I need to photograph some glass objects to place on the web. I have a Toshiba PDR-M1 and use Photoshop for editing. Background needs to be neutral (white or gray) and shadows/reflections under control. I presume a no-flash exposure with some type of soft tent lighting would be the way to go, but would like some specific recommendations. As luck would have it, I recently donated all my light stands and floods to a school, so need a simple low-cost solution that can be done on a tabletop.

Thanks,

Ned Nedbalek

-- Leon "Ned" Nedbalek (ned@wvpress.com), April 17, 1999

Answers

Ned-

Assuming you can get enough light on/through it, just stretching a sheet above the table and shining floods on the top of it could make a passable soft-box. Other than that, don't know what best to suggest... You don't need to have the illumination on the diffuser perfectly even, the main thing is to just give the glass a big, broad, white surrounding to reflect back into the camera. Also, don't forget exposure compensation! All that white will fool the meter into making it too dark!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), April 28, 1999.