I wanted to shoot a certain watch with minimal lighting, and settled on the Profoto ProBox: a rigid box about 1' tall with very smooth light distribution. This was poised with 45° cant over the subject but, while being quite close, had too stark an effect. In particular, the pretty crown was submerged in shadow. I then maneuvered three reflectors (paper sheets) on each side and in front. This resulted in proper definition of the crown, watch case and faceted bracelet. http://patternassociates.com/rico/contax/misc/breguet.jpg
While purging intermediate frames to the final image, I realized they could create a crude animation. This would demonstrate the effect of the reflectors as they dropped into the scene. While I was just expecting an amusing demo, it has actually shown how I might improve reflector placement in the future. I would also add a rim light to right rear.
The animation cycles through four frames: no reflector, front reflector only, side reflectors only, all reflectors. Click on the link to see the big version (3MB file). Close inspection is quite educational, especially how the watch crown becomes fully defined. Light sculpting in action! http://patternassociates.com/rico/fm/bregdemo1.gif Link to Big Animation
