On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 8:13 PM, Darren Addy <[email protected]> wrote: > Congrats on the new position! > > Couple of random thoughts... first, this book is highly recommended: > http://books.google.com/books?id=XwKafyHW3NIC&lpg=PA119&ots=elMk2IDh-d&dq=best%20way%20to%20photograph%20polished%20metal&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q=best%20way%20to%20photograph%20polished%20metal&f=false > > Secondly, highly polished metal can reflect everything including your > light setup, camera, photographer... so you may want a large softbox > for lighting (it will make indistict large reflections). You may even > shoot though a small hole in a light tent (where everything around > your lens is white). > > You may want to rig up something that suspends objects more or less > invisibly (if light enough, such as with fishing line) so you can > remove the shadow of the object by lifting it above your tabletop (or > whatever). You may also want to experiment with a table top of curved > plexiglass that can be lit from below (perhaps in addition to above). > > Don't really know a lot about how in-camera HDR really works, if it > brings any advantages. Lit correctly, I'm not sure that your parts > will really be a high dynamic range scene that will benefit, but then > again they might. If thousands of photos/items are to be taken, I'm > sure that your employer will want the fuss with each one to be kept to > a minimum if they want the project live before the turn of the > century. > : ) > > If the end result is web only, any DSLR is probably more than capable. > Your money may be better spent on lighting and set considerations. > > Darren Addy > Kearney, Nebraska
I have to second everything that Darren has said, especially the book; it's brilliant. And my 2 cents on the HDR plan: forget it. (That's 1 cent per word.) A well-lit scene is a low dynamic range image. If you light engine parts with a softbox like Darren suggests you are removing shadows and minimizing specular (direct) reflections at once, so it's pretty-much the exact opposite of a scene that needs HDR techniques to cram into the dynamic range of the camera sensor. You'll be more likely to need/want to increase the contrast (eg pulling on the Blacks slider in Lightroom). I'd also consider LED light arrays rather than fluorescent lights as they are much cooler running and very flexible. Congrats landing what sounds like a really cool job. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
