Cyrill Harnischmacher - Tabletop Photography: Using Compact Flashes and Low-Cost Tricks to Create Professional-Looking Studio Shots

Tabletop Photography

Cyrill Harnischmacher is a photographer and designer who lives and works in southern Germany. His first book, lowbudgetshooting won him the prestigious Fotobuch-award of the German Booksellers Association in 2005. Cyrill is a studio photographer by profession and a nature and infrared photographer by passion.

Cyrill has authored four beautiful, accessible, and successful books published by Rocky Nook.

Earlier titles include Low Budget Shooting, Closeup Shooting, Digital Infrared Photography, and The Wild Side of Photography.

Using Compact Flashes and Low-Cost Tricks to Create
Professional-Looking Studio Shots

Cyrill Harnischmacher

Cyrill Harnischmacher (www.lowbudgetshooting.de)

Editor: Jocelyn Howell
Copyeditor: Jeanne Hansen
Layout and Type: Cyrill Harnischmacher
Cover Design: Cyrill Harnischmacher
Printer: Everbest Printing Co. Ltd through Four Colour Print Group, Louisville, Kentucky
Printed in China

ISBN 978-1-937538-04-0

1st Edition 2012
2012 Cyrill Harnischmacher

Rocky Nook Inc.
802 East Cota St., 3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93103

www.rockynook.com

Title of the German original: Tabletop-Fotografie mit Kompaktblitzgerten
Copyright 2011 by Cyrill Harnischmacher, Reutlingen, Germany.
(ISBN: 978-3981229318)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harnischmacher, Cyrill.
[Tabletop-Fotografie mit Kompaktblitzgerten. English]
Tabletop photography : using compact flashes and low-cost tricks to create professional-looking studio shots / by Cyrill Harnischmacher.
-- 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-937538-04-0 (hardbound : alk. paper)
1. Photography, Table-top. 2. Electronic flash photography. I. Title.
TR683.5.H3713 2012
778.72--dc23
2012005042

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Many special thanks to Urte, Tabea, Jona, and everyone who helped with the creation of this book.

The tabletop studio offers photographers the chance to hone their craft and develop photographic projects both day and night, regardless of weather and lighting conditions. Lights, backgrounds, propsin short, everything that defines an imageare under the control of the photographer, who can stage scenes that range from objective to realistic to elaborate.

Tabletop photography actually belongs to the domain of studio photography, which usually involves expensive equipment, large studio flash systems, and sophisticated accessories. But it doesnt have to be that way. With a few shoe-mount flash units, a touch of crafty spirit, and a measure of imagination, you can create stunning results with modest means. Whether you intend to take pictures for product catalogs, online auctions, foundation exposures for composite images, or you just want to capture your culinary masterpiece in a fitting scene, shoe-mount flashes can take you farquite far, actually. These flash units, sometimes called flashguns, are small, light, and battery operated, so you dont need to worry about extension cords and power outlets.

More important than anything, however, is the fact that these types of flashes are widespread. There is hardly a photographer anywhere who doesnt already have one or more of them. In short, you wont have to invest in any new technology, and you can get started right away.

This book is intended primarily for amateurs who are making their first foray into tabletop photography and who dont already own studio lighting systems.

Cyrill Harnischmacher

There are only a few variables that influence the exposure of an image. The focal length of the lens determines the perspective, the aperture defines the depth of field, the focus determines what will appear sharp in an image, and the lighting affects the mood of an image. Since working in a studio means youre in the fortunate position of being able to control all these variables, there are countless variations for exposing a single subject.

In addition to determining the depth of field, the aperture also defines the degree of blur. Both sharpness and blur have an influence on the effect of an image; they can create an objective impression, on one hand, or a romantic impression, on the other. Since we have control of all the elements in a table-top photo shoot, we are not limited to affecting the sharpness and blur by adjusting the aperture. We can also adjust the composition of the image or the relative distances among each of the elements of the picture. This means, for example, that we can intentionally place an element of an image beyond the depth of field to give the impression of a greater space or to separate the elements of the picture more clearly.

The distance of the main subject from the background of an image and the positioning of the lines of focus in an exposure are of extreme significance. They help you develop the sense of space in your images or, in other words, guide viewers to pay attention to important details.

The selection of the focal length also influences the effect of an exposure. A wide-angle lens causes objects in the foreground to appear larger and also allows you to capture a larger background. In contrast, a telephoto lens compresses an image to make it appear more compact and also depicts less background in relation to the main subject of the image. A standard lens, which is often a macro lens for tabletop photography, portrays objects in the same manner that the human eye perceives them and is accordingly useful for product shots in which you want an objective perspective.

As a result of the size of the circle of confusion, the wider the aperture, the smaller the depth of field in which the subject will appear acceptably sharp.