Reflections

Photographing shiny objects can be very challenging due to the direct reflections they produce (that is, reflections where the light leaves the subject at the same angle it arrived, as opposed to diffused reflections where the light leaves at all angles equally. These reflections can be distracting and hide small details on the subject which is undesirable, especially in product photography.

I'm not an arts and crafts type person, and even getting the tracing paper 'cone' to behave proved frustrating; it ended up more like a rough tube, and I took a before and after shot which is enough to demonstrate the technique. For a subject I chose some silver coins, and placed them on black felt.

 

85mm, f/8, 1/10s, ISO 100

 This first image is without the tracing paper tube. I held the light source above the coins to generate as much direct reflection as I could back to the camera. You can see that the lighting on the coins is very harsh due to the hard light source; it is also uneven, with the bottom of the twenty pence piece darker than the top of the coin, and the fifty pence pieces being especially bright. This is obscuring some of the fine details such as the curls of the Queen's hair in the lowest coin, and the text around the circumference. This type of lighting is also causing dark shadows around the edges where there is relief on the coins. Overall, this is a very contrasty image.

 

85mm, f/8, 1s, ISO 100

There is an immediate difference in this image. The coins and the end of the camera lens are now inside the tracing paper tube, and I've also brought the light source to the side so as not to shine any light directly into the end of the tube.  The light, shining through the paper, is now a diffuse light source, and the coins are reflecting their surroundings - the diffuse light through the tube.

The cone (or tube in my case) used in this exercise is essentially a homemade light tent. If I had one of those I'd certainly have experimented more with angles and different objects.

Concentrating Light

This short exercise involved using a snoot to concentrate the light source in order to bring attention to a particular part of the scene. For this I set up a simple still life using a small model piano I have, standing on white paper. I rolled and taped some black card up into a tube that would just fit over the bulb over the lamp, then held this in place manually while taking some images, experimenting with placement of the light, the subject and the camera. I wanted everything outside of the spotlight to be cast into darkness, so underexposed the image by over two stops on the camera. The undiffused light source also cast a nice strong shadow to give extra drama to the image. In lightroom, I darkened the shadows further (there was some ambient light still coming through the closed blinds on the window) and increased the highlight to compensate for the underexposure. For some reason there was also a slight blue tinge to the spotlight, which I also removed. The final image is shown below, which I think demonstrates the use of a snoot quite nicely. The circle of light is not quite perfectly round as the snoot was homemade and cobbled together. Placement of the light source itself I found was important, as it did have to be pretty much directly overhead to get this 'spotlight' effect.

70mm, f/8, 1/13s, ISO 200, -2 1/3 EV

Contrast and Shadow Fill

My subject for this exercise was a bust of Frédéric Chopin, a Polish romantic-era composer almost exclusively of piano music. I draped a roll of white paper over a cardboard box to act as a seamless backdrop, placed the bust on the box, and positioned my light source (an adjustable work lamp) to the left hand side. The camera was directly facing the subject as per the brief.

Keeping the camera and lamp in position, I then took a series of photographs using different homemade reflectors to act as 'shadow fill'; essentially bouncing light back into the shadowed side of the subject to reduce the amount of contrast.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.8s, ISO 200

Undiffused, No Reflector 

This first image is simply a hard light source striking the subject from the side. As such, this image is very contrasty, with clear separation between the lit and unlit sides, and a dark, sharply defined shadow. This image will be used as the basis for comparison with the rest of the images.

 

40mm, f/8, 1s, ISO 200

Diffused, No Reflector 

This is a similar setup to the first image, but now with a defuser in front of the light source. There is a clear difference in certain key areas of the image; the shadow is much softer and less defined, the highlights on the forehead, in the furrowed brow and on the necktie are all less strong. I still feel it retains lots of the drama from the original image though, as the shadow side of the subject appears to remain mostly unaffected.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, White Reflector Far 

This and all subsequent images are now taken with the hard light source, utilising various reflectors on the opposite side. Here I held a large white piece of card approximately one meter away from the subject. The result is an image very similar to the first, however the white light reflected back off the card has brightened up the shadows a little.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, White Reflector Close 

I now brought the white card closer, so it is just out of shot. The shadows on the right side of the subject have now been lightened much further. The main long shadow stretching from the base of the subject is still well defined, but not as dark as before. 

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, Dull Foil Far

Now I have attached aluminium foil to the piece of card, with the dull side of the foil facing out. I have held it approximately one meter away from the subject. This material has brightened the shadows more than the white card held from the same distance.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, Dull Foil Close

Bringing the foil so that it is just out of the frame, the shadows are really starting to open up now, however I notice that from the 90 degree angle to the subject, the fill light is mostly striking the edges of the subject which are parallel to the reflector. The bridge of the nose and the areas around the eye sockets are mostly untouched.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, Shiny Foil Far

I turned the foil over so that it was now shiny side out, and repeated the previous two images. There doesn't appear to be any discernible difference between the two images where the foil card is held further away.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, Shiny Foil Close

With the shiny foil held close however, there is a marked difference between this image and the one where the dull foil was held close. In the shiny foil image the bounced light is now wrapping further round the subject, penetrating more into the eye sockets.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, Crumpled Foil Far

We are now required to crumple the foil, and lay it flat out on the card again before taking our images. Again, with the foil held a meter away, I see no difference between this image and the other two types of foil when held at a distance.

 

40mm, f/8, 0.6s, ISO 200

Undiffused, Crumpled Foil Close

Interestingly, this last image didn't turn out how I expected it to. I thought my crumpling the foil, this would scatter the light and make it wrap round the subject more. This doesn't appear to have happened, and the shadows are darker than those on the image taken with the smooth foil. Perhaps with the crumpled foil the light is scattering before much of it can reach the subject.

Conclusion

As expected, the first image with a hard light and no reflector, is the most contrasty version of the subject. The least contrasty turned out to be with the smooth shiny foil reflector, held close. To eliminate further shadows in hard to reach areas, another reflector, held out of shot beneath the subject to bounce light upwards would probably be necessary.

The results of this experiment I'd say is fairly consistent with what's supposed to happen, although I expect a lot depends on the positioning and distance of the reflector to the subject.

There's no real answer to which of the above images is the 'best' - this depends on what you are artistically trying to achieve.

The Lighting Angle

My 'studio' for this exercise consisted of a cardboard box with a sheet of white card on top, with a light coloured wall in the background. I used an adjustable work lamp with the hood removed as my light source, and a homemade diffuser which I held in front of the lamp. My camera was on a tripod in a fixed position in front of my subject, and after I'd autofocused on the subject I switched the camera to manual focus to ensure the camera didn't accidentally alter focus for any reason - I wanted it to be exactly the same in each image. I used the Nikon ML-L3 infrared remote to trigger the camera as I could do this while holding the lamp and diffuser in place. For my subject I chose a maneki-neko, a Japanese 'lucky' figurine due to its rounded shape and elements of relief.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/4s, ISO 200

Front Lit

In the first image the light is situated next to the camera. The soft, diffused light is striking the front of the subject, and there is a barely discernible shadow. The strongest highlights are right in the middle of the subject; you can clearly see the gold colour is brightest here.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/8s, ISO 200

Side Lit

  
The light source is now at a 90 degree angle to the subject. This is a very attractive type of lighting, and with one area brightest and the other side dark, it is great at portraying form; the sense of the subject being a 3D object. A long shadow is cast on the opposite side to the light source, which would be darker and more distinct with an undiffused light source. 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/25s, ISO 200

Back Lit

This is the most dramatic and 'different' of all the images. The camera's light sensor has told the camera of the immense amount of light in the scene, and the camera which always wants to try to expose for 18% grey has dialed down the exposure, rendering the subject a silhouette. This is a desirable type of lighting when you want to concentrate on the shape of a subject, as it removes the colour detail and form. This image is how it came out of the camera (apart from a white balance adjustment), but in Lightroom I could increase the shadows further and completely remove all detail.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/6s, ISO 200

Behind and to the Side

 
In this image the light source is still level with the subject, but is now at a north-easterly position. This is clear to see by the long shadow being cast in the opposite direction. This is one of my favourite images from the shoot, as I think edge lighting is a very attractive and dramatic effect.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/6s, ISO 200

Front at a 45 degree angle

I now photograph the subject from the same directions again, but this time with the light source at a 45 degree angle above the subject.The shadow is a little more pronounced from this angle, and the whole scene is slightly under exposed compared to the first image where the light was level with the subject. The 'hot spots' on the front of the subject are now mostly eliminated, something desirable especially if we were taking a portrait.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/6s, ISO 200

Side at a 45 degree angle

We've again lost the strongest of the highlights, although in this image I am still getting a pleasing combination of light and dark, which shows the form of the subject well. The shadow is very slightly darker here, and certainly more compact.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/8s, ISO 200

Behind at a 45 degree angle

The light source is now behind the subject but out of the frame. The background itself is now not bright, so the subject is not massively underexposed this time. As such, this particular angle is not as effective at showing shape as when the light is directly behind the subject. There is some pleasing highlights on the upper surfaces of the subject and there is a nice compact shadow forming a type of 'base' for the subject to sit on.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/6s, ISO 200

Behind and to the Side at a 45 degree angle

This image seems very similar to the previous one (Behind at a 45 degree angle), except the shadow is now pointing southwest, and the highlights are moved more to the upper right of the subject. In comparison to the same angle when the light was level with the subject, there is a much bigger difference. The shadow is much more compact, the attractive edge lighting has gone, and there is altogether less contrast on the subject than there was the first time around.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/8s, ISO 200

Directly Above

Like the image 'Behind at a 45 Degree Angle', the shadow creates a 'base' for the subject to sit on, but from this directly overhead angle it's even more tidy and compact. The highlights are all strongest on the surfaces that are more or less parallel to the light source, as expected. The lighting seems pretty undramatic, but shows the subject simply. This lighting would probably be unsuitable for portraiture, as it would create dark shadows under the eyes and nose. This could probably be alleviated with a reflector positioned below the subject.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/6s, ISO 200

Above and Slightly Infront

The adjustment here brings the highlights to the front of the subject, mostly nullifying the 'shadows under eyes' problem talked about in the last image. I'm not sure whether these highlights would be too strong on the forehead and nose of an actual person. All in all, this lighting angle brightens up the subject nicely, but is undramatic.

 

85mm, f/4.5, 1/8s, ISO 200

Above and Slightly Behind

As soon as I saw this image I envisioned this lighting being utilised (via the sun) in an image of a large looming building, where the top edge would be lit, and a dark shadow is cast in front of it. Out of all the images, the shadow here is giving the strongest 3D effect to my eyes. I like the highlights on the top edge, but most of the subject is underexposed. I think this lighting setup would suit some subjects better than others.

Conclusion

The length and angle of the shadow instantly tells you the positioning of the light, and how sharp and dark it is tells you whether the light source is diffused or not. All of these images were taken without moving the subject or the camera, and the great variety in them suggests that lighting is extremely important in getting the particular result you want.

This exercise also shows that lighting for the most part is predictable and results are repeatable. By becoming familiar with the results above, a lot of information can be gleamed which can be used for more consistent images.

The lighting angle can be chosen depending on which aspect of the subject you most want to bring out. I've already found for example that light directly behind the subject causes a silhouette, which makes for a very strong representation of shape. In terms of the form of the subject, as far as I can see in this exercise a sense of 3D can be shown in two ways; firstly, the shadow being in front of the subject, as in the last image. This doesn't make the subject appear 3D per se, but it does give depth to the scene. Side lighting is the best at portraying the form of the subject itself. The play between light and shadow gives the impression of a solid 3D object. The colour of the subject was best shown in the first image, with front lighting. The gold is at its most vivid, in the other images it is much more dull by comparison.

My favourite image overall is 'Behind and to the Side'. I really enjoy the edge lighting effect, and the angle of the shadow. I would prefer to lighten up the front of the subject a little more though, while still retaining the edge lighting effect. 

Softening the Light

For this exercise I set my pair of headphones on a box, and used a roll of white paper as a backdrop. I then set an adjustable work lamp at about 45 degrees up and left of the headphones as I wanted strong side lighting to create a shadow. I then set my camera on a tripod, with the white balance set to incandescent.

 

48mm, f/18, 6s, ISO 100

This first image is the result of the above setup. There is a very dark and sharply defined shadow. The highlights are also quite hard, giving a very 'shiny' look to some of the dark plastic and the leather of the ear cushions. Even though I adjusted the white balance for this setup, I noticed a yellow cast surrounding the shadow in this image. I used the tools in lightroom to remove yellow from the image which reduced the problem somewhat, but you can still just about see it here.

 

 48mm, f/18, 8s, ISO 100

For the second image I placed a homemade diffuser in front of the lamp. I made the diffuser as per the instructions in the course material, with cardboard and tracing paper. There is an obvious difference here, in both the shadows and the highlights. The shadows are softer, more grey than black, and the highlights are also not as sharply defined, and are duller. The yellow cast has also gone, which is a great improvement to the image.

Conclusion

After consideration, I think the use of a diffuser has greatly helped the image. It has reduced the distracting shadow, which I think was drawing the viewers eye from the subject. This is obviously undesirable in the case of product photography such as this. Having the reduced shadow is nice as it contrasts with the white background, and gives a sense of depth to the image, giving the impression of a solid object that the viewer could hold. I think I actually prefer the harder highlights from the first image though.