lighting a machine or reflective surfaces

[Michael Malagon]

Hi all,

I'm doing a product video for a copying machine. My initial idea was to to get this thing on a turn-table and film it in a studio with a white or black backdrop. What kind of lighting setup would you recommend when filming something that is possibly reflective? I was thinking that soft-boxes might work with a couple hard lights. Any suggestions or ideas?

-Mike

[Doug Davis]

Diffuse Diffuse Diffuse.... You might try it with a hard back light to see if it creates a pleasing effect...

[Don Bloom]

as an did a lot of product work old time still photog that I will say that in my experience there is no cut and dried answer. You use whatever you need to to light it properly to get the look you need. Having said that, yes diffusion is a pretty good place to start but you may also need some lighting to get highlights or to highlight just a particular surface plane so you might need some relective material and I would highly recommend some dulling spray to knock down some of the reflective surfaces.

Lighting a product especially with multiple surfaces like a copy machine is a feel thing. At least it was and is for me. When looking thru the viewfinder(monitor) how does it look. Does it look natural with highlights and shadows in what looks like a the natural place and are they of the right values? Lots to look at OR you simply take 3 or 4 lights of equal strenght and blast it make it flat and go for it.;-)

Don

[Yuri Martins Galliett]

You can use a "Circular Polarizer" Filter.

Quick Example:
http://vimeo.com/886224

[Alex Plank]

You could use anti-reflective spray to prevent light from reflecting off of the shiny things.

EDIT it's actually called "dulling spray":
http://www.leadinghd.com/2008/06/23/...dulling-spray/