Studio Lighting for Product Photography

First, an understanding of the principles concerned, then patient manipulation of the lights — this is the procedure that can solve any lighting problem. It is the purpose of this data book to explain both the principles and the manipulation, particularly as they apply to the professional photography of small objects which might be encountered in day-to-day routine commercial work. The word lights is used broadly here, since we also discuss related lighting equipment, such as reflectors, tenting materials, and backgrounds.

We have tried to treat these matters as basic studio problems rather than as individual solutions to unique lighting situations. Thus, Studio Lighting for Product Photography deals first with the philosophy of rendering cubical and cylindrical objects so that they appear as three dimensional as possible in a two-dimensional photograph. In discussing these basic procedures, we believe you’ll be especially interested in the techniques we suggest for determining rapidly the basic lighting setup and, also, in the “angle-of-incidence” method for establishing subject highlights.

Glassware, shiny metal and plastic objects, tenting, the light box, multiple exposures, and texture treatment, all these are discussed with the hope it will make your professional photography of small objects easier and better.

It is obvious, of course, that any book can go just so far: Just as a non-swimmer cannot learn how to swim by reading a book on the subject, so a photographer cannot learn how to be truly proficient by glancing at a few lighting diagrams. But the basic photographic ideas, general procedures, and even some specific lighting tricks can be learned from a book — and it is these which this Kodak Professional Data Book is concerned.

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