violin photography

[TedN]

I was wondering if anyone here has had success photographing violins without a reflection. I was thinking about purchasing a camera umbrella to do this, but I think there will still be a reflection. I was looking into camera umbrellas, and there appear to be white ones that shine the light through and reflective ones that have aluminum foil and reflect the light. I just tried putting a large piece of domed shaped tin foil in front of a light to reflect the light onto the wall, and put my violin in front of it, but there was still a reflection. So this makes me wonder if a camera umbrella will work for preventing light reflection. 

Has anyone had any success in doing this? 

 

[Dwight Brown]

I too need to buy lighting to do Phiddle Photography.  I have thought of using soft box type lights and perhaps a polarizing filter to fight the glare.

 

there will be some experienced folks who will chime in.

 

DLB

[Michael Szyper]

@Michael Darnton wrote a great Article about it - there is everything explained what you need to achieve professional results.

[TedN]

I was reviewing his article. It's quite in depth and he uses expensive equipment. I was hoping for the "poor man's" method to violin photography. Is there an easy and cheap way to film violins that cuts out the glare?

[Nick Allen]

You need a diffuser. 

[James M. Jones]

13 hours ago, TedN said:

I was reviewing his article. It's quite in depth and he uses expensive equipment. I was hoping for the "poor man's" method to violin photography. Is there an easy and cheap way to film violins that cuts out the glare?

 

10 hours ago, Nick Allen said:

You need a diffuser. 

White bed sheets work a charm , make a tent of sorts to house the violin,with  bright lights outside. Another poor mans trick is to wait for a cloudy day, and do the session outside .

[Michael Darnton]

Diffusers, umbrellas, these will make your problem worse because now you have a larger light object to show as a reflection rather than dealing with a smaller source. Also, they make wood look flat and ugly, and tend to neutralize curl If you want to go on the cheap, use mushroom floodlights in some kind of fixture. Keep them high and to the sides just far enough to not reflect, which usually means at least head height and more than 45 degrees off axis to the side. Point them downards so that the bottom of the violin gets a bit more light than the top. Your room should be dark and ideally dark colored. Anything that is illuminated by the lights can become a reflection.

[TedN]

Yes, I tried a white sheet over an iguana light, but it did make the problem worse. It reflected over a much larger part of the violin. It did also make the wood look kind of flat. I will try the floodlight method. Thanks for mentioning this Michael!

[TedN]

I wonder if something like this would work for the flood light:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Warmoon-Outdoor-LED-Flood-Light-50W-Warm-White-3200K-Waterproof-Security-Lights-with-3-Prong-US-Plug/464060495