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Coursus Interruptus

Using reflectors for tabletop photography

Well, in the video I was trying to show how to use reflectors when you’re doing tabletop photography—you know, making pictures of things like sick ducks or other subjects you feel compelled to capture. Problem was, I kept being interrupted by that pesky little Cary. I don’t think he can intrude here, but I’ll keep my eyes out for him.

“Tabletop photography” is a term that refers to making pictures of objects, usually in a studio or other indoor setting. This gives you control over the lighting—you don’t have to worry about where the sun is in the sky or whether it’s sunny or overcast (or raining). You can also decide what surface the object will be on, what the background will be, whether or not there will be other objects in the fore- or background—in other words, you can control everything. It’s the complete opposite of street photography, where the world is constantly changing and your job is to capture the moments as they pass by. (For more on street photography, see the Shooting Strangers Actual Info and TipsFlick.) On a tabletop, you can make the object and its surroundings look exactly the way you want them to.

The basic setup for most tabletop photography (and studio portraits too) is two lights: the main one (called a key light) and a secondary one (called the fill light). The key light is the one that determines the exposure and is typically set up at a 45-degree angle and slightly higher than the subject. The fill light is set up at 45 degrees on the other side and varies in strength depending on how strong or weak you want the shadow cast by the key light to be. (We will get into more detail about studio lighting when we do a TipsFlick and Actual Info about studio portraits.) The basic setup looks like this:

But what if you don’t have two lights, light stands, soft boxes, umbrellas, and all the other stuff? No problem. You can make perfectly good tabletop images with one light (a flash unit, even just window light) and a reflector.

The first thing is to determine how you want the object to look. Here’s our friend with just one light on him:

The image is okay, but I feel that the shadow on the right side of his face is too deep—I don’t get quite enough of his personality. I need to soften the shadow by adding some light to that side. I could do this with a fill light, but I don’t have one. So I use a piece of white foam core (it can be anything white—construction paper, a sheet or pillow case, your shirt, just a piece of paper) to bounce some of the light from the key light back onto his right side.
I find the angle that bounces the light, put something behind the foam core to hold it, and voila: The photo below left shows more of his face. But I feel that it's still a bit too dark, so I simply move the foam core closer, intensifying the light, and try again to get the result at bottom right.

For this subject, I like just a little shadow—he’s a bright and smiley sort of chap. If I were photographing a more sinister-looking gnome, I’d probably go for the deep shadow cast by only using the key light.

If you want to bounce more light (for example, if you can’t place the reflector very close to the object), use a more reflective reflector. Here’s our friend lit by a silver card. He's lit up even more than with the close white card.

You can even use a mirror, which in this case has almost entirely eliminated the shadow. (Maybe that’s why he’s smiling—he’s looking at himself!)

The other main consideration in tabletop photography is the background. What mood do you want to create? What best suits your subject? For example: On white, this lower piranha jaw might be suitable for a fish anatomy text book. On black is for a scary story.

The point is to think about your subject. What is the character of the object, and how can you best portray it? Is dramatic, deep-shadow lighting best, or does it call for more even, diffuse light? Move your reflector nearer or farther to get the look you want, or use a more or less reflective surface. Does a white background suit the subject best, or black, or some other color? Your photograph of an object should show how it strikes you, how you feel about it. Think, set up, shoot.

Here are some pretty good tabletop images Cary has made. I get the set up and shooting parts. As for the thinking…. well, it’s Cary.

And one more thing: Another essential piece of studio equipment is a fly swatter. For things (or people) who bug you.

All Actual Info and TipsFlix