Granite slab photography

[Designer]

Hey everyone

Im currently in the process of launching an online showroom for natural and man made stone slabs. Ive been trying to find a convenient way to photograph the slabs for my inventory. There are over 60 slabs and some of them are very polished and reflect all the light in the warehouse. There are skylights and windows everywhere. Im looking for some advice on how to photograph these slabs without seeing the reflections in the photo. Im kinda new to product photography and any advice would be much appreciated. I am working with a nikon d5300 dslr camera and i have some studio lighting. I have a 120 watt external flash and a 40 watt continuous light. I was thinking to create a black canopy and cover the slabs to block the light but that didn't seem to work.

There is a fine line between getting a straight-on shot of the surfaces, while minimizing the reflections. If you have the time, read

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...ce+and+magic&sprefix=light,+science,+,aps,158

which will help you in setting up your camera and lights.

With reflections coming from just about everywhere, you might have to do as tirediron has suggested, and shoot them at night with the warehouse lights turned off.

 

[ronlane]

I would agree with John's comments about helping the OP. This does help in answering the question the OP asked. Instead of taking out just one line take the entire comment in context. JeffW suggests that it may be cheaper and easier and explains some of the things it will take or could be used and rightfully says that it will take time (which could equate to money) to learn before getting the product shots that are needed/required.

I would offer this suggestion to the OP to answer their question. IF you want to learn how to shoot a reflective surface, going to Amazon or a book store and purchasing the book Light Science and Magic.

It might be easier and cheaper just hiring a professional photographer for your project than buying the lighting equipment and spending hours figuring out how to light your company's inventory. I've done this work before and purchasing a polarizing filter is not going to solve your problems if you don't understand how to light certain material surfaces.

I can work on my car but I'm not going to go out and buy all the equipment just to adjust the timing.

 

[Designer]

Either that or a book that I linked to.

Here's why he probably should learn it himself:

He has a camera.
He has lights.
His inventory will (presumably) keep changing.
Learning how to deal with reflections is not rocket surgery.

 

[robbins.photo]

You might want to review the replies; of the first five replies, four contained information on how to achieve the result the OP asked about.

There you go, expecting people to read and stuff. Sheesh.

 

[Dave442]

Should try some very diffused or bounced lighting (lighting the surface you see reflected by the object).
Keep track of what works so the rig can be moved around to where the different slabs are located.

 

[pixmedic]

I actually did this exact thing.
I worked with granite and marble for 12 years.
a few of the places I worked for wanted to photograph full slabs as well as finished kitchens. one company needed full slabs photographed because they went into a computer system for the CNC machines .
we had very high ceilings due to the overhead crane system with a LOT of fluorescent lighting.
we set up the slabs on one end of the warehouse and turned the lights OFF that were directly overhead. at the time, we were just using a point and shoot camera to take the pictures. with the direct overhead lights turned off, there was still enough light to get the picture, but not get a ton of glare. im sure with a better camera, actual lighting equipment, and an editing program you should be able to get usable results with what you already have.

 

[table1349]

One other thing to keep in mind when shooting stone, is the quality of stone you are shooting. If we are talking about contractor grade granite, just get a good photo of the general pattern. Contractor grade is nice but has the least amount of movement. If you are talking higher grade you may again may want to crop to a larger section that fully represents the movement in the stone. If you want to shoot full slab, depending on you building setup. Granite 90 degrees horizontal to the floor, about a 15 degree back end tilt away from the camera and nice defused back light. Shoot from the middle height of the granite slab and kill any overhead lights behind you that may be causing reflections.

Like I said you may want to consider if you need to show the whole slab. This is the granite in our kitchen. You get a good understanding of the colors and movement from the cropped photo. This is going in the guest bathroom. The wife decorated it in an ocean theme.