Exposure Settings for a light box shot

[kage65]

I need to photograph a product ,which is a small amber bottle. I"m using a borrowed canon 5d, and using 2 100 watt fluorescent bulbs shining though craft type tissue paper into the box.

Is there any way to give me exposure setting recommendations? Or perhaps that is not possible?

Here is a shot of my set up,

2015-03-07_2051

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Tks

 

[Mike_PEAT]

It's like asking how long is a piece of string, depends on the length of string you need!

What exposure is right depends on the effect you want!

You will need a tripod though.

Since it's a Canon install the Canon software and run the EOS Utility...then tether the camera via usb and you can see what you are shooting on the computer monitor as well as control the camera and see a histogram:

 

[Leonard Migliore]

I need to photograph a product ,which is a small amber bottle. I"m using a borrowed canon 5d, and using 2 100 watt fluorescent bulbs shining though craft type tissue paper into the box.

Is there any way to give me exposure setting recommendations? Or perhaps that is not possible?

Here is a shot of my set up,

Well, it's like this: The 5d has a meter. Use it. Use f/11 in aperture priority at base ISO. Since you're using fluorescents, shoot RAW because the white balance is going to be iffy.

Look at the review image after the shot. If it's too dark, add exposure compensation. If it's too light, use negative compensation. If the whole bottle isn't in focus, go to f/16.

 

[Mark S Abeln]

I need to photograph a product ,which is a small amber bottle. I"m using a borrowed canon 5d, and using 2 100 watt fluorescent bulbs shining though craft type tissue paper into the box.

Is there any way to give me exposure setting recommendations? Or perhaps that is not possible?

The basic idea in digital photography is that you expose so that no significant highlights are overexposed. The significant highlights are those bright areas that you want to have good color and texture. It’s usually ok to overexpose specular highlights, those bright areas that directly reflect the light source hitting the subject.

You then process the photo (or use camera settings or lighting) to brighten the most significant shadow areas so that they aren’t underexposed.

 

[Gerry Winterbourne]

I need to photograph a product ,which is a small amber bottle. I"m using a borrowed canon 5d, and using 2 100 watt fluorescent bulbs shining though craft type tissue paper into the box.

Fluorescent light is usually very limited in the colours of light it gives off http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fluorescent_lighting_spectrum_peaks_labelled.gif

This can make getting true colour reproduction in your photo tricky. Carry on as you are at the moment but be prepared to change light source if you can't get the colours accurate.

Is there any way to give me exposure setting recommendations? Or perhaps that is not possible

Get white balance right first. Read the camera manual to find out how to set custom white balance: do this on the interior of the soft box without your product in it. Shoot raw because even with custom WB there's more flexibility if you need to adjust colours.

Set the camera to A exposure mode and lowest possible ISO. Use centre spot metering. Set aperture to f/11 and take a shot. Set al JPG settings to neutral (even though you shoot raw the preview is developed as JPG from the camera settings). Examine the instant review to see if there's enough shadow detail but no clipping of significant highlights. If it isn't right use +EV to brighten or -EV to darken. As you're on a tripod you can just keep trying until things look right. Once they do look right, take extra shots 1/3EV above and below to allow for the fact that the camera's LCD isn't perfect.

Now that your basic exposure is OK take more shots at f/16 and f/22. This is because close up you get very little depth of field so you could well need smaller aperture. Compare the ideal exposure at the different apertures to see which gives best overall detail.

 

[kage65]

Thanks all,

Given that I have 2 100 watt fluorescents in a light box, what ISO do you recommend, one person told me 400 to start with.

 

[kage65]

One person told me to set the camera to "fluorescent" for the white balance. Would that be a good setting to use? Tks

 

[Leonard Migliore]

Thanks all,

Given that I have 2 100 watt fluorescents in a light box, what ISO do you recommend, one person told me 400 to start with.

One typically uses the camera's base ISO for the best results. I don't know what camera you have but 100 is pretty common as a base ISO. Since you're using a tripod, there's no penalty for doing this; your shutter speed can be as long as necessary.

 

[Leonard Migliore]

One person told me to set the camera to "fluorescent" for the white balance. Would that be a good setting to use? Tks

There's a lot of different types of fluorescents. Some cameras have a number of different white balances for fluorescent; one or another might work. Setting a custom white balance is the best way to go. Your camera should have some method of setting a custom white balance.

 

[Mark S Abeln]

One person told me to set the camera to "fluorescent" for the white balance. Would that be a good setting to use? Tks

I would use your cameras base ISO for low noise and best dynamic range: you’ll likely need to use a tripod for this.

I’d do a manual white balance in your camera, or correct the white balance after the fact on the computer. The fluorescent white balance camera settings are usually next to worthless, since these kinds of light sources have a lot of variability across brands and even between individual lamps.

Be aware that fluorescent lamps often flicker, and their color of light changes during the electrical phase cycle, which is either 50 or 60 times a second. For this reason, I’d use a shutter speed that is less than these values in order to average out this fluctuation. You’d probably be safe with something like 1/10th of a second.

 

[kage65]

One typically uses the camera's base ISO for the best results. I don't know what camera you have but 100 is pretty common as a base ISO. Since you're using a tripod, there's no penalty for doing this; your shutter speed can be as long as necessary.

 

[kage65]

One last question for the time being, when I shoot using this lightbox, would it be better to turn off the ceiling lights ( there's about 6 fluorescent lights on the ceiling) or leave them on? Tks

 

[Leonard Migliore]

One last question for the time being, when I shoot using this lightbox, would it be better to turn off the ceiling lights ( there's about 6 fluorescent lights on the ceiling) or leave them on? Tks

It probably doesn't make much difference because the bulbs on the lightbox are going to be much brighter than the ceiling lights. But, in theory, the ceiling lights should be off because they're liable to be a different color than the bulbs on the box.

 

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I need to photograph a product ,which is a small amber bottle. I"m using a borrowed canon 5d, and using 2 100 watt fluorescent bulbs shining though craft type tissue paper into the box.

Is there any way to give me exposure setting recommendations? Or perhaps that is not possible?

As you are using tripod for a still subject, you are very free to try a lot of combinations.

You can set any automatic mode or simply set your camera for manual exposure and try out!

Regards,

 

[kage65]

I need to photograph a product ,which is a small amber bottle. I"m using a borrowed canon 5d, and using 2 100 watt fluorescent bulbs shining though craft type tissue paper into the box.

Is there any way to give me exposure setting recommendations? Or perhaps that is not possible?

As you are using tripod for a still subject, you are very free to try a lot of combinations.

You can set any automatic mode or simply set your camera for manual exposure and try out!

Regards,

--
O.Cristo - An Amateur Photographer
Opinions of men are almost as various as their faces - so many men so many minds. B. Franklin

Yes I'm using a tripod. Yes I'm going to start taking some shots tomorrow. Tks