Need Advice on a Double Polarizing Setup

[Roger3006]

Hello Everyone. I hope y'all are having a great morning.

I photograph firearms. A great example would be shooting (pardon the pun) a high quality shotgun. The shotgun is made of different materials with different finishes. The barrels may be a bright blue. The stock and forearm are walnut with lot of figure and somewhat a glossy finish. I deal with many different angles with different finishes and/or materials in one shot. Hot spots and glare are problematic.

I have a variety of softboxes, reflectors, etc. When shooting the entire gun I normally use two Chimera medium softboxes. My power pack is a SpeedOtron 2400CX with 102 heads. I position my light to minimize hotspots and often fix them in Photoshop. Depending on the finish, a polarizing filter on the camera does eliminate some of the problems with wood. The metal surfaces are always a problem and there are always areas of the stock and forearm that are washed out.

I have never seen a polarizer on a strobe. Would someone be kind enough to recommend a setup? Also, how many stops will I lose? It would not be a problem to double my light output if necessary.
AC
I have to be very careful as to how much I do in Photoshop. Many of the firearms I sell are older and collectable. It is imperative I do not remove any defects such as wear or a scratch, dent, etc.

I have a limited amount of time I can spend on each shot. I am not selling several copies of the same gun that are homogeneous. They are all different.

Attached is an image of a over and under with Lightroom adjustments. You will notice a hotspot on the back of the Monte Carlo, the bottom of the pistol grip, one above the trigger, an a a couple on the forearm. This shotgun does not have a very pretty stock; however, the finish looks dull because I used raking/scraping light setup.

I very much appreciate any help or suggestions y'all can offer.

Have a great weekend.

Roger

 

[Don Kondra]

polarizing sheets | B&H Photo Video=

Cheers, Don

 

[Roger3006]

Thanks Don. How does the filter mount to my flash head? I would imagine you run into some of the same problems as me in photographing furniture.

Gave a great day,

Roger

 

[Roger3006]

This was much more challenging.

 

[tirediron]

Thanks Don. How does the filter mount to my flash head? I would imagine you run into some of the same problems as me in photographing furniture.

Gave a great day,

Roger

Gaf tape... just make sure you that you keep it well away from the flash tube.

 

[Don Kondra]

Thanks Don. How does the filter mount to my flash head? I would imagine you run into some of the same problems as me in photographing furniture.

Gave a great day,

Roger

Hi Roger,

I can usually get away with just a CP filter for larger furniture pieces but for small shiny product such as your firearms you can mount the film on the front of a softbox, no heat issues there. I specifically purchased 3 - 20" x 20" softboxes for this. Then I will mount the film to a cardboard cut out and velcro to the softbox.

Another photographer friend uses the film on hot lights so it will take some heat if it's a short distance from the source but they do "age" quicker !

Cheers, Don

 

[Don Kondra]

Another source > Polarization.com

Cheers, Don

 

[Roger3006]

Thank you very much. It seems with will make my life much easier. What kind of strobes are your using and how much power?

 

[Don Kondra]

Alien Bees B1600/640 w/s...

Forgot about these guys

Linear Polarizer | Circular Polarizers | Display Filters

Cheers, Don