topic Re: Suggestions for shooting reflective artwork in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Suggestions for shooting reflective artwork

BeccaBoni — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 01:52:16 GMT

Hi, I'm trying to shoot some highly reflective artwork that has been coated with resin with my EOS R6 Mark ii. I only have the kit lens and a nifty 50. I have tried outdoors in different light and I have been unsuccessful. I bought 2 speed lights, but I'm afraid they will make too much glare. I haven't tried them yet because the transmitter is on backorder. Am I better off buying 2 continuous lights that have a high CRI .with soft boxes? I really need suggestions. Thank you!

Re: Suggestions for shooting reflective artwork

kvbarkley — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 01:57:56 GMT

You can also try a circular polarizer.

A soft box would be good, or you could try a scrim.

Re: Suggestions for shooting reflective artwork

rs-eos — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 02:13:06 GMT

One method is two soft light sources (softbox, umbrella) placed at 45º angles on the left and right of the artwork.

Side note: Regarding CRI, be cautious. The industry has mostly just used measurements where vendors can cheat (e.g. having high CRI values that favor only eight colors, and certain colors such as red would be reproduced poorly).

If you find vendors of continuous lights that provide a "TM-30" value, that will be far more accurate than CRI since vendors cannot cheat with that measurement.

The sun is a perfect light source (perfect CRI and TM-30), so perhaps place the artwork next to a window that would let in lots of outdoor light. Potentially softening it with as scrim as kvbarkley mentioned.