how the heck...

[JRay8]

do you take photos on black or mirror? it seems to me like you would see a reflection of your light box/tent.

 

[seamus7227]

I lay my mirror fairly close to the back of the photo tent, so the only thing you see in the reflection is the backdrop

 

[toddlajoie]

Yep, all you need to do is get something large enough and close enough in the background and placed in the right place to fill the reflection. The color/tone of what you put there will become part of your base or platform color/texture. Mirror will reflect it almost exactly (depending on if you keep it in focus or blurred). If you have access to a larger color printer (11x17 should be big enough for most of our pens) you can print out gradation colors and use them in the background for great effects. For other effects, you can take a piece of glass and spray paint the under side with just about any color you want for different effects, Black works fantastic, and use it just like you would mirror...

 

[EarlD]

A mirror will give you two reflections if your angle is very low - one from the mirrored back and one from the front glass. I used black spray paint on a piece of picture glass and it gives a dark reflection of the pen. I also use a piece of black poster board that's positioned under the far side of the glass and then curves up vertically behind the pen. Then the black poster board is all that's reflected in the glass except for the pen. Here's an example:

I also have the same setup in white. It gives a very subtle reflection:

Regular poster board in white, black and gray as well as other colors are very handy. Easy to roll from foreground up to a background for a continuous color.

Cropping your photo is important also. I don't worry about what's showing in the corners or sides. Just center the pen in the photo then crop close. Google's Picasa is excellent (and free) for this, as well as correcting exposure, color balance etc.

Hope this helps.
Earl

 

[underdog]

Oooo... great question. Thanks for the tips!

 

[JRay8]

i plan to give these tips a try as soon as i get some more pens to turn. thanks guys