SILVER TROPHY CHALLENGE

[Rick Bear]

The "challenge" here is to get your lighting right in order to photograph something like a highly-reflective Sports Trophy, or maybe the Polished Steel Bascinet from the suit of armour in your castle's great hall. For those peasants who don't possess such things, you might try a Pewter Beer Tankard or even a piece of highly reflective glassware, such as a rose bowl. Failing all else, try looking for polished steel pots and pans in your kitchen. Anything that is highly reflective will do. Failing even that, just wrap something in aluminium foil, with the reflective side out. (But, no cutlery, Mr. Trek!)

So, why is this so difficult? Well, any lighting you use will create a very harsh bright reflection in just one spot, while failing to illuminate the rest of the object. You'll also see undesirable reflections of your equipment reflected in those polished surfaces. How do you illuminate something that throws back too much light in some areas, while stubbornly refusing to be illuminated across its major surfaces?

Why is this a useful exercise? It's a problem I first came across when my Air Cadets Squadron won a few trophies and, being a photography student, I was asked to photograph the trophy collection. Easy, I thought, until I tried and failed, tried and failed, over and over. It is far more difficult than it appears. However, what I learned in this exercise world later allow be to use the reflections we see in highly reflective objects -- like motorcycle helmets and fencing swords -- to create stunning images I later used in my professional advertising photography work.

I'll give you a week or two to experiment. Whatever you try, it'll teach you something you can use elsewhere. After a week or so, I'll come back with a few tips and tricks, as well as telling you how the professionals tackle this most difficult of all subjects.

Have fun, and don't forget to submit your triumphs and disasters (including a wider shot of your setup) in the replies below. Remember, if there's writing on your trophy we need to be able to read it, as the winner of some big competition wouldn't be too happy if they couldn't read their name and the name of the competition they won it for.

This is a bit of a brain teaser that will test your creativity.

Rick Bear

[Rick Bear]

Here's an example of what can go wrong with your lighting and reflections. In particular, note that it's difficult to read what's engraved on the cup.

FA Cup.jpg (165.14 KiB) Viewed 2422 times

[Rob Trek]

Hmmm, will have to give this some thought. I don't have any trophies or even any steel pots. I donated most of that stuff away and kept only a couple of granite and ceramic layered pans. I do have one small stainless steel drink mixer, but that doesn't have any writing on it and it's small enough I can drop that into a small light box. I can start with that and see what happens.

But I see from your example picture the challenges. I'll have to see if my nephews have any trophies I can borrow. They are into sports.

[Rick Bear]

First off, there's no such thing as "cheating". Photography isn't a high school exam. We're here to take the best possible pictures we can, and that means learning from experience or from others' experience.

One of the biggest challenges facing photography teachers is that their pupils often have the idea they have to learn everything for themselves. Thankfully, you're not one of those people, otherwise you wouldn't be watching the excellent videos produced by Rob Trek.

THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPHY "CHALLENGE". It is NOT a high school examination. You should be Googling for ideas and for information on how to photograph highly reflective objects. With that in mind, the following link is excellent because it shows a really good idea for how to create a DIY TENT that'll work with flash or any old lights that you happen to have around (desk lamps or bedside lamps, simply adjust your colour temperature to Tungsten). And don't say, "but, I've got no diffuser film", a single sheet of kitchen towel, strips of overlapping toilet roll (if you can spare it), that white cellular packaging plastic, tracing paper, tissue paper, or even a bedsheet, will all work.

Here's the link: https://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/t ... y-objects/

Have fun, and remember that it's not 'cheating' to research your subject. Why, you can even ask questions or seek advice on this Forum; that's what it's here for .

Oh, in the spirit of the great Peter Forsgård, here's an additional tip: if you decide to use reflectors instead of a tent -- that's where you use your lights to illuminate something like a large sheet of card and have the card reflected in the shiny surfaces (as vs shining light through some material like a tent) -- then take your exposure reading from the cardboard sheet that's being reflected in the object, rather than off the object itself (see https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... NO6x4qwGVY).

Now, forget all that nonsense about "cheating", and get Googling like PRO . Why, you can even ask Peter, or Robin, or Matti, or Rob, or myself for help on this Forum. Show us were you're stuck; that's what the Forum is here for.

Rick Bear