Product photos of metal objects

[trulte]

Hi guys.
Do you know how these pictures are taken?
What kind of surface, what kind of lights, light source location etc.
Do you think they are post processed?

 

[astroNikon]

Standard Product Photography

you should start here ==> Light Science Magic An Introduction to Photographic Lighting 5 Fil Hunter Steven Biver Paul Fuqua - Amazon.com

and look at getting light tents, such as ==> http://www.amazon.com/XPRO-inchx36-...F8&qid=1439486624&sr=8-1&keywords=light+tents

and either flash or bright fixed lighting

 

[astroNikon]

If you search "product photography" on the internet you get alot of tutorials,

such as:
==> Product Photography Tutorial How to Shoot Great Photos on the Cheap

and

 

[astroNikon]

You can also post some of your photos here and we can slowly guide you to improving them.

But, if you read and look at the examples, you'll need a similar setup first.

 

[trulte]

Thanks for answer Astro.

I have read many tutorials about this and I have also read the book you are referring to.
Trying to take product photos with a white background is not really easy, that's why i wondered how they take their pictures in my first link. Do you think the pictures have been post-processed or is it possible to mass produce pictures like this without post-processing?

If you look at the picture in the video you are referring to, you will that the background gets grey. I have been trying to make the background pure white with different methods, but it's difficult.

If I try to light the object from behind, the light always spills on the subject making the edges blurry and it also creates a white edge around the object. It also removes the shadow of the object which takes away some of the depth in the picture.

 

[astroNikon]

I'm not a Product Photographer specialist but I've fiddled with it a lot in the past.

If you are using a white background only then you have to have an additional light to blow out the background. You have to soften your light with diffusers, which are at angles to prevent a direct reflection to the lens, and angled such to eliminate whichever shadows that you want on the object. You may end up with at least 3 lights on the object and one background light.

also raising your object up off the bottom also helps a lot though you want to hide any supportive piece.

Here is a good video on beginning to end of a product shoot. pay notice to the background flash and added a reflected flash to the front.

 

[tirediron]

They're almost certainly post-processed to some degree, but how much depends on the skill & experience of the photographer(s). In fact, taking shots like this is quite easy, ONCE you get the formula down pat. I would do this using four small speedlights and modifiers (18-24" Lastolite Ezy-box style softboxes would be my preferred modifer), radio triggers, a table and roll of white seamless paper.

Two lights are only for the background. They should be set to expose the background 1/2 - 1/3 above the exposure of the subject, the other two are going to be used, in conjuction with various pieces of white & black card stock to add and subtract light as required. One of the biggest mistakes people make when starting this kind of work is having their lights too far away. The closer the lights (with power output reduced appropriately of course), the softer and more manageable it is.

The book that Astro linked you to is an excellent reference and will walk you through this, step by step.

 

[trulte]

Thanks for great advice guys. I will try some of your tips.

It seems to me that it's a big difference to light a product from behind directly and to light the background with lights instead. If you put a direct light from behind the object, the light will spill on the subject, blur out the edges etc., but if you light the background instead from the direct angles, you can avoid this. I will try to do this and also move the lights closer to the object like tirediron says.

Thanks again

 

[davisphotos]

Invest in lots of white and black foam core for flags and reflectors. I shoot a ton of reflective items, and also do a lot of exposure stacking for difficult objects.