Photographing shiny metal

Hi everyone

I have been asked to photograph shiny (and I mean, mirror shiny) dog tags, but cannot work out how to remove my reflection from the shot.
Can anyone help me out with some pointers?
Thanks

Use polarizing filter and you have to experiment with various angles.

depending on how reflective it is
you might need a blind

this only need be a simple black board that has a hole in it for the lens to poke through that avoids reflections of the camera

--
ʎǝlıɹ

plɹoʍ ǝɥʇ ɟo doʇ uo ǝɹɐ ǝʍ 'ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ uı

battscave1 said:

I have been asked to photograph shiny (and I mean, mirror shiny) dog tags, but cannot work out how to remove my reflection from the shot.
Can anyone help me out with some pointers?

Click to expand...

I was at a lecture recently by a jewellery photographer and he showed some of his tricks...for some of the Rolex watches he does he takes many different shots with different lights at different angles to highlight the different features of the watch, and then in post processing combines the various shots by manually blending together the best from each image.

Another place to look besides Google is Olympus, there's a few jewellery tutorials using Olympus cameras at:
http://www.olympusdigitalschool.com/Photo_Lessons/index.html

Easiest way is to use a tilt/shift lens.
Polarizing filters don't work on shiny metal.

Try using a mirror between the camera and subject. (I've never tried this, it's pure speculation that it will work)

--
http://www.efrench.members.winisp.net/

Surround yourself and your camera with foamcore boards. Black or white will do.
That should minimize reflection from you.

When lighting this kind of object, you may also want to bounce the light off of a white card instead of lighting the tags directly.

--
http://www.photoklarno.com

The trick is to get the lighting less specular, less direct and more diffuse. A Lightbox can do that. More below on the lightbox.

When photographing through glass, on metal, other photographs or shiny objects, place the lighting at a 45 degree angle to the subject surface and the camera viewpoint. Shoot the surface straight on but place the lighting to the side at a 45 degree angle. Try getting light in on two sides at opposite angles. The reflection will bounce off at an angle away from the camera.

The polarizing filter might work for some of the light but if there is multiple light sources such as daylight there will be more than one source of polarized light to filter, which the polarizer can not handle. If you shoot in bright daylight with the sun to one side at a 45 degree angle to the surface it might work well.

It's also very helpful to use a background that has a similar tonal range but different color for contrast. Shooting a dark object on white or a bright object against black makes it too hard to get proper exposure for both object and background.

A light box diffuses light by spreading the light out on all sides. It's a stick frame with thin white cloth or paper covering the top and 3 sides. An attractive backdrop cloth can be used on the bottom or backside. Lights on two or three sides provide even lighting. It costs about $20 to build one. Bill Huber has a great tutorial on the OTF PBase website.
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent
--
Dave

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
http://whaleshark.smugmug.com

What is actuallly happening when shooting a reflecting objectis is that you are photographing the reflected objects. This may sound lika a given fact, but keeping this in mind when lightsetting an mirror object will help you a lot. Also, thinking about what to reflect in the object (ex. white and black cut out cardboard shapes), and what not to lightset (ex. your self and your studio) is as important.
When nothing else will do the trick a can of dulling spray may com in handy.

Good luck!

This book is fantastic - you should buy a copy and read it before you start.

There is a whole chapter on shooting metals in different contexts.

Light reflected from metal is not polarised.

Frank

white sheet (paper, cloth or foam or whatever). Make a hole in it to poke the lens through and set it up in front of your set. Depending on what it is you're photographing, you may still end up with a black dot of a reflection but it will be very small and easily removed in PS.

Polarizing filters do not work with metal as the reflected light is not polarised.

Frank

I concur - this book is vital reading for understanding how to light reflective surfaces....
--
http://www.marcrogoff.com
'Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.'
—Jalal ud-Din Rumi

FrankyM said:

Light reflected from metal is not polarised.

Click to expand...

Depends on the angle of incidence of the light.

The further it deviates from being perpendicular to the metal surface, the more polarized it will be. Even at maximum, though, it won't be as strongly polarized as a same-angle reflection off water or other transparent materials.

See here:

http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/tipps/polfilter_e.htm

FrankyM said:

Light reflected from metal is not polarised.

Frank

Click to expand...

If I read it right, the authors of Light Science and Magic have a different take on it. An excellent book describing, among other things, how to photograph shiny metal objects of various shapes, including shperes, etc.

One of their solutions is to

a.) use a light source that itself generates polarized light . This will cause the metal objct to indeed reflect polarized light*
b.) then use a polarized filter on the lens.

NOTE: The authors continue to explain the effectivesness of this approach depends on the contribution (or lack of) other light sources that are not polarized themselves.

I have never tried tried it but I trust the authors know their stuff and it should work (unless I missunderstood the text).

FrankyM said:

white sheet (paper, cloth or foam or whatever). Make a hole in it to poke the lens through and set it up in front of your set. Depending on what it is you're photographing, you may still end up with a black dot of a reflection but it will be very small and easily removed in PS.

Polarizing filters do not work with metal as the reflected light is not polarised.

Frank

Click to expand...

Interesting Frank. The same approach you mention here I read in the Light, Science & Magic book; they had some very good examples including the exact approach/setup you mention. Sure enough, there was a small, but hard to distinguish, reflection of the camera in a metal sphere (the main object), but nonetheless it worked very well.

Yes, of course. If the light source is itself polarised, then the reflected light is also polarised. It's just that metal reflecting non polarised light will not polarise it. Polarising a light source though is an expensive option.

Frank

seho said:

FrankyM said:

Light reflected from metal is not polarised.

Click to expand...

Depends on the angle of incidence of the light.

The further it deviates from being perpendicular to the metal surface, the more polarized it will be. Even at maximum, though, it won't be as strongly polarized as a same-angle reflection off water or other transparent materials.

See here:

http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/tipps/polfilter_e.htm

Click to expand...

Your reference says

"Metal surfaces have only a slight polarizing effect on light; consequently, a significant elimination of reflections is not to be achieved."

By "slight" you can understand virtually non existant. Anyway, give it a go and see what you get.

Frank

http://www.chesterbullock.com/
--



Chester Bullock
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
http://www.chesterbullock.com

What lights are you using?

When photographing really shiny objects the further you are away from the object the easier it is to stay out of your light source and therefore not appear in your object as you would be in the dark.

Product photography boxes work very well allowing you to poke your lens through a window to shoot the product, they can be made really easily from anything as simple as a shoe box and tracing paper (as long as you lens will close focus if not, make the box bigger)...

Others have mentioned paper/foamcore etc a big black sheet with a hole is great for you to get behind with the camera. I have used a sheet of black fabric and put myself and the camera underneath with only the lens poked out. As long as you are controlling your light (with flag, grids, snoots etc) so you are in the dark, you will not reflect in the dog tag as you will be as dark as your surroundings.

One other thing i really suggest is for you to shoot the thing tilted away from you, no matter what, you can then set up a piece of white card to hit with your light, or grey card, depending what tonal value you want the metal to have, as it is tilting away from you you will not reflect in it, and you will have far more control over the light and dark areas. You will need some dark to make the mirror like object appear mirror like.

It is very difficult to be right in front of a mirror like object and still manage to bounce light off it, into the camera... thats where the big piece of paper / foamcore etc works well, with your main lights pointed at it, but you will need the spot out the lens from your final shot.

Another way to have is "almost" facing you is again to back up and use a longer lens, then a small 1deg tilt will have the object facing a light source, while you are just off axis... then a gentle adjustment in PS will straighten the object out.

If you have any specific questions about this, i can answer them for you.

Good Luck
Ab

--

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” - Albert Einstein

E-3, E-300, 50mm f2, 35mm f3.5, Sigma 105mm f2.8, 12-60, 14-45
a850, 100mm f2.8 sony, 50mm f1.4 sony

Yes, it's the classical method of doing it.

Frank