Transparency and Reflectance
These factors depend exclusively on the lighting technique, as will be shown by the following examples.

1. Top light: here light acts only upon the top of the subject and outlines the high-relief shape.



2. Top light with white reflector: with this we begin to reveal the characteristics of the product. This setting shows the subject’s shape, which is a glass bottle.

3. Top light with two white reflectors: other details are revealed, but in a symmetrical fashion. This setting may be less interesting, aesthetically speaking — even though this much is open to interpretation.

4. Top light with silver reflector: like in example (1), only with a silver reflex, as the contrast is more pronounced. The thick green glass wall of the bottle is even more noticeable in the opposite side.

5. Top light with two silver reflectors: just like in example (3), there’s less aesthetical interest due to the perfect symmetry.

6. Top light with silver reflector posistioned behind the product: a reflector is cut in the shape of the bottle so it can be hidden in a blind spot. Notice that there are only a light source and a reflector. In this case, the incidence angle of the light on the reflector must match the angle of reflection of the lens.

7. Final shoot. With a subtle freshness effect, we reach our goal: appetite appeal.

8. White background. In this shoot we used the same lighting of (1), albeit in a white background.

9. Diagonal light: a very versatile technique; more features of the product are brought to attention by a simple change in light direction.

10. Diagonal light with a white reflector: more features revealed and, on account of the light direction, the undesired symmetry isn’t any longer present.

11. Diagonal light with silver reflector: like in (10), only with intensified contrast.

12. This diagram shows what is basic about these pictures with lateral light: 1. black background; 2. light diffuser (of which a soft-box is just one example); 3. light source; 4. subject.

13. Now this one shows the basic scheme of a white background shoot: 1. white background; 2. light sources; 3. white reflectors; 4. light diffuser; 5. subject. Observe that light in the diagram is represented laterally/diagonally, but it could be used as a top or strip light also — the technique for the background does not vary.

14. Strip light: even with a large diffuser it’s possible to reach the so-called strip light effect. It suffices to cover a part of the diffuser with a gobo.

15. Contour light: this one is used only to outline the bottles silhouette, a very useful light to highlight the subject’s shape in a subtle way. The diagram below illustrates this configuration.

16. In this diagram: 1. black background; 2. white reflectors; 3. tungsten light sources; 4. our subject — in our case, a bottle; 5. the gobos (contraction of “go between”), which work as light blockers. Notice that the gobos, besides hiding reflectors and light sources, stop the reflected light to hit the lens in excess, thus avoiding undesired flair.

Conclusion

I would like to point out again that lighting is key to a good picture. Today, in the digital era, with automatic cameras and streamlined post-production, the photographer as a technician is not as much needed as before. As shown above, what we have left is the most noble part of photography: that which can’t be automatized, that is, we have to run after new solutions, applying subtle combinations of different techniques that in the end will make a difference. If we give a certain briefing to fifty photographers, we’ll have fifty different pictures. So, in order to be successful, challenges must be taken as puzzles, thus making work enjoyable — even when it’s still photography!