Photography Ring Lights

[jttheclockman]

Have seen a few times now some people using led photographer's ring lights. Looks like a nice substitue for the lights I use which are mounted on the sides when taking photos. I do not use a light tent any more. What intrigued me is they set the light above the pen being shown and it is in the center. My question is has anyone used these and if so what is your opinion and what is a good brand. What should I look for as far as lumens and or color of tubes. If you need a photo I can find one somewhere. Thanks

 

[Sylvanite]

Ring lights are typically used in two circumstances:

1. Macro photography, when one is so close to the subject that the camera itself would cast a shadow on the object if photographed under traditional lights.
2. Portraiture, when one wants circular reflections around the pupils of the model's eyes. Personally, I find circular reflections to be very distracting and I consider this use to be a fad promoted by people who sell ring lights.

Either way, a ring light is meant to be placed around the lens, not mounted on a stand to the side or overhead. I would not use, nor recommend a ring light for pen photography. When placed around the lens, it takes away all choice of light placement to control shadows and highlights. When mounted on a stand, it yields distracting donut-shaped specular highlights. Ring lights offer no advantage over a standard light when photographing pens.

I'd choose a light tent with exterior lights over a ring light any day.

 

[Woodchipper]

I have a setup using Harbor Freight clamp on lights and curly Q bulbs. I clamp the lights to doors and frames to get the best lighting to eliminate shadows. Wife made covers from thin gauze cloth as diffusers.

 

[jttheclockman]

I was hoping you would chime in Eric because I consider you the photo guru on this site. Thanks Probably will stick with my side lighting.

John that is sort of the same method I use today except that I did away with the tent. The light deflection you get with a tent in my opinion was not worth the effort. I use similar clip on lights with photographers bulbs that are diffused already with the coating that is on them. I use various backdrops in the past and still play around with that. I am far from a good photographer but think I put up some decent photos of my pens. Always looking for an easier and better way. Thanks for the replys.

 

[Hippie3180]

In my opinion (for what it's worth) natural light is always best. This means you may have to deal with some shadows, but the lighting can't be beat. Pay attention to morning light, golden hour and even cloudy days when the light is filtered (less shadows.) To deal with shadows you could use a reflector to avoid them/lessen them if they concern you. This reflector could be a white piece of cardstock/poster board..nothing fancy.

Also, I use my IPhone and it's editing tools to adjust the exposure etc to my liking. There are many editing tools to enhance your photos without making them look overdone/fake.

Natural light/taken with IPhone, edited using tools available on iPhone. I probably could have put my phone on a tripod and gotten and even sharper image.

 

[Woodchipper]

Hippie3180, love the colors and pattern for the pen. What is kit used here? Name of color and source of the blank?
Suggestion: Try using a neutral solid background for some other photos just to get the effect. I use a neutral tan background. I photograph fishing flies so I need to focus on the object. Some photographers claim a figured background can distract from the subject.

 

[Hippie3180]

Hippie3180, love the colors and pattern for the pen. What is kit used here? Name of color and source of the blank?
Suggestion: Try using a neutral solid background for some other photos just to get the effect. I use a neutral tan background. I photograph fishing flies so I need to focus on the object. Some photographers claim a figured background can distract from the subject.

The pen is an Artisan European pen kit in Rhodium from Craft Supplies USA, last I looked I didn't see it there anymore, but maybe they have it now. The blank, I'm not sure where I got it, I'm thinking PSI, but don't hold me to it and I'm not sure the name of it either. I guess I need to formulate a spreadsheet to keep up with all this information.

I prefer a bit of an interesting background and don't feel it takes away from my subject, but I get that many choose white, black beige solid backgrounds. I feel like the dark, muted pattern makes my pen pop.

 

[moke]

Ring lights are meant to be basically shadowless. Shadows, when not severe or deep are helpful. Even sometimes deep shadows are can be used for effect, but need to be done right. In portraits shadows can lend roundness and when done correctly can subtract or add weight to faces. In small product photography, like pens a shadow can also add drama or interest. A shadowless portrait of a face is often referred to as a "map of the face" (an insult).
In my studio, we used a ringlight, very very occasionally, they were popular for portraiture for a while, mostly it was a youtube-pinterest type trend. We did occasionally use them in the small products studio, but the light was, IMHO, boring and easily created unwanted specular highlights. But for macro/extreme close up was often the only solution for detail in the product. In pens, it would be commensurate to maybe just the end of the pen or a small portion of the upper or lower body. All in all I think you could find cheaper, more useful alternatives.

 

[egnald]

I rely on 4-foot LED T8 bulbs in the office area in my shop. They are responsible for the reflection line on most of my pen pictures. The 6-inch gap between the lights on the ceiling causes a distortion in the reflection line on most of the pictures. I use a cotton rag as the background just to keep things simple.

I've tried light boxes, a good Nikon camera, and stuff in the past, but they only provided a marginal improvement. It was much more cumbersome than the simple approach I take now. Which is to just snap a couple of pictures using my old iPhone 8 and I use an online utility to straighten, crop, and reduce them to a more manageable size for uploading.

I learned a lot from this thread and I have often considered buying a ring light, but after reading this, I think I will just stick with my simple and easy process.

Dave

 

[Hippie3180]

I rely on 4-foot LED T8 bulbs in the office area in my shop. They are responsible for the reflection line on most of my pen pictures. The 6-inch gap between the lights on the ceiling causes a distortion in the reflection line on most of the pictures. I use a cotton rag as the background just to keep things simple.

I've tried light boxes, a good Nikon camera, and stuff in the past, but they only provided a marginal improvement. It was much more cumbersome than the simple approach I take now. Which is to just snap a couple of pictures using my old iPhone 8 and I use an online utility to straighten, crop, and reduce them to a more manageable size for uploading.

I learned a lot from this thread and I have often considered buying a ring light, but after reading this, I think I will just stick with my simple and easy process.

Dave

Dave, if you go to your photo library within your phone, up in the upper right you will see edit. There are so many options to edit your image right there, no need to go outside your phone to edit. You can crop, edit exposure, shadows, color, sharpen all the things. You're absolutely right, no need to complicate things at all.

 

[Hippie3180]

I think that a bit of shadow when using natural light creates depth within an image and can be desirable, it means that the subject does no look flat.

 

[egnald]

Dave, if you go to your photo library within your phone, up in the upper right you will see edit. There are so many options to edit your image right there, no need to go outside your phone to edit. You can crop, edit exposure, shadows, color, sharpen all the things. You're absolutely right, no need to complicate things at all.

I will maybe give that a go next time. - Thanks - Dave

 

[Hippie3180]

Hippie3180, love the colors and pattern for the pen. What is kit used here? Name of color and source of the blank?
Suggestion: Try using a neutral solid background for some other photos just to get the effect. I use a neutral tan background. I photograph fishing flies so I need to focus on the object. Some photographers claim a figured background can distract from the subject.

I found the blank, here's a link.

It's the Sapphire one.

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