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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Photographing Reflective Foil
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 03/28/2023 05:42:25 AM · #1
Hi all!

I'm shooting some of our decks today and after a successful first shoot last week with the boxes themselves, I'm really struggling to resolve an issue that has been challenging for me ever since I started photographing our cards back in 2019.



We use a lot of foil in our boxes, and now we even have some on the back of the cards themselves.

Has anyone got any experience shooting highly reflective surfaces and catching the light just right? Generally I'm using flash to achieve these results, but continuous lighting is also an option. However it has the same issue - either the foil is blown out or completely flat and lifeless. It seems you have to really catch the light just right to let it pop whilst also giving depth to the object, but it's getting increasingly difficult and I'm not much closer to understanding the science behind it which, presumably, will make my life easier if I did.

From my understanding of the physics of the issue it's to do with camera placement vs lighting placement and being at the right angle to catch the bounce of the light, which seems to work at around 45 degrees. However this is painstakingly painful when trying to adjust camera or lighting positions and it ends up getting quite frustrating.

Anyway, we nailed it for the boxes themselves but once we start introducing more complex setups with multiple cards or open decks it becomes impossible. Any advice?

Some notes about this particular setup...

So this particular shoot called for a slightly different setup than usual. Normally I would have a big soft box flash lighting from the front right hand side, and a bounce on the left to illuminate the sides and perhaps a backlight depending on the project.

As we wanted a real moonlight effect here, I had to use the big soft box as the moon itself, which is behind and above at a 45 degree angle lighting the scene and the back of the deck. I have a speed lite off to the right hand side through a diffuser catching the front of the deck and the foil as a key light, with a silver bounce on the left to illuminate the side of the deck.

To explain the issue I have, if I move the camera even an inch in any direction or adjust the angle of the key light, the foil will either blow out completely almost white or completely darken making everything look flat. The angle has to be perfect.

Message edited by author 2023-03-28 05:47:56.
 03/28/2023 09:32:49 AM · #2
I'm no expert here, but I think your problem relates to apparent size of the key light. I don't know what you are using as a diffuser, but I'm wondering if there is a very hot spot from the flash itself that is causing you to overexpose when you catch the reflection of the point source.
I'd try facing the flash away from the subject and reflecting it back with a white matte reflector. That should increase the apparent size of the light source and reduce the chance of overexposing. You can experiment with the distance between the flash and reflector to change the apparent size of the source.
 03/28/2023 10:15:54 AM · #3
Since you do a lot of this type - have you thought of investing in a light tent
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