Spend a few hours doing some table top stuff. The first subjects were a crystal vase and a small glass. Both being highly reflective. The important thing was to avoid any of their surfaces from reflecting any objects (including the light source) and giving away the shoot.

I got a large white mounting paper sheet for the ‘white seamless’ background and added another one at the base. The table was of rubber-wood which has a natural yellowish brown texture. Added 2 black sheets on either sides for negative fill (I could have added white sheets as well but after exprement, that wasnt working to my taste).

Canon 7D. EF 85 1.8 at f2.5, 1/125

Used a single light – 580 exII at 1/128th power with a 5cm straw snoot (homemade – check www.strobist.com DIY). The light was incident, vertically on the background and the white sheet was letting it spill over almost upto the base. Mounted on a Manfrotto tripod – in the boom (horizontal) mode.

The vase and glass were about 1.5′ away from the background. I was quite satisfied with how it came out. Ofcourse theres always room for improvement.

I received the Alcatel-Lucent IPD quality award for my work last year. Thought of making use of the crystal jar and glass (same from the Vase shoot). Heres they are with two A4 size print papers doubled over their long side and the pairs placed side by side for background.

Canon 7D. EF 85 1.8 at f2.0 1/250

It may not seem like, but they are resting on a chair with a white sheet for positive fill from camera right. The lighting is the same as the one above. Just that its moved (off center) a lil to camera left.

The third subject was a steel flask, orange colored and semi smooth steel finish. It was still quite fine to reflect things kept around. So care had to be taken there.

Setup was same as that for the Vase. There were two lights this time. One was the SB600 with a 5cm snoot right over the cap of the flask (notice how the cap has some hot spots) and second was a homemade 18″ beauty dish (with a 580EXII at 1/128) placed very close to the flask on camera left and diffused with a white cloth. The flask was placed almost at the base of the white seamless. You can see how it creates a shadow at the bottom of the flask surrounded by a halo.

Sleek Flask: Canon 7D. EF 85 1.8 at f5.6, 1/160

The next one is Alcatel-Lucent’s coffee mug. This was lit up with a 580 exII with a 5cm snoot over it, from camera left. The light was directly hitting the cup on the side. On camera right was a white reflector kicking back the same light into the cup’s other side. The colorful circles in the background are created by colored light bulbs (those used for Diwali lighting).

Canon 7D. EF 85 1.8 at f1.8, 1/200.

And last but not the least is this silhouette of a toy WW-II Mustang bomber – with no flashes at all. Just the light emitted by those tiny bulbs was enough for this one.

EF 85 1.8 at f1.8, 1/100

My deepest regards to product photographers who make every picture a unique experience with their ideas and their understanding of different material properties which make it so very different from portraiture.