Shining a light on product photography

I recently reviewed the Zhiyun Molus X100, I thought it was a fabulous little light. Now I don’t do much video streaming and I haven’t really done much in the way of video lately. But, I have been using it for still-life and product photography. It’s so small and powerful that I adore it for some dark and moody lighting.

The setup

It’s really quite simple. I used a piece of curved black acrylic (or perspex) for my background. Then, I arranged a can of cola and some fake acrylic ice cubes. I placed the Molus X100 on a light stand and clipped a small diffuser to it to soften some of the light. I set the X100 light to 4% output and the color temp to 5600K (why? personal preference, I like that range).

Camera settings

As I was shooting a fairly long exposure (1/3 second) I had my camera on a tripod and used a 2-second timer to avoid any camera shake. I had my ISO100, a focal length of 62mm and a shutter speed of 1/3 second. Then, I set my Aperture to f/5.6 to make sure the can, ice and reflection were mostly all in focus. I used my Tamron 28-75mm lens.

Smoke and mirrors

It’s actually not even smoke to create the wispy tendrils of fog; it’s dry ice. I buy it in pellet form and pop it in a special esky or cooler. Behind the cola can is a tall glass jar filled with hot water (25% boiling to 75% tap water). Using tongs (never touch dry ice with bare hands, as it burns) and place 2-3 small pellets in the hot water. It starts a chain reaction and creates this fog effect. It billows over the rim of the glass and down around the can and ice. The reflection is just black perspex (or acrylic), but you could also use a mirror. I like the soft, billowy effect with the slow shutter speed. But if you want more wispy details, you could turn the light up and use a much higher shutter speed, say 1/125 seconds.

Post-processing

A few simple tweaks of the slider was all this image needed, I ended up adjusting the color temperature (again), adding a stop of light and reducing the highlights, whites and blacks. I also increased the vibrance a touch. Keep it simple; it’s a great philosophy.

You don’t need a lot of light for product photography. You don’t necessarily need a lot of props or backgrounds for some really cool product photography. But a few accessories and the right light, like the Zhiyun Molus X100, will make life a lot easier. Once you covered the basics you can start experimenting. Enjoy!