Sunglasses in Light Tent Help

[lhadaj]

Hi there, I have been shooting sunglasses for a few years and want to overcome hurdles I have to improve the quality and efficiently of my images.

I shoot with a Canon 400D with a stock standard lens that came with the kit. I shoot these days in RAW ISO 100 f/:11. 1/8.

Here is a link to my page that shows my current set up and also some before and after images of the sunglasses I edit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64069872@N03/

The first thing I would like to fix is the shadows and lighting of the sunglasses. I want to reduce the shadows as to reduce editing time and also show more detail at the front of the frames. I am thinking of purchasing two sets of lights. One on top of the light tent pointing directly down on the glasses and going on the backdrop to hopefully reduce the shadows. The second to be at the front of the light tent where I will have my camera sitting in the middle of the light to highlight the sunglasses more clearly.

The next problem I have is the biggest. Lenses reflect and pickup things in the background. As you can see in the before examples from my photos, there are lines that run through the lens and difference in shade. It is mostly easy enough to edit out the slit in the sheet where the camera sits but editing out the lines and shades is way too time consuming and doesn't give a good enough result I am after. Only thing I can think of is to find some kind or spherical light tent with no seams or custom make one.

The last issue is dealing with white frames, is there an easy way to shoot so they don't wash out with the backdrop?

Also if there are any other tips you can think of that would be great.

[ricktas]

Welcome to AP, lots of questions for a first post. I think if you are shooting commercially you would understand that the white on white, that is over-exposed our reaching that point will appear washed out. Its about balancing the exposure to get the results you want, the same as a wedding dress. Under-exposing slightly will result in detail being visible.

Please read the site rules as posting links to commercial sites is not allowed till you have 30 days membership and 50 posts. (links have been removed from your post)

[lhadaj]

I have played with the exposure in the past when it comes to white frames but I will pay more attention and try and get it right.

The main issue I am having is the reflection of the seams and joins in the light tent on the lenses of the sunglasses. Do you think a filter of some kind will help this out?