Product Photography -- dual-tone subjects. Help!

[amadaras]

New to the forum, so I am not sure if I am posting this in the correct location. Anyways, be kind.

I am a product photographer for a local company that sells airguns. While most items I can photograph very well, I always struggle with items that have a high contrast in color. We have some guns that are dual tone (black and silver, black and pink, black and green, etc) and I have a hard time finding balance. The blacks are always very black, and the bright colors are always blown out.

I have a very simple setup; two hotlights with umbrellas, and some reflectors. The camera I work with is an old Canon 50D. The tripod is... crap.

While I normally would just use a multiple exposure to expose each area correctly, my tripod is not the most stable and will move between shots (more than just a little bit), making multiple exposures next to impossible.

Any tips or tricks to help me out?
Thanks!

 

[Scatterbrained]

How about showing us a shot of your setup as well as a shot that you are struggling with. Getting whites/brights and blacks to get along in a single exposure isn't too difficult once you know how.

 

[KmH]

Duplicate - Closed.