NEED help w acrylic

[munkey]

Hi all my maiden attempt to try something arty that went terribly wrong. I have recently acquired a piece of black acrylic typical in those still life shoots with nice reflections.

However, shooting this WHITE hockey ball gave me

1. Poor reflection when correctly exposed subject
2. Nice reflection but I cant see the ball anymore

I was attempting to position my flash 45 deg on cam left, 3-1 ratio or soemthing i cant remb.

PROS?? help!

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

well, if you need this angle, then probably you need to have a gobo and a softer light.

 

[satan_18349]

Shoot twice and combined in PS.

 

[catchlights]

your lighting set up is incorrect.

the ball is suppose to be top lighting,
first, position your light which you can see the reflection of the light thru the acrylic sheet from your camera,
than slowly move your light nearer toward camera, till you unable to to see the reflection,
you can place some white/sliver card or mirror near your camera angle to kick some light to the shadow area of the ball.

you only need one softbox, some black card (shield your light to prevent lens flare), some white/sliver card or mirror and that's all.

 

[munkey]

your lighting set up is incorrect.

the ball is suppose to be top lighting,
first, position your light which you can see the reflection of the light thru the acrylic sheet from your camera,
than slowly move your light nearer toward camera, till you unable to to see the reflection,
you can place some white/sliver card or mirror near your camera angle to kick some light to the shadow area of the ball.

you only need one softbox, some black card (shield your light to prevent lens flare), some white/sliver card or mirror and that's all.

mr pro,

Sorry for the noobness but its my first time shooting so please be patient. What exactly do you mean for me to improve myself? Reflection in the acrylic and move it till it disappears? Could you elaborate on that cos it sounds a bit messy.. my mind cant visualise properly. Um if the set up is wrong then how am i supposed to take it. oh the flash was about 1 m from the object, thats why harsh. should i move it back?

 

[Sion]

After I read this thread I went to try the reflection on black acrylic effect and came up with this:

Basically main light is at left shoot through a double layer diffuser and a white reflector on right for fill.

I think you've got it right that it is difficult to have an exposure with both the ball and reflection properly exposed.

I went to use satan_18349's Photoshop method by creating another layer of overexposed shot for the reflection with soft selections to blend it.

 

[munkey]

wow this is a gorgeous attempt. Umm any links/tips to this satanic 666's layer action?

one more thing how far away was your flash placed from the object? and what are you using as double layer diff? 2 -ply tissue paper?

laaawrrrll

 

[Sion]

Creat another layer paste the overexposed photo into it.
Feathered selection around the reflection and inverse it and fill with black.
Set layer blending mode as lighten.

I use two compact fluorescent bulbs as main with about 6 inches away from object.

For diffusion sheets I use a layer of white clothe and another layer of tracing paper.