Shooting Sunglasses in Light Tent

[lhadaj]

Hi there, I have been shooting sunglasses for a few years and want to overcome hurdles I have to improve the quality and efficiently of my images.

I shoot with a Canon 400D with a stock standard lens that came with the kit. I shoot these days in RAW ISO 100 f/:11. 1/8.

Here is a link to my page that shows my current set up and also some before and after images of the sunglasses I edit.

Flickr: lhadaj's Photostream

The first thing I would like to fix is the shadows and lighting of the sunglasses. I want to reduce the shadows as to reduce editing time and also show more detail at the front of the frames. I am thinking of purchasing two sets of lights from the below link. One on top of the light tent pointing directly down on the glasses and going on the backdrop to hopefully reduce the shadows. The second to be at the front of the light tent where I will have my camera sitting in the middle of the light to highlight the sunglasses more clearly.

http://www.digpro-studio.com/product...c6afa8b709170c

The next problem I have is the biggest. Lenses reflect and pickup things in the background. As you can see in the before examples from my photos, there are lines that run through the lens and difference in shade. It is mostly easy enough to edit out the slit in the sheet where the camera sits but editing out the lines and shades is way too time consuming and doesn't give a good enough result I am after. Only thing I can think of is to find some kind or spherical light tent with no seams or custom make one.

The last issue is dealing with white frames, is there an easy way to shoot so they don't wash out with the backdrop?

Also if there are any other tips you can think of that would be great.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I dont have much experience with this but I will give you an idea anyway. It looks like you need another light from the camera side so you will make that side of the tent completely white. Then you probably only have a small area to clone out from the reflection of the lens. OR you can take it from higher angle so the lens wont be on the sunglasses refelction.

 

[mickmac]

Try raising the glasses up by sitting them on a white cardboard box. You may find you no longer reflect the seam around the edge of the tent. Obviously you will have to raise the lights as well.

 

[kundalini]

Have a look at this video from Scott Kelbyhttp://www.kelbytraining.com/books/digphotogv3/. Scroll down to Special Wire for Hanging Products (video)

You're photos #3, 5 & 7 are best.

 

[y75stingray]

Do not buy that digpro kit its garbage...my employer insists i use it and it SUCKS! you cant adjust the lights, they burn out and start smoking, there is notwarrenty and they are chinese garbage. build yourself a nice light table and shoot with strobes thats what i do whenever i can.

 

[lhadaj]

I think the front light will help really well. I have tried raising the camera angle, but that style of shot is not what we after.

I have also raised the the glasses a while a go to half fix the problem. The reflection of the lines tend to come from where the edge of the backdrop sheet meet the actual light tent. As you can see in the below photo:

2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

It is probably the best example to describe the problems I am having. In these lenses you can see the whole inside of the light tent and where the backdrop meets the sides (where there is a light difference). I was thinking on a different light tent, but I have not seen anything on the market that suits what i am thinking of. Something spherical with no joins, a gap or slit for the camera and a roof where I can place down the glasses. Maybe i could find a large sphere lamp shade and custom make it to what I want.

I had a look at the video by Scott Kelby where he uses fishing wire to hang the glasses. I think this would solve half my problems in one hit, but I think it would be too time consuming to tie up each frame as I shoot a large volume of sunglasses each time. Also he has chosen a really easy pair of glasses to show his idea, mine come in all shapes and sizes.

Thanks for the kudos on photos 3, 5 and 7 but they are same shots as 2, 4 and 6, just have been edited.

In regards to Digipro, my boss also brought in a flyer from his trip to Hong Kong. Ill take your advice and look locally for a similar item.

 

[HalftoneStudio]

I would replace the floor to back wall sweep in your light tent with a piece of frosted plexiglass. This way you can light the surface from the bottom and have control over the intensity. This will completely eliminate your shadows and make photoshop pathing super simple.

As for your white frames, add in some black boards around the glasses to create a nice darker edge to the frames. You may have to composite these into several shots in PS if you are by yourself and don't have a lot of stands and arms to hold the cards

 

[lhadaj]

Went into the camera store today. He recommended for me to get the Dot Com Light Tent. I need to change my lighting set up, firstly from shooting underneath as you said and from behind. Due to the shape of the lenses this should be on the road to fixing my problems. They are going to bring the light tent to my office for a test shoot. Good people at Ted's Camera House!

 

[lawrencebrussel]

I will go with http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/members/89833.htmlmickmac. The thing matters in the shooting of a small body is to choose a simple clean place or set-up & second is having proper light on it.

 

[epatsellis]

Why use a light tent at all? They are a poor approach to lighting small products well, a shooting table with an acrylic top, some seamless and a few yards of white ripstop or silk (for scrims) along with some white and black fill cards would net you far better results with far less effort trying to undo the "light everywhere" approach.

 

[chipritchard]

I agree with not using a light tent. I'm not real big on using them.

 

[steve_tan]

light tent is more for quick shoot , suitable for ebay

 

[epatsellis]

light tent is more for quick shoot , suitable for ebay

The OP wants control over his lighting, light tents eliminate that ability. I was simply responding to the OP's question. If a light tent works for you, great, personally, I'd rather have a fork stuck in my eye.

 

[kasperjd4]

Use a trash can....

Like this:

Trash can as a tool for a professional photographer: the end result all that matters?

It will get rid of those hot spots in your images & allow you to get nice soft light. You'll be able to add gradients onto the lenses, & highlight edges. http://www.akelstudio.com/blog/tras...photographer-the-end-result-all-that-matters/