I’ve been listening to a “tabletop product photography” online course run by CreativeLive. This company is based in Seattle and they generously broadcast free photography courses on a regular basis via the internet.
With the time difference it means staying up way past a sensible bed-time in order to watch but I’ve picked up lots of information and tips along the way.
The guy conducting the online course covered many (but not all) of the subjects in a book I had recommended to me called “Light, Science And Magic”. I’ve read this book cover to cover and I still find it interesting to dip into. Each chapter is dedicated to a different challenge in photographic lighting (glass, wood, metal, etc) and it takes you through the principles of how to get the lighting you want and avoid the lighting you dont. I’ve now noticed that the 4th edition of this book has been published so I’m rather keen to get that. The link above will take you to Amazon where you’ll be able to see other people’s reviews too so dont just take my word for it! 🙂 Anyhow, the image here seems to be appropriate. Although I had only just started reading the book at the time I took it, it was enough to make me consider the lighting. My intention was to create something interesting to look at. The lights needed to be tweaked numerous times before I was happy and I ended up creating my own 6-bulb studio light
and reflector during the process. This was really my first effort at manipulating lighting so I’m not claiming it’s perfect at all but it’s a start. I used a thin sheet of white plastic – the reverse side of an old advertising poster which work had thrown out to create the shiny, continuous background.
I proved to myself that I’m capable of lighting things properly but it also proved to me that I need some better lighting equipment! I think I’ll be purchasing a soft-box in the not too distant future!
