Photography of Motor parts

[neal]

Hi there
I am taking photographs of motor car parts this weekend. It is more shiny stuff, like lights, mirrors, wheel caps etc. I have two 200W lights, with umbrellas and a soft box. How would I place my lights to minimise the reflections on the shiny surfaces of the products.
Any other tips would be welcome.

Regards
Neal

[JCPhoto1]

I don't do product photography except to sell things on eBay. The problem with what your shooting is it's reflective nature. You didn't say if you have strobes or continuous lights. I'm not a big fan of hot lights but for shiny object they seem to reduce the reflective hot spots better than strobes. If you are using strobes I would suggest the softbox and shoot through the umbrella. Just use some kind of diffused light source to soften the light. You can even do it cheap with shower curtains or sheets. Also use as big as you can and as close as possible. Here are a few site with tutorials or info that might help. Good luck.....Jim C

[Photo-John]

Unlike Jim, I love hot lights for product photography. I like that what I see is what I get. And you don't need the power of strobes for products either. So why pay for it?

I shoot a lot of electronics with two Photoflex hot lights and big softboxes. For most products this is all I need. I have my product on a table with white seamless and the lights are generally at 30-45% degree angles to the product, and above and pointing down at about 30%. I check the product in the viewfinder, shoot tests and check them on the computer, and then move the lights and product as needed to minimize glare and get the shadows how I want them. Sometimes I have to get funky and use cards to block some light in order to eliminate specific bits of glare. I expect you'll need to do this. Black and white cards are good for this. You can prop them up around the product, as needed, or just hold them up in front of the lights.

Do you have a polarizing filter? That's a good idea, too. Although, it won't completely eliminate glare, it will reduce it and make the manual job of eliminating it easier.

Have you thought about a light tent? I keep meaning to buy one. With really reflective products, it's almost a necessity. I should have used one for this photo: http://gallery.photographyreview.com...sort=1&cat=all

[Packard]

It's been over 30 years. A friend of mine wanted photos of the engine bay in his 4-4-2. I was shooting Tri-X and I had just one 10" photo flood. I removed the 250 watt bulb and replaced it with a 60 watt one.

We waited until evening and I set my camera on a tripod. We worked inside his garage. We turned off all the lights and I set the camera on Bulb. I then turned on the flood light and moved it about the engine bay as evenly as I could. I shot 36 shots; it took several hours. We got several shots that were absolutely first rate. I would never do it again. With digital it would be much easier. You could make adjustments on the fly and stop shooting when you got the first satisfactory result.