High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

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eco_bach
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p.1 #1 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

Hi
I have an upcoming project and am a realtive novice to product photography. I need to shoot some white dice against a white background that fades into a light blue
ie
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67526655@N06/7776487086/in/photostream

There needs to be some obvious but not extreme perspective on the dice as well as a shallow depth of field

I am renting a Bowens 500R 2 flash with umbrella kit (which I have never used before).

Will be using a 7D....probably with a 28-75 zoom, using the sider end of the focal length at around f2.8 or f4 but not 100% sure.

I might try and capture some motion with the flash as well so will keep the shutter speed at a sync speed of 1/125.

Questions:
Should I be able to get close to the attached background fade simply by modelling 1 of the flash units?
What is a good series of tests I should perform to get my desired result?

Aug 13, 2012 at 09:05 PM

BrianO
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p.1 #2 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

eco_bach wrote: ...I might try and capture some motion with the flash as well so will keep the shutter speed at a sync speed of 1/125.

Can you explain this in more detail? I always think of flash as "freezing" motion.

Aug 14, 2012 at 06:13 AM

BrianO
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p.1 #3 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

eco_bach wrote: ...Should I be able to get close to the attached background fade simply by modelling 1 of the flash units?

Two ways among many to get a transition from white to blue:

1) Use a white BG sweep and two lights, one white and one blue, to illuminate the BG.

2) Use a white BG and white light(s), and add the blue transition in Photoshop.

The second is probably easier.

Aug 14, 2012 at 06:17 AM

eco_bach
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p.1 #4 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

thanks. This is sort of the lighting I am looking for. By capturing motion I meant freeze motion.
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/royalty-free/42-27650162/dominoes

Aug 14, 2012 at 11:14 AM

visualist
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p.1 #5 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

Is your use of dead links suppost to be some kind of a joke?

Aug 14, 2012 at 12:24 PM

eco_bach
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p.1 #6 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

no dead links, u need to cut n paste the entire flickr url. I think forum truncates links that have an '@'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67526655@N06/7776487086/in/photostream

Aug 14, 2012 at 03:41 PM

BrianO
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p.1 #7 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

eco_bach wrote: ...By capturing motion I meant freeze motion.

In the studio, for this kind of shot sync speed isn't too important; 1/125 should work, although 1/200 or 1/250 would normally be better at freezing motion.

The reason it's less important in the studio is because you can usually control the ambient light levels...even turning them completely off if need be once you've focused and composed; so the only light during the exposure will be from your flash/strobes, and at low power (fine for closeups) Speedlites or Thyristor/IGBT strobes will be firing at very short durations (1/1000 or shorter) that will freeze the subject nicely.

In the domino shot you linked to, there may be no actual motion; it could be a staged shot using putty or other tricks to hold the dominoes at the correct postion during the exposure. That helps in getting the shot just the way you want it because timing the shutter release isn't a factor. Actually catching dice tumbling -- maybe even with one of them in the air -- would be trickier, but would make for a dynamic shot.

Good luck, and have fun with it. I'd love to see the final results.

Aug 14, 2012 at 05:43 PM

dmward
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p.1 #8 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

I would be inclined to set this up on a transparent table. Get the die where they belong to create the mood and then light them. Any motion blur could be introduced in post as can the blue gradient.

Aug 22, 2012 at 03:30 AM

JBower
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p.1 #9 · High Key tabletop, white dice on white background

if you shoot on a glass table, you can arrange the dice as you need, tilt them so they look like they are tumbling (using putty as suggested). if the background is far enough away, even a blue strip on a white background will have a decent gradient to it. this is almost a macro shot as dice aren't very big, i would make sure you have the ability to focus close enough, either with a macro lens or use an extension tube.

this shot was done (not a real good picture at all, just a quick test) on a glass table, two soft boxes above and a single flash against white foam core about 15" below the table, the blue is really just an underexposure of the background an probably bad white balance.


	http://www.pbase.com/jhbower/image/146032010

Sep 14, 2012 at 06:37 AM

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