A new photography gig

I have been lucky to pick up a photo op that pays a little money.....a friend of mine (Charles Whitfill) has been making guitars for a few years now and has become quite successful at producing instruments that replicate vintage guitars. There is a strong market for this because true vintage guitars are so highly sought after they are unaffordable to most people. Anyway....I have been hired to produce photos that are being used to sell his instruments. He is selling through a consortium of custom guitars builders in North Carolina. I am including a link.

I used the 1DX, 17-40mm f/4 lens and a camera mounted 580EXII bounced off the ceiling

I would like to see what others think of the images.

Thanks for looking.

http://www.destroyallguitars.com/guitars/266-whitfill

Joel,

I think a multiple light setup might be more advantageous to making the guitars look their best. Maybe move the guitar away from the black background and then using rim lights for separation?

One major issue I see has to do with the post processing. Check out the very jagged (and partially missing) tuning knobs:
http://www.destroyallguitars.com/ima...Seafoam-05.jpg

It looks like the same problem extends to parts of the wood grain, too.

Sean

Yeah....I am considering getting a 60 inch light tent. It has been hard to clean up the background just laying the guitars on a black sheet. Thanks Sean!

You might be interested in this Flickr Strobist Group thread: How to light a guitar for a professional look?

Note how flickr member Ignats uses a frosted vinyl shower curtain to get pretty decent results. I'm not sure how glossy Charles's guitars are, but a very large light source positioned relatively close may help.

Thanks....His guitars are not glossy, they look 60 years old with nitrocellulose finish. I think your idea of multiple lights and maybe a rim light is a good one.

One other challenge....I have to take the images in his shop which is lit by rows of bare fluorescent bulbs

I am thinking of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Square-Perfect...nch+light+tent

Thanks JRW....I agree with your idea about separating the guitar from the background. I was trying to avoid shadows and reflections purposely in order for the viewer to see the fine detail in the finish of the wood and metal parts.

I wouldn't go light tent route. I have one of those and it works well for jewelry and little things, but unless you have a lot of lights, you aren't going to get the lighting you want to make it work in the tent. I assume your client has stands for the guitars. I would use those when possible.

What do you have for lights? What are you using for a background? Diffusers? If you provide some specifics of what your shooting with we might be able to give you some ideas using what you have to make them pop. The suggestions are already pretty good, but I think they can be fine tuned knowing what your working with.

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Originally Posted by Jayson

I wouldn't go light tent route. I have one of those and it works well for jewelry and little things, but unless you have a lot of lights, you aren't going to get the lighting you want to make it work in the tent. I assume your client has stands for the guitars. I would use those when possible.

What do you have for lights? What are you using for a background? Diffusers? If you provide some specifics of what your shooting with we might be able to give you some ideas using what you have to make them pop. The suggestions are already pretty good, but I think they can be fine tuned knowing what your working with.

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I am currently shooting with an on camera 580EXII and bouncing it off of the ceiling with the guitars laying flat on a table. I do have 3 other speed lights and radio triggers. I also have 2 continuous lights that each 4 bulbs in them on 4 different switches.

My biggest issue is avoiding reflections from the bare fluorescent light tubes hanging from the ceiling in the shop and I cannot take the guitars anywhere. He does not want reflections because the instruments are purposely made to look as if all the original gloss has worn off over a long time. He wants to see the cracks in the finish and the worn appearance of the metal parts that make the guitars look aged.

I do want to produce quality work but also I am trying to keep this as simple as possible....the location is 20 miles away, the volume of work is low and the money doesn't justify setting up an elaborate system each time.

There are few more instruments posted now on the web site.....

http://www.destroyallguitars.com/guitars/266-whitfill

Thanks....that would be interesting to see

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Originally Posted by Joel Eade

One other challenge....I have to take the images in his shop

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Mind if I ask why?

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Originally Posted by Joel Eade

which is lit by rows of bare fluorescent bulbs

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No it isn't. :) Turn them off and BYOL (bring your own light).

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Originally Posted by peety3

Mind if I ask why?
They are custom ordered and quite valuable. He wants to take no chances.


No it isn't. :) Turn them off and BYOL (bring your own light).

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That is my plan

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Originally Posted by jrw

Will also point out with regards to lighting settings that in rooms where I don't like the ambient that I use settings that render it quite dark. Bounced lighting won't very often have the power to achieve this with one unit. I tend to think of bounced flash as a good source of fill light for the most part.
This dark room approach won't help with direct reflections though which appear as bright as the source with the size varying according to distance. Turning the lights off, setting up diffusion material, or even blocking it with opaque fabric are the only options if you can't position the position the camera to avoid the reflections.

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Agreed....so far I have avoided the problem by removing one set of bulbs directly over my working space but this takes time and is an aggravation to him as well so a light diffuser and multiple light sources is going to be my next attempt....probably take 1-2 weeks before has more completed guitars to photo.

Thanks for everyone's input on this:)

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Originally Posted by jrw

Was restricted to the basement this evening so not as comprehensive as I might have hoped. Lightsource, 14x63" with grid, was quite close, around 3', to the shelving unit with the height chosen to show the fall off at the bottom. Feathered to provide relatively even lighting across the shelving. Positioned to the right just out of frame and ahead of the shooting position. Finish is quite glossy as the moulding reflection indicates.

Attachment 2208

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I do like the grid effect....I have a soft box so it would be inexpensive to add....thanks!