Photo Still Life Secrets
Photo Still Life
All has been SIMPLIFIED... ie: We are not shooting in a Pro' Studio, but shooting with the minimal equipment at home, (or as they say on the net, working from the comfort of your own home), or you could be shooting on location for your client.
In other words you don't need to hire a pro' studio to shoot great table-top photography. However, the technique is almost exactly the same as if you were were working in a fully equipped studio.
RIGHT: A soft box attachment fitted to a hammer-head flash gun, in this case the Metz 60CT2 with a power pack and a mains generator, plus an additional head bounced off the low ceiling of my basement. You can see the burst of light on the ceiling from the second flash head which can help to light the product. The reflector on the left has been removed so you can see the set up. Note there are two stands in use and an old mic stand I picked up for a fiver in a junk shop, which holds a piece of black card to protect the lens from the flash.
"Hear's a little story, to tell is a must, about an "un-sung hero" who moves away the dust"... Some of you, if your old enough, may recall that song by Lonni Donegan from many years gone by.
Well,I know a young man in the prime of his life who, when he's "well oiled", will sing it to his old Dad.
His old Dad happens to be me and he happens to be my eldest Son, (a keen amateur photographer), and by the way, I don't "move away the dust"...
I was and in fact still am, a Pro'Ad/Fashion Photographer, with more years of experience tucked under my belt, than I care to remember. And I know a thing or two about Still-Life Photography.
Which brings me to the purpose of this article - STILL-LIFE LIGHTING for Table Top photography and Jewellery. This info has been asked for, NO - 'demanded' by several of our members and visitors, so here it is.
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Camera: Bronica SQ-Am
| FOR THOSE OF YOU who are new to Still-Life Photography this info is a HOT ProTip and is basically how most still-life photographers set about lighting simple table top photography. If you think there are some other secret ways of doing it, you are wrong. However, refinements of course there will always be, as there are a thousand different applications.
FOR EXAMPLE, shooting on top of a sheet of glass, so the product appears to be floating and lighting up the background separately. Or choosing a different background to shoot your products on. Adding a 'prop' together with the product that you are shooting. Digital manipulation after the session by dropping the product into any color background that you or your client chooses. The list is endless, but the set-up for the shoot is more or less the same. However if you read our Photo Still Life Pro Secrets page you will learn other techniques and experiments with your lighting for still-life.
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Lighting Set-Up showing
both reflectors in place.
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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
(remember to check out the used photo gear at your local pro' photo store).
A MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA - with a MACRO LENS for close up work. Better still a 5x4inch size View Camera as you can use the 'Tilt and Swing'camera back and lens mount to help focus the still-life subject. I have even used a 35mm. SLR camera for Still-Life work as well, but not recommended.
A TRIPOD - The sturdier the better.
A FLASH UNIT - Now I could write pages of "guff" about electronic flash units and if you have already read our page on shooting Portrait Head Shots, there is an alternitive suggestion where you can set one up yourself, I suggest you take a look as it will help with this example.
I also suggest it would be best to buy a second hand unit with two flash heads and a mains generator, if possible with modleing lights.
The unit you see in these illustrations is in fact a Metz 60CT2 unit with a power pack and a mains generator, with a second head. You can still find these units available in some used photo equipment stores. But if you find a unit that also has built in modeling lights, this will help a lot when it comes to setting up your lighting as you can see the lighting effect that your after.
A SOFT BOX - This is an attachment box that fits to your flash head and has a reflective surface inside and a defused front panel to soften the light that falls on your subject. Although you could use a large piece of tracing paper suspending over your main light. However, there are always problems doing it this way as you will find it difficult to control your lighting. An umbrella attachment is also not recommended as the spread of light is to great.
A LIGHTING STAND - in fact two or three would be an advantage, they are very inexpensive.
A FLASH METER - or other, to work out the exposures.
A SMALL LOW TABLE - The table I use is 2ft.x2ft. and 20inches high and is ideal for the job.
A PIECE - of White Cartridge Paper as a background, size 1 meter by 70cm. from your art store.
A PIECE - of White Art Board as a reflector, in fact get 2 or 3 pieces, you will need at least two. Also available from your art store.
For Jewellery Shots, I use a piece of off-white muslin or net cloth over the white background to give a feel of luxury to the shot. You can also use a piece of light color or neutral color Velvet material as a background, but avoid strong colors as this will often be picked up, or reflected in the subject, especially if your shooting Jewellery. Just experiment with different backgrounds until you'r happy with the results. And feel free to send me some of your results, I would be happy to add your story and images right here on this page.
NOW THAT CHECK LIST AGAIN:
1. MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA with a MACRO LENS or a 5x4 inch size VIEW CAMERA.
2. SOFT BOX attachment to fit on your mains flash.
3. FLASH EXPOSURE METER.
4. LIGHTING STANDS to hold your flash heads and reflectors, etc.
5. TRIPOD.
6. LOW TABLE.
7. BACKGROUND cartridge paper or board and or cloth.
8. WHITE ART BOARDS as reflectors.
SET UP your main light SOFT BOX to the side and slightly to the back of the table at a 45degree angle to your subject and as close as possible so you can stop down, (set the camera lens aperture), to at least f22 to get as much 'depth-of-field' as possible.
If you have a second flash head, set it up over the top of your set, pointing directly up to the ceiling. This helps to soften shadows and helps to light up part of the subject you'r shooting, especially if it has a reflective surface, otherwise parts of your Jewellery for example may just appear black. In other words you lighting the area above the set, as this may be showing as the reflective surface of you subject.
SET UP your reflector opposite to the main light, also add one the other side of the camera as well.
MAKE SURE: You always use a good Lens Hood to stop unwanted light getting into the lens.
It is also a good idea to suspend a small piece of black card above the camera to keep the light from your Soft Box from hitting your camera lens, but make sure it doesn't crop the picture area or is an obstruction when you are making a meter reading.
And last but not least, I would strongly suggest that you carefully check out the info on the next page "Photo Still Life Pro Secrets", where among other details, Still Life Photography is explained in greater detail from another still life photographers perspective. This works well as an instruction together with this page and you might like to print both pages out.
Suggestion: this could also work well as a group tutorial guide.
More info on the camera and equipment on this page.
This is the Bronica SQ-Am 6X6cm. Medium Format camera with the newer 105mm. Macro SP lens. The newer lenses have an additional element, giving maximum optical performance and is still one of the best lenses around to day.
Some medium format cameras can be adapted to take a digital back, usually required for studio based photographers working exclusively in digital, see out page on digital photography secrets
The gadget attached to the top of the camera is a "Metz Mecamat Sensor" which assists when making an exposure reading.
The Soft Box is made by a company in the US - CHIMERA lighting software. I bought this item some years ago and I'm not sure if it's availability.
A Question for you: The camera back is loaded with film, the batteries are in the camera and the studio flash is charged up and ready to go. But why wont the camera shutter fire...study the picture carefully...
The first three correct answers have already received a FREE copy of our e-book.
If there is anybody out there who doubts that this set-up can produce first class results, take a good look at this Jewellery shot. It was taken with this exact equipment set-up shown on this page and you might ask why didn't the client bring the Jewellery to my pro' studio for the shoot. The reason is that his Insurance only covers the items on the premises of his shop. The items you see in this image are valued at over $65,000.00 so I took the set up to the client and shot the entire brochure at the back of the shop. This Image also appeared in Vogue magazine some years ago and Vogue will only accept high quality images for reproduction.
The Image was shot on 120 Kodak Ektachrome EPP 100ASA and the exposure was 'bracketed'.
Let us have your comments and questions at the usual e-mail address, write "Table Top Photography" in the subject line.
Roger Lewis © '2003 - 2008' www.PhotoRog.com
Regarding the Question above, where we asked you "Why wont the camera shutter fire..."
We have received four correct answers, three have been sent a free copy of our e-book.
First correct answer was from: Kevin Trowbridge.
Second correct answer was from: Todd Smith.
Third correct answer was from Thorsten Merz.
The correct answer was that the shutter won't fire because the darkslide has not been
removed from the film back and the system has a safety mechanism to prevent the
shutter from firing while the darkslide is in place.
Congratulations to you all.
Foot Note:
You know what they say about Old Photographers - They Never Die - They Just Go Out of Focus. Problem solved, That's why you always see me using AUTO-FOCUS Cameras...
Thank God I'm not an Old Golfer - painful... You know what they say - Old Golfers Never Die - They Just Lose Thier ***** (if your not sure what I mean by that last comment send me an e-mail).
You see some people have delicate stomachs!
Roger Lewis.
On the next page: Shoot STILL-LIFE
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