Fellow Photographer Lighting Help!

I posted some new work on my flicker today only to be asked by one of my friends and contacts for some help regarding how this shot was done? I send a help email to help him out.

I thought I would post this email below firstly there is a link to the shot in question on my flicker which is http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitaldennis/5930618648/

My reply is below hope this helps you all?



Now then hope you well?

Ok phone shot I did of the HTC was shot on a green background so I could knock the background out quicker but to keep simple see below tips.

Reflections - have cards availble in black and also white these are excellent for controlling and blocking out reflections. If say with a phone you want to shoot the screen donthis separate I'll come back to this.

You can shoot a phone against a black background cut down on outfit spill if shot with a White background you can get a brighter image.

Phone screen shot is easy black background low light with camera over and above screen with phone laid flat take a low light shot no flash with a 2 - 3 second exposure with iso at your lowest camera setting. This is always the best way to get these kind of shots and easiest. Then during post work you can copy the screen details across onto the subject shot and combine the two.

The above gets rid of unwanted reflections on glass and subjects like your iPhone screen.

Lighting ? - ok the shot I did was done with a single sb800 you can use either a soft box or diffuser or you can shoot through a sheet of thin paper this diffuses the light so soft this will light the phone evenly or you can point the flash up to the ceiling and step power down to get similar lighting.

Another option you can try is stand the phone upright blue tack is a god send for this with a black background lighting wise you can put a flash on each side of the camera st power lw to start with so your lighting the left and right of the camera the light will soften in the middle.

Some times you can shoot the camera, then you might shoot the phone details differently then combine the best bits again during post in photoshop.

The above will help you massively shots like these will be often made up of several shots to get the combined parts when put together right.

So to recap - using phone as example

Light and shoot the body edges first, then the phone front, move camera around whilst using White / black cards to see and capture the lighting or reflections you want then you will have all the parts of the image finally the screen display in low light then combine together to create the finished shot.

Another final note you can get the above with out reflections on the screen sometimes by using a longer lens say 70 - 100 mm so your further away from the camera hence less chance of creating unwanted reflections.


Commercial shots like the magazines are never straight from the camera this is just not the case.




Posted From IPad On Location - Digital Dennis / GrimLight / Strobistonline