Shiny or Glossy surfaces:
The third of our major surface efficiencies is glossy or very shiny surfaces.
The complete opposite of the textured surface, the glossy surface will record the reflection of the light source absolutely. That means we have to be very careful with our light sources… they will be shown in the object.
Umbrellas may be seen in their totality, the studio can be reflected into the camera, busy, confusing surroundings will find their way to our lens via the absolute reflectance of the subjects extremely efficient surface.
Of all the surfaces, shiny will be the most challenging. There is no room for even a bit of sloppiness in lighting angle or source choice. We will actually see the light in the reflection so it is part of our subject.
Where light was used to render subjects with texture and matte, it is itself part of the image when the surface is shiny, or very efficient.
(I am often asked how to light a car. The first thing I say is that you shouldn’t light the car, light what the car is going to reflect… because that IS the lighting on the car. The absolute efficiency of the paint is going to reflect whatever the photographer has put at the angle of incidence in order to present it to the lens.)
Example of a car shot:
In the shot above you can see the reflection of the trees and buildings behind the photographer. The absolute efficiency (gloss) of the paint reflects what it sees (angle of incidence = angle of reflection) and we can see clouds, threes and more in the paint. If we wanted the paint to be more controlled we would have to control what it ‘sees’. And then reflects.
Motorcycle in the sun.
The motorcycle above shows different efficiencies on the surfaces. The sun, a very small light source, provides a diffuse light on the textured leather seat and the brushed metal braking pad in the back. It also provides a somewhat diffused presentation from the black parts of the chrome pipes. But where it is striking the chrome, it is either an absolute specular or there is no reflected light at all. The chrome areas are reflecting what they see, and in most cases, they are seeing a dark void. You can see the street and surrounding area in the curved pipe in the middle of the photograph. Want ‘chrome’ pipes? Put white cards where they will be reflected back to the camera.
Glossy and shiny items are everywhere in our lives. From iPads and computers to glassware and furniture. We must learn the difference between lighting for texture and matte, and lighting for glossy. While both are photographic lighting, they have very different results if approached the same way.
I approach shooting something shiny differently than shooting texture or matte. The reason? Texture and matte will not show my light sources and shiny will – absolutely.
One place that shiny surface exist in an otherwise matte area are eyes. Eyes are quite efficient because they are a glossy surface with moisture. Can’t get more efficient than that.
Eyes absolutely reflect the source of the light. If you are shooting with a big umbrella, it will be seen in the eyes. If the choice is a softbox, it will be seen as a square highlight in the eyes. A photographer can even simulate ‘window’ light by putting black tape in a grid pattern across the softbox diffusion panel, and the eyes will render it as ‘window panes’… pretty cool, eh?
And it is a challenge too. Eyes reveal what the light source is, where it is, and how many lights were used. We can see reflectors and occasionally ourselves, in the reflections from the eyes.
Example of eyes;
As you can see, the eyes are so glossy they reflect the square softbox used for the main light. Look closely and you will see the white card in front of her providing the ‘beauty fill’ to the underside of chin, nose, and eyes. Surrounding the super efficient eyes is a more matte surface that allows the light to be diffused in presentation.
Another area on a face that can become efficient is the lips. We can add lipstick or lip gloss to enhance the surface efficiency of that area. After adding shiny lipstick, the lips will begin to reflect the light source absolutely, but because the area is small, and still has texture, the source is not revealed absolutely as it is with the eyes.
Shiny, efficient surfaces, like glassware and computers, become a challenge because of the rounded edges and absolute reflections of the surroundings.
Controlling the area around the shiny subject can be as important as the lighting itself. I have large black pieces of cloth that I regularly hang to make sure that the studio itself is not registering as a reflection in some of the glossy objects I shoot.
When shooting subjects with high surface efficiency, control is the word of the day; Control of the surroundings, control of the light, and control of the reflection. Other than all those control issues, shooting shiny stuff is a piece of cake.
Just put the light at the angle that puts it where you want to see it reflecting from the subject. Done.
Done.
Well, yeah, there is a little more to it than that.
And we are going to go into depth with all the controls we can use as we progress through the course.
ASSIGNMENT
- Find glossy items and photograph them in the natural world, and then surround them with white cards in such a way they reflect those cards back to you.
- Explore ways to show how glossy something is by using the light source reflecting in it.
- Photograph cars or motorcycles with interesting reflections.
The Olympian Image Dust Up… Are There Lessons?
Over the weekend a 'controversy' began with a small firestorm of criticism of the images of American Athletes taken at a "media event" in Dallas. The images show cut off limbs, torn background papers, shooting off the sweep, terrible lighting and a longer list of...
Hectic Weeks, Good Friends, and New Books
It has now been a full week since I did the creativeLIVE workshop on introduction to product and still life. It was so long in the making, and then it was there. Done. The weekend before I left for Seattle, I had a huge list of things that were to be done for the...
Product and Still Life Workshop – FREE at creativeLIVE
I am making my second appearance at creativeLIVE this coming weekend. And it will prove to be something totally different than what creativeLIVE normally does. We are going to be tackling the still life and product realms. And I have a few goals and plans for this...
Commlite Enters the Trigger Market with Some Cool Features
NOTE: These triggers were sent to me to test. My TOS is clear. I do not review items that are not interesting or do not live up to my standards. If I don't like something, I do no write about it. I like these triggers. Commlite is a company based in China, I believe,...
My New WordPress Theme and Info Site
WordpressThemesForPhotographers is a new site at the URL I used for selling my WP sites. We are no longer selling those sites, but will be offering customization and initial setups of Wordpress Themes for photographers, designers, artists and small business. I will be...
OT Sunday: Hot Shots, Drums, Books and Jazz
Hey Hot Shot is a photo competition held by the Jen Bekman Gallery in New York. Featuring the work of up and coming photographers, the competition introduces new ways of seeing to an ever widening audience. It is certainly one place to go on the internet to see work...
Sorry We Were Away, Back Now… Hopefully for Good.
Looks like we had a server issue where one of my plugins was creating a huge CPU draw. The culprit was Contextual Related Posts which creates a little set of links at the bottom of each page to show you posts that may be related to the one you are reading. Problem was...
While Cleaning Up the Office, I Am Reminded of How Much I Miss Polaroid
Yeah, it happens. Once in a while I have to break down to clean the office. I find it is a great way to procrastinate from doing something that is not ready yet. Creative block - no problem... dig through the cabinets. Heh. This time I found my little box of...
OT Sunday: Travel, Freedom, Politics, and Donna Summer
Travel I simply love to travel. I want to do it much more. I am adding to my travel portfolio by doing some traveling this year just for portfolio work. On the agenda is: Vancouver and Western Canada, Toronto and Eastern Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, South...
Staying Involved and Staying Visible… Are You?
Photo District News has a great two part article on where art buyers are finding new talent. Consider it an absolute must to read... and take some time to hit ALL the links. There are many places we all know about... Flickr, 500Pixels, Yahoo, G+. And participation...
Emerging Photographer “Jump Start” Winner(s)
Update Info: We will be having dinner Friday evening at 7PM at Macayo's which is not very far away. If we need multiple cars, we will arrange it. Macayo's is a landmark restaurant in Phoenix and is where the Chimichanga was invented. Yes, it is Mexican food. I have...
The Black and White Portrait
I am an old school film guy. It's true. It's also true that I have embraced and love digital. Seems to me that photography gained a whole new set of tools with the addition of digital. Of course, many folks treat everything they do as some sort of 'team' affiliation...
Memorial Day, 2012. Some Thoughts.
Memorial Day... always comes on a Monday. The all important three day weekend. Sales on mattresses and big screen TV's. Beach, sun, the start of summer. I am rather quiet on these days. You see, there is another reason for this holiday. Long forgotten in the lowered...
Seat-o-the-Pants Shooting… Yeah, It Happens.
I am working on a big project with the Phoenix Children's Choir, and need to get some new shots of the kids and the choirs and the performances. So when last weekend's final concert came along, I knew I had to get some shots. The venue was amazing, and I checked it...
The “Bolt” – Small LED Packs a Punchy Light.
The "Bolt" LED light for photographers. LED lights are becoming more and more important as a tool for photographers. We are adding video and motion to our solutions, and continuous light that has color control as well as being able to run 'cool' is a great tool. This...
Some Exceptional Images from the Project 52 PRO Group
Project 52 is in its second year, and we added a PRO group. This group is focused on getting up to speed on the business, portfolio, website and marketing focus needed to go professional. Whether that professional is full time, part time or just for the fun of getting...
WordPress Themes that Rock: “Bloom”
I love this theme from Theme Forest. Bloom could be just what you are looking for. Clean, neat, responsive and full of custom features. This is a theme that would be a comfortable fit for a photographer, a designer or an illustrator. It would work for a small boutique...
creativeLIVE Workshop: “Table Top Product”
The great folks up at creativeLIVE produce new learning experiences for photographers, designers, illustrators and more. Their plan of delivering focused, intensive learning that is student centric instead of geography or school centric, is bold and, I think,...
WordPress Basics for Photographers: Part Four
One of the most powerful gifts of using Wordpress is the vast amount of Plugins and tools that are developed for it. These tools help you increase your productivity and interactivity without having to learn how to code. Simply push a button and install very powerful...
WordPress Basics for Photographers: Part Three
Once we have our theme worked out, we must get our materials ready. I suggest doing this before you start to build your Wordpress website. Flying by the seat of your pants is NOT the best way to organize your material, as well as write it, design it and get it into...
Workshops? A New Direction… After a Break. Maybe.
It's time. Actually it may be later than that. And that makes it all the more... more... Well, I don't really know how I feel about stopping the workshops. A little sad, I suppose. Possibly a tiny bit bitter (fuckit, I'm human... right?). But mostly I feel like I...
A Project 52 Assignment: Lunch
This was a most incredible assignment over at Project 52. Based on a single layout, supplied to the photographers, they had to complete a faux assignment from an ad agency that was representing a Pharmaceutical Company. The point of the ad was to show how a new pill...
Thoughts On A Couple of Portraits
I was asked about my portraiture by a reader who wanted to know what I am thinking about when shooting. I decided to break down a couple of shots I did of Natalie in Seattle the Sunday after my creativeLIVE presentation. We were on the waterfront and the sun was out...
WordPress Basics for Photographers: Part Two
(Finding your Wordpress Theme should not be taken lightly. I think you should spend some time getting to know what it will do for you before you pull the trigger.) Continued from Wordpress Basics for Photographers: Part One We have looked around and found a few themes...