Pixiq

We have the client, Anisa International. The company makes variety of cosmetic brushes for many famous brands. This is one of our best long-term customers, and recently we have done one more photoshot for them I would like to share here.

In this post I would like to show you our typical work process, the lighting setup and the outcome. There won't be any step-by-step setup building, as this shot was not meant to be a tutorial. We shoot everything straight ahead, no trail and error process was involved:-)

I think it would be interesting to see what changes I had made to the lighting for each  subject. All the brushes are very similar, but I have to adjust lights when we position them differently or brush set has different finish and/or shape.

The first example.

Almost straight from the top shot of wooden handle brushes:

Here is the lighting setup for the shot above:

I've used white thin sheet of Plexiglas, bent to work as a shooting table (our usual solution for small stuff like these brushes). If you'd look at the brush metal hair holders (purple things), you'll see the reflection from both main lights on it:
Soft gradient from the top: stripbox through the diffuser, and hard on the bottom (bare stripbox, positioned below the camera in front of the scene). This combination gives a very good feel of the actual product finish: hard light shows the glossy surface, while soft, diffused gradient from top makes image look more appealing.

The light from the right was working to reduce the shadows and highlight the gaps between the brushes. I've added a grid to that softbox to get little bit more of control over the light spread and reduce spill. (that was not 100% necessary though)

Notice how bad this softbox was designed: it spills light all over through the gaps.

BTW, there is an interesting comparison shot we had few month ago with Anisa brushes, you may want to take a look: Softbox v.s diffuser panels in small product photography.

The second example.

When we shot brushes positioned at the 20-30 degree angle, like you see below, the lighting gets changed accordingly:

Stripbox from the front-below of the camera was moved to the left to make that hard line on a glossy brush finish, as it was required by the brush position. (the image shows another brush set, but setup was the same)
Light from the right worked very well for a brush hair: usually hair comes up much darker, unless it gets highlighted directly from the "front" of the brush head.

The light from the top through diffuser was remained the same:

One more set is below, positioned the opposite way as the previous, done with the same lighting schema. The only one thing I did not mentioned earlier: The grid from the right large stripbox was removed, otherwise it would make a visible pattern on a glossy surface of the brushes:

Third example, a slightly more complicated shot.

Different angles and brushes position, and glossy finish demands more attention to the lighting:

This time I've used two diffuser panels,  from the top and from the left. If you'd look at the brushes, it will be easy to guess what light does what, right? Diffuser panels combined with stripbox leaves very nice gradient, while bare softbox draws the sharp line on the brush surface:

The piece of critique for myself:

Ideally, that purple set should be done by individual shots of each brush, and then combined together. This would eliminate all these parasitic reflections form one brush on another. Something like we had done in the past: Shooting cosmetic brushes: simple tips to help dealing with chrome finish.

On other hand, image like we got looks pretty nice as-is, all these reflections look natural and gives a good idea of a glossy finish of the brushes.

Oh, one more thing. Have you seen that red pillow on the floor? This is a very essential part of the shot:-)) Photo below is the explanation:

Cleaning saves time in post-processing, it is important to not forget to clean stuff every time before composing the final shot!

The last example.

Brushes with translucent handles.

As you see, the difference in the lighting is only in a position of the left stripbox: because we did not have any standing brushes here, there was no need in a vertical gradient, so the stripbox was rotated to be horizontal.
In this case left light was working to highlight brush hair and space between brishes:

The left stripbox was rotated to be in parallel with the brush body.

Below is the alternative photo of these brushes, I like them better. You can look at the chrome parts to guess the what was changed for the lighting: If you like, post your ideas here in a comment area so we can discuss them later.

I've already mentioned few of these posts earlier in the article, and the list below is almost everything what we have posted so far from the shots we done for this client. You may like to check them out, as each shot is different:

• Tabletop photography I like: creative shot for Anisa International, step by step.
• Product photography lighting tips&tricks: working with reflective objects, part 4
• Working with reflective objects: cosmetic brush set photographed.
• Softbox v.s diffuser panels in small product photography: Cosmetic brushes shoot for Anisa International.

• Shooting cosmetic brushes: simple tips to help dealing with chrome finish

 Hope this was interesting. More stuff to come, stay tuned!

Want to learn more about product photography? Check out my e-books and video tutorials:

Secrets of Studio Photography  e-books

Alex Koloskov