High contrast shadows

I’ve had a lot of luck using an Elinchrom 27” beauty dish for product photography. Helps bring out the textures better than soft boxes IMO.

to lighten the shadows:

1-place white cards or mirrors to beat down shadows

2-raise the blacks/shadows in post

3-experiment with your lights, white cards and mirrors placement until satisfied.

never surrender until satisfied.
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I am the copyright owner of my work. Please don’t take or alter my images.

Buy a mannequin

Ds

Dspider said:

Buy a mannequin

Ds

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The confusion starts when the scientists can't agree amongst themselves. Henry F

Click to expand...

Live models work best

OP, send your fashions here, I’ll get you a good price and models to fill out those clothes.







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I am the copyright owner of my work. Please don’t take or alter my images.

silk616 said:

Hello,

Equipment:

2 rectangle soft box 2000 watts

vinyl concrete backdrop

overhead pro tripod

iphone 13 pro

I'm trying to photograph some clothing for my new company. As you can see I am shooting 'flat lay'. Im running into a little issue with the edges of the jacket being way to black(high contrast?) . These dark shadows are more prominent on the back shot near the collar. It's making the images look like there outlined which is no the desired effect. If possible Im trying to either eradicate or soften these edges. I was thinking mabye an additionally boom arm softbox would help but i'm not to sure. Any suggestion or help would be much appreciated

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The problem is there is no distance between the subject item and the background. I understand that you are laying the jacket directly on the background order to show the entire gr garment. There is no way to light the backgioud separetny, or simplly negate the shadow on the background by having suficiente distance whereby the shadow will not show in the frame.

It would be difficult to suspend the garmet in midair without a model, mannequin, or construction of some kind of wireframe to act as a giant hanger.

Anoter alternative is to have you main lightt on a tall stand or a boom and light the item from the top, thereby placing the shadow downward. Both methods would entail shooting withte garmet in a vertical position, not on the floor shooting downward. Consider using a live model. If you are advertis in print, online or for display, well-planned finish shots can feater the style, line and construction of the garments and show your product in a more reliable way.

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Ed Shapiro- Commercial and Portrait Photographer. Ottawa, Ontario Canada

For flat lay, try positioning your lights at 45 deg angles. Set the 2 lights power even or 1-3 stops different to create some light falloff.





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https://www.instagram.com/rchau.photo

What size are your softboxes? You should be able to get this with two lights.

My first thought is you need larger boxes or bring them closer to the subject. Another possibility, especially if you use cheap boxes, is you need more diffusion.

I would want a box with the front surface at least a large as the subject and with an internal diffuser. You could also use diffusion fabric to build a tent around the subject to further soften the light. You might also shift the lights a bit toward the top of the jacket to move the shadow to a more natural position.

Beyond that it is just a matter of experimenting with the light position and angles.

Gato

silk616 said:

As you can see I am shooting 'flat lay'. Im running into a little issue with the edges of the jacket being way to black(high contrast?) ...

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with laying apparel on concrete: Parachute in the '80s was doing it in their stores. All you need is to boost ambient, or surround the jacket with 2-3 sheets of white foamcore to add fill.

I think they are fine.