Polarizing film and circular polarizing filter vs shiny stuff

Don Kondra

I'd like to share my relatively inexpensive foray into cross polarization.


I purchased 4' long x 17" wide piece of film from here.


Including shipping to Canada the cost was $90, that's enough material (17" x 16") for three 20" x 20" softboxes. The intended use is smallish product.


I also purchased an off shore lens collar for the 70-200mm (ebay $20), Hoya Pro 1 CP filters (ebay $140) and rubber lens hoods (ebay $10) for the 24-70mm and 70-200mm.





To attach the film to the softboxes I basically cut a hole in white foam core a 1/2" smaller than the film and taped it to the opening, then hot glued a 2" wide border around the panel.





A simple paper clip holds the frame on the softbox.








First test shot with a handmade ebony pen in landscape orientation to check for vignetting.





Very minor editing...





Next was a test shot in portrait mode with a pen that was handmade for me as a gift. The pen blank is made up of shredded $50 bills in resin.


Credit to Mack Cameron, the pen maker..





BTW - the reflections on the collars on this pen drove me crazy until I viewed it closely in natural light and noticed they are indeed faceted.


I'm not sure of the math when the lights are reflected onto the subject or used from above but I do know this bit of "kit" will be very useful in my work.


Cheers, Don

pathfinder

Great write up and very interesting information.

I can see how this setup can be quite useful for controlling reflections.

Thanks for posting this, Don!

Don Kondra

My pleasure,

Here's some shots for comparison..

Bare naked lens/softbox's.



Circular Polarizer.



Circular Polarizer and more power.



Bare lens and polarizing film on softboxes.



And a step back shot.



Cheers, Don

Gary752

Thanks Don for sharing this tip! This would help save me a lot of pp time for the shots I do at work. I've been pulling my hair out dealing with reflections in the surface of machine tools. Your final step back shot also gave me an idea on a way to support the tools to get them away from the backdrop.

GaryB

Don Kondra

My pleasure Gary !

I'll be looking for your posts

Cheers, Don

chasgroh2

Hey Gary...VERY interesting...I'm wondering how I would adapt your technique for shooting brass instruments...from trumpets to tubas. Just got done trying (boy, I *do* mean that!) with a new bass trumpet manufactured locally. What film did you buy exactly...there's a number of choices on your link...thanks for your input!

Don Kondra

I am the original poster Charlie...

This is the film I purchased.

You may want to try a circular polarizer on your lens first before moving on to cross polarization...

Cheers, Don

Don Kondra

Another technique you can try is reflected light.

By that I mean use white foamcore and reflect the light off the foamcore onto the object. And/or try black, whatever color you use will be reflected by the metal.

Cheers, Don

chasgroh2

Don Kondra wrote: »

Another technique you can try is reflected light.

By that I mean use white foamcore and reflect the light off the foamcore onto the object. And/or try black, whatever color you use will be reflected by the metal.

Cheers, Don

...yessir, Don...been fishin' around and have arrived at a good beginning strategy. In effect I'm shooting a mirror, that's the dicey part. Yesterday I managed to get decent results except for 45 degrees or so coming back to the camera, so I've got a plan, with some of your input, to deal with that...we'll see and I'll keep you in the loop. Oh, I also contract wood jobs (and a kitchen or two) and am finding my way into canvas and framing...fun! And it's nice to have *our* skillset!