How Do Professional Photographers Take Pictures Of Reflective Objects For Product Catalogs Like Frontgate Etc.
August 25th, 2009 | 
Author: I know PhotoShop can remove reflections but do they really do it for every photo and every object in the shot? I use PhotoShop for web design. Some catalogs have so many reflective objects it seems like an enormous task.
Posted in digital photography | 
Tags: Catalogs, Frontgate, Like, Objects, Photographers, Pictures, Product, Professional, Reflective, Take
They light the object from the sides so the refection doesn’t shine back at the camera.
The answer is in the family of angles. This is the area and angles where direct reflection is produced. If you want to avoid this you want to minimize the area of direct illumination and light the object with indirect illumination.
The lens determines your field of view. So if you’re using a long focal length lens you can minimize the direct reflections and the family of angles.
Additionally, objects in product photography are usually lit from indirect illumination.
Considering a work flow of a catalog, I would assume it’s a photographical technique.
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Chris Lee
President
Holy MoLee Photography, LLC
See folks … this is just one more example where someone has come to believe that everything is done in Photoshop.
No, it is not an enormous task.
It has to do with photo techniques. The images you see in catalogs that are of reflective objects are shot in light tents. No retouching is necessary.
They take the picture at a slight angle to avoid the reflection..