates (watch it in bright sunshine). With humidity good enough that also doesn't happen. Gets rid of static cling, dry itchy skin too. 36% is a good level.