Photographing black shiny objects

Victor Reventlow <v.reventlow [at] worldnet__att__net> writes

>Can anyone please give me a some lighting, staging, arrangement,
>suggestions for photographing totally black small sculpted objects
>(argillite totem pole models).

Take some wire and make a base upon which you should place some
semi-transparent paper. In the middle of your construction you
should place your object. Make a small hole on the paper, through
which you should place your camera lens. Above the wire-and-paper
construction you should place your lights, at an angle of 45
degrees, in a way that you eliminate unnecessary shadows. If you
light the object from the front, you will eliminate the visual
effect of the carving. 45 degrees will give you a better
understanding of the texture.

One of the two lights should be diffused, in example by covering it
with some paper. This light should also be less intense; you could
place it a bit further from the object. If your lights are in
exactly the same angle and if they have the same intensity, you will
lose the effect of the texture. You can also place a light on top,
if you wish to light the interior of your object.

Make sure you do not place the lights too close to the paper, since
you may set the paper on fire. If you have any more questions do not
hesitate to contact me, so I can post you some diagrams.

Evangelia Kyriazi
BA Hons Conservation and Restoration
Valaoritou 12
Mytilene 81100, Greece


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:7
                  Distributed: Thursday, July 21, 2005
                        Message Id: cdl-19-7-005
                                  ***