Diffusion and Direction

The fact that most pieces of jewelry are rounded means that we need to use diffusers that are also rounded, in order for the lighting to faithfully follow the curves without jerkiness. In the lighting scheme I propose here, flash no. 1 is positioned very close to a rounded PMMA plexiglass diffuser, which is itself very close to the jewelry, so that the lighting of the interior of the large ring is smooth and even. It is easy to see what happens if the lighting is not diffused this way in the three small shots at the top of the next page.

We proceed the same way in lighting the diamonds on the small ring: they will not appear in all of their splendor unless we use a slightly lateralized lighting, whose flux is enlarged and pointed in directions compatible with the arrangement of the stones, so that they are all illuminated and produce little bursts of light. Here, too, we use a rounded diffuser. Finally, we place a snoot equipped with a honeycomb, using Paramount lighting, still behind a rounded diffuser, to light the outside of the two rings and cause reflections to appear on each of the ridges.

Staging

To accentuate the sense of these shapes and make the rings stand out from the black background (a sheet of Canson anthracite paper, because black is hard to light correctly), I placed a small optic shaper in backlight, with two small barn doors meant to create a rather thin ray of light between the objects.

Implementation

The sneakers are first positioned on the prepared, and thoroughly dried, marble slab. A rim light (a flash equipped with a snoot, positioned high and directed down at an angle) is used to create a spot of rounded light around the shoes, also lighting the back of the shoes at the same time. This flash is set for optimized metering at +1.33 EV.

A second source, of the same kind as the first one, is placed laterally to simultaneously light the upper part of the shoes (including the laces), the sides, and, by reflection on reflector no. 4, the opposite side of the shoes.

The third source (flash no. 1) is placed in the front, angled at about 45°, to light the front of the shoes (especially the soles). A measurement of +0.3 EV is sufficient (the reflector also redirects some of the light of the other flashes).

Artistic Choice

In the vintage spirit, we wanted to bring out the sense of a shoe that had been worn, to use the lighting to avoid making the textile too smooth, but without that getting in the way of what we wanted to communicate. This is one of the roles of backlighting: hitting the edge of the sneakers at a grazing angle, it brings out the hollows and bumps of the fabric, which gives more substance to the final image.

Setup and Reflected Light

A black metal base is placed underneath the bottle to create a dark foundation for the image—but the lighting will partially brighten this surface. The verticalities are accentuated by the glossy base, which shows the reflections of the flask and the stoppers. In terms of light, we have seen that we always need to light transparent glass bottles from behind, even more so if the liquid they contain is also transparent. But rather than proceeding with direct backlighting, we thought it would be fun here to light the background with reflection. Therefore, a reflector is placed behind the fragrance bottle and a light source is positioned on the ground, directed toward the reflector. The aim is for the interior of the bottle to be illuminated along with the background, with localized highlights.

A second source, equipped with a light box, is placed laterally, in a feathered position, to light the edge of the cylinder without creating any direct reflections, so that the metal label is nicely legible, with the rest of the light beam dying out against the reflector while brightening the background.

Organization of the Objects

There were several possible scenarios for the organization of the four elements: centering the bottle or not; placing the stoppers in a stepped arrangement (what was finally chosen); or placing the small black stopper closer to the bottle. The cotton rod could also have been presented vertically, or even diagonally, but the arrangement that was finally adopted has the benefit of giving center stage to the most important object: the bottle.

Implementation

A saucer is placed on a translucent sheet of plexiglass (in this case, a packshot table), lit from below using a placed vertically flash, whose beam is directed toward the saucer.

A sheet of glass is positioned across two wedges, holding it in place about ten centimeters above the saucer. On the glass is a cup filled with black gouache diluted with water (more aesthetically pleasing in a photo than actual coffee): its shadow should appear on the saucer to accentuate the impression of levitation. A flash equipped with a large octabox is placed vertical to the entire arrangement to illuminate the cup and the saucer and create a shadow of the cup on the saucer. In connection with the lighting under the table, this lighting will allow us to even out the light on the translucent plexiglass. Photographed outside of the family of angles of the reflection of the glass, that reflection will disappear. That’s it.

Implementation

This setup includes four pairs of parallel lines of “invisible” nylon thread, installed with the threads of each pair about two inches apart. They will hold up waffles, suspended in the air, with lighting arranged so that the viewer can believe the waffles are levitating. Two flashes equipped with strip boxes are placed at two different levels: the first is responsible for lighting the top of the waffles, while the second lights the edge of the waffles and the side of the waffles tilted toward that flash. A third flash is placed on the ground, vertically, to light the lower edge of the waffles as well as the honey that we are going to pour. To avoid any possible splashes of liquid onto that flash, a sheet of glass is placed between the flash and the waffles.

Then all that is left to do is pour the honey, preheated so that it pours easily.

Art Direction

This image is meant to amuse the public while playing with color. An orange, its leaf, and its stem are painted blue. Once dry, the fruit is cut cleanly in half so that we can see the orange color and the juiciness of the inside. The mismatch between the blue and orange colors echoes the contrast between the lushness of the fruit and the roughness of its peel and the paper (in the same blue color) placed beneath it. The glossiness of the orange is accentuated by painting it with a little bit of peanut oil.

Setup

The lighting is very simple to manage, with one light source, as soft as possible—in this case, a 60-inch octabox placed in backlight and tilted down at an angle (130° in relation to the camera). A white reflector installed laterally six inches from the fruit is responsible for redirecting part of the lighting as fill light, to clear the shadow and light the front part of the peel.

Implementation

It is easy to imagine photographing the bottle by suspending it with nylon thread, for example, but there is the danger that the threads might give way and the can, which is pretty heavy, could fall on the photographer or the flash. To be safer, a sheet of glass is positioned across two bar stools, acting as trestles, and the can is placed on top of the glass.

The easiest way to light the object is with a backlighting that will produce two nice bright lines on the edges of the can, and to place a rounded reflector in front of it to distribute the light evenly and regularly across the visible part of the can. A large barn door is set up to avoid flare and keep the background of the composition perfectly black.

This lighting arrangement is perfect for highlighting the front of the can, but it leaves the back of it in shadow. Therefore, a flash equipped with a small honeycomb is placed on the ground, positioned vertically and directed toward the sheet of glass. Thanks to the phenomenon of direct transmission, there is no risk of reflections, as long as the angle of the shot is properly situated outside the family of angles.

Once all of the lights are set up, it turns out that the sensation of flight will be more pronounced if ice cubes are arranged on the sheet of glass (actually cubes of acrylic glass, to avoid traces of melted ice). Then all that remains is to photograph the composition while making sure that the barn door, which has been tilted, takes up all of the background of the photo, and that we do not see the reflector.

Implementation and Lighting

A shallow waterproof container (because the ideal for this photo is for it to be uniformly black, I suggest a black cafeteria tray) is filled with water to at least half an inch deep. The perfume bottle is positioned so that its key parts are out of the water (if necessary, a small transparent glass wedge can be slid underneath). Note that this only works with objects whose shape can be shown with backlighting.

A large diffuser is placed behind the tray, angled so that the light falling on it provokes a direct reflection over the entire surface of the liquid—in other words, at about 60°. A large, soft light source is also added to the setup—for instance, by using a large light box behind. The idea is for the entire diffuser to be lit so that an even reflection appears on the water.

Finally, the camera is positioned at a radical bird’s-eye view above the tray to obtain a framing that includes the product and the water.

A blower (ideally a wireless electric dust remover with a directional nozzle made for computers; see the behind-the-scenes view below) is used to project air (from a good distance away to avoid splashing water on the bottle) onto the surface of the liquid, which will then be covered with small waves. Then it’s time to shoot.

You can get interesting results by using paraffin oil instead of water, or by substituting a transparent back-lit tray.

Staging and Lighting

A sheet of anthracite Canson paper is arranged on the table and a transparent plastic supporting bracelet is placed inside the wristband of the watch so that it will stay in place during the shot. The watch is set to 11:05 to allow the brand logo and the three round screens to be perfectly visible and not hidden by the watch hands.

The ants are arranged around the watch as if they had found a very attractive object, like a pile of sugar.

Two diffusing panels are set up behind the watch and to the side, with a flash equipped with a light box behind each of them. The rear diffusing panel (no. 4 on the diagram) is sufficiently tilted so that the light is also diffused across the dial. The function of flash no. 1 is to illuminate the front of the wristband, the dial, and the ants. The second flash, placed laterally behind a diffuser (no. 3), serves to light the inside of the wristband, the ants, and the paper support.

To avoid having the front of the wristband stay in shadow, a mirror is placed in front of it to redirect the light produced by the backlighting (flash no. 1). The angle of the mirror, tilted toward the camera (see the photo of the behind-the-scenes view), makes it possible to maintain black areas on the lower part of the wristband frame, adding visual interest to the image.

Implementation and Lighting

Some strips of old parquet flooring in oak tones are arranged on a table, in a color similar to the inscriptions on the bottle. To keep the southern spirit, an optic shaper (no. 2 in the diagram) is placed as backlight, equipped with a gobo cut into the shape of a window blind, to dress up the background and strengthen the sense of an interior scene.

The bottle is turned slightly toward the left of the image (because it is a nostalgic image), a glass filled with port is positioned on the right side of the image, and an open book is placed in the background—its pages are held in the air by two small wedges, arranged so as not to appear in the shot.

All that’s left to be done is to light the objects on the table. A flash equipped with a light box is placed as backlight on the right side to light the book, the glass, and the right edge of the bottle. For the bottle itself, the method is simple: because it is made of frosted glass, it cannot produce very unpleasant direct reflections, as long as a very diffuse, yet focused light is used, so as not to overwhelm the scene. Thus, a flash equipped with a snoot is directed downward from above, toward the bottle; this angle has the advantage of nicely highlighting the embellishment of the boat, the little half-spheres, and the base of the crest, while also lighting the inscriptions. Because this lighting alone still produces a few direct reflections on the bottle (it was rather old and had not been preserved under the best of conditions), we set up a diffuser (a thick sheet of translucent paper) to limit the reflections and even out the lighting.

Implementation and Lighting

The initial arrangement consists of a fork planted in a Granny Smith apple and small wooden toothpicks connecting a red pepper, a tangerine, a lime, and a yellow pepper. The fork is kept in place with gaffer tape on a plexiglass wedge and a tray is positioned to catch the water below. For the lighting, an octabox is arranged in backlight to light the back of the fruit and spotlight the water. A second flash, equipped with a small light box, is set up at a slight bird’s-eye view for a lateral lighting. A third flash equipped with a light box is directed toward the white wall behind the scene. Once the flash has been set to +3.33 EV in relation to the camera setting, the wall looks uniformly white; when the flash is off, the wall is completely black. Now all that’s left to do is pour water over the yellow pepper, let gravity do its work, and release the shutter at the right moment.

Implementation

The aquarium is placed on a table that is sturdy enough to support the weight of the water. The bottom third of the tank is filled with water, so that there is a large enough frame and we can catch the splash behind the glass without seeing the edge. Two flashes equipped with light boxes are arranged in backlight, one on either side of the aquarium, to light the glass jar appropriately and give substance to the water when it splashes. Then a bare-head flash equipped with a blue gel is directed toward the back wall so that the color of the background will be in harmony with the darker blue of the jar of moisturizing cream.

Now we just need to drop the jar into the water and take the shot when the splash looks best. Of course, this will take several tries, especially for finding the axis along which to drop the object (here, a light rotation of 20° turned out perfect for the splashes to be just right).

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this arrangement: when the water splashes, there is a projection of little drops that hit the inside of the glass wall of the aquarium. We could, of course, erase them in post-production, but I suggest instead that you make them disappear by pouring water on the glass wall. This will only take a few seconds, whereas the post-production editing would take infinitely longer, especially in areas where the splash and the water droplets overlap.

Art Direction

Here, we are presenting different kinds of red chili peppers (cayenne peppers and West Indian hot peppers), chosen for their similarity in color and surface condition, which looks lacquered under direct lighting.

To obtain a perfect monochrome, the peppers are arranged on a base of the same color: a sheet of glossy red plexiglass. The difficulty is in making the reflections appear on the peppers but not on the plexiglass, which would look white or pink if we placed a light source within its family of angles.

One light source is enough, as long as it is large and diffuse enough. A 24 x 36-inch light box is set up 20 inches from the peppers, in backlight, at a lightly feathered angle, so that the light will reflect on the peppers but not on the plexiglass.

Now the shadow produced by that light source needs to be cleared. A rounded reflector placed in fill light makes the light softer and better distributed, and offers a more effective result than a flash, which would produce overly localized direct reflections on the peppers.

Art Direction and Implementation

To get this effect, sixteen cups of white flour are poured into a Pyrex dish, then tamped down using a board the size of the dish. To dig the crater, a round bowl is placed in the center of the dish and pressed down on: the flour cracks all around the crater, as we see in the image below and the one on the following page. Then the bowl is carefully removed.

Next, the watch is placed in the center of the crater, with the wristband already rounded with the help of a transparent plastic support bracelet.

In terms of lighting, the usual backlighting is used, which is perfect for very glossy objects like watches: a flash equipped with a 24 x 36-inch light box is placed about 8 inches behind a large 78 x 60-inch diffusing panel, which in turn is positioned about 24 inches behind the dish.

A rounded reflector in is positioned in front of the dish to redirect the backlighting to light the watch dial.

Note that these two lighting arrangements, both at grazing angles with respect to the surface of the flour, allow us to accentuate the textural effect, especially on the cracks.

Setup and Lighting

We operate the same way here as we did for the waffles with honey on pages 238 and 239, stretching paired sets of “invisible” nylon thread between two tripods. Two lateral flashes equipped with small light boxes (12 x 16 inches) and honeycombs are set up so that the light will only illuminate the food and allow us to get an unlit background, which will look black in the shot. The flash on the right is placed higher than the top half of the bun, so that the main light is descending. The difference between the light on the top and bottom halves of the bun should be no more than 0.4 EV (+1.33 EV on the top half and no less than +0.9 EV on the bottom half, in other words), with the angle of the flash corrected if necessary to make sure that happens. The second flash only serves as a fill light, and is set to approximately +0.4 EV. Then, taking care to make sure that none of the objects knocks over any of the ones below it, each of the elements that is supposed to make up the burger is suspended from the nylon threads: the sesame buns, the tomatoes, the onions, the cheddar cheese, the leaves of lettuce (first dipped in ice water to bring out their color), and the hamburger patties (cooked only on the surface).

A little sauce is poured on one of the patties—here, we used barbecue sauce diluted with water so that it would be more liquid. And then the camera shutter is released. Depending on the angle of incidence of the flashes, the nylon threads might appear in places: this is something we can easily erase in Photoshop. But if the flashes are pointing in the right directions, and are placed so that their beams go in the same direction as the threads and the background is black, the threads disappear.

Implementation and Art Direction

A sheet of blue plexiglass is arranged on the table so that it extends beyond the edge of the table (a piece of gaffer tape is used to keep it in place). A glass filled with whiskey and acrylic glass ice cubes are balanced on the edge of the sheet of plexiglass.

Nylon threads are hot-glued to some other acrylic glass ice cubes, which are then suspended from a bar above the glass so that they seem to be levitating around it.

For the lighting, a large 78 x 60-inch diffuser is placed behind the table, and a flash equipped with a 12 x 16-inch light box is placed behind that. They are positioned so that the glass is lit from behind, without direct reflections. A second flash, equipped with a blue gel that matches the blue of the plexiglass is directed toward the white wall behind the composition.

Then we lie on the ground and photograph the glass from below. Note that given the angle of flash no. 1 and the fact that the background is light-colored, a small touch-up in Photoshop will be necessary to erase some of the threads that become visible.

Trickery and Lighting

A saucepan containing cold water, agar, and grenadine syrup is brought to a boil for 30 seconds, and then while the mixture is still hot, it is poured into a wine glass (which has been preheated to avoid thermal shock, which could shatter the glass). This is allowed to cool until the preparation is sufficiently gelled that it will not move when the glass is turned upside down. (We can reclaim the glass later by reversing the procedure: agar becomes liquid at approximately 185°F.) The glass full of agar and grenadine is hung upside down with a nylon thread attached to a bar. Finally, a second glass, identical to the first one but empty and right-side up, is placed on a sheet of white plexiglass.

Now the setup is ready, we just have to proceed with the lighting.

Here, we use the standard method, which involves setting up a large diffuser behind the glasses and a flash, equipped with a strip box, behind the diffuser. Lighted outside the family of angles, the glasses will be devoid of reflections, while the shadow caused by the proximity of the strip box and the diffuser will cause lovely dark lines to appear all along the the silhouettes of the glasses.