Product Shots in Studio - Paul & Phill

For our first attempt at product shots we put the product, Canon 580 EX II  and 430 EX II flash units, on the a bare table, used two flash units – one with a softbox over the product and one pointing at the back wall. The table was about 1 metre from the wall.

Tripod with camera was set slightly above table height initally and then lowered futher to be at level with the product. The synch cable was used for most of the shots.

At one point we put the IR link on the camera and to our amazement we found that the photos taken at 1/200 sec when viewed were not full frame and had the appearance that the focal-plane shutter acted as though the 1/200 sec was above the synch speed although 1/200 sec is the top of the range synch speed for the Canon 5D Mk II. There had been no problems using the synch cable.

Julian checked the data sheet of the IR device and it recommened it be set in a praticular way for high synch speeds which is what it was already set at. It also indicated that there was a very slight delay between camera firing and the IR signal. Obviously this delay was significant in our shoot using 1/200 sec. We went back to using the synch cable.

In addition to shooting a product the brief was to shoot a phone with the display on. Since our product had a display screen we turned the 580 EX II on and the back lite screen light. In order to capture the detail of the screen display we needed to take a spot metre reading in the dark to get a reading on the length of exposure required to get an image of the screen display. That reading was a 4 second exposure. Since we already worked out the exposure for the flash of the product product we left those settings and only changed the camera exposure from 1/200 sec to 4 sec. In that way the flash would illuminate the product and the longer exposure would alow for the capture of the screen display image. The only problem we had with this was the position of the softbox caused a reflection on the lettering on the screen display. The solution was to move the light slightly. A great learning experience!

All images at ISO 100

1/200, f/16, 70mm 

1/200, f/16, 70mm 

1/200, f/16, 70mm  – using IR release – note focal-plane shutter on right 

1/160, f/16, 70mm  – using IR release – slower shutter  synch worked 

1/160, f/16, 70mm – display screen on but not backlite

4 sec, f/11, 95mm, display and backlite on

Enlargment of above photo – Good exposure but flash unit needs to be moved slightly to get rid of reflecton 

4 sec, f/11, 95mm, display and backlite on 

Enlargment of above photo – flash unit moved too far causing more reflection on screen

4 sec, f/11, 95mm, display and backlite on

Enlargment of above photo – flash unit moved closer t original position, display screen reflection gone.