LIGHTING – SETTING UP YOUR SHOT

Now that you’ve made your diffusion panel, it’s time to set up your shot.

Pick a bright, sunny day to shoot. You will need the following things:

• Your camera
• The product you are shooting
• Your diffusion panel
• A large fabric or paper backdrop
• Something to hold up your diffusion panel like sawhorses, a couple of chairs, or a willing assistant.

The first thing you will need to do is set up your area. Arrange your sawhorses and place your diffusion panel on top. Look at the light on the ground and determine where your set will be. You will see the shadow on the ground and that is your target area. If you are only seeing a sliver of light because of the angle of the sun, you will need to play around with your position and the tilt angle of your diffusion panel.

Next, set up your backdrop. Black fabric such as felt or velvet work very well because they absorb light and you will not have glare on your product. Large sheets of paper from a roll work well too (called seamless paper). Avoid the temptation to use a colorful backdrop because that usually takes the focus away from your product. For most objects, it will be beneficial to angle your backdrop so it sweeps upwards from the ground. You can fasten the top of the fabric to your sawhorses or chair with clamps or tape.

Now, really look at your product. Is there dirt on the backdrop? Is it wrinkled? Are there fingerprints on it? Look with your eyes first and your camera second. Sometimes, you can see something through the viewfinder that you have missed with your eyes. These little details make a difference, and you don’t want to have to do touch ups in Photoshop if you can help it.

Here is what my Bolex looked like with and without the diffusion panel. You can see a huge difference in the quality of light. The softness the diffusion material makes looks very professional and is flattering to the camera. You can also see details in the picture that are missing with the glare of the undiffused light.
Stay tuned for Part 3, Composition

(to read part 1 of this article, click here)