Well, sort of.
To pass the time during this pandemic I joined a class to kick my butt. Textured surfaces was the assignment, and I couldn’t find any I liked (wood, old metal, etc.) for what I wanted to shoot. And the subject I wanted to shoot.
At first I tried black aquarium sand as a surface, but I didn’t like the results I was getting. A tuxedo shirt has a certain texture to it, and on a whim that’s what I decided to use.
I’m a big fan of tone-on-tone, and I think using the shirt accomplished that in addition to the texture brought about by the ruffles. It also highlighted the cufflinks, which were the hero in this shot. You don’t have to use imagination to see utilization.
I have to admit that there were elements that were challenging. You have high reflective gold, with the onyx of the cufflinks and the subtle tones of the shirt. I had to show the reflective nature of the onyx without blowing out the gold, while still maintaining enough cross-lighting to show the folds in the shirt. You would typically backlight to show texture – which I did – but I also needed to front light or else the onyx – though reflective – would disappear.
Ah compromises.
I love exploring light. And, to me, product photography demands more than anything in this regard. The hero must be perfect. And be perfectly lit.
Lighting details on Flickr