TEST SHOT FOR
PHOTO 200: LIGHTING/JEWELRY

The subject was a collection of waterproof watches.  Some have reflective metal bands, some have leather, rubber, or web bands and all have glass bezels.  To enhance the sense of their underwater capability a dive mask was included as a prop.

The shot was accomplished by making two exposures which were blended in photoshop.  

Shot number one (on top) was lit with an overhead light bank plus an accent light from a softbox coming from the left rear and a mirror reflector from the right front.

Shot number two was lit from underneath the light table with a single strobe head using a 20# grid and a blue gel.

The lighting for the watches wiped out the glow of the light from underneath so a composite approach was called for.

Here is the assembled image using the watches from shot one and the background from shot two.

A curves adjustment to slightly brighten the center spot on the background image created the slight change in color. For this final I also removed the clothespins showing that were serving as a support for the watchbands and darkened the vignette around the products.