Still life and dust...

[avelpavel]

Hello!

I would like to ask still life shooters in the LuLa how they deal with dust on objects... I'm shooting skis on black plexiglas as the client likes the mirrored reflections they have on it but the retouching is a nightmare as the plexiglas is really dust attractive. How do you deal with that? Air can and compressor works but after a bit dust settles down again. Do you know another method to clean it? Or is it better to apply the mirrored reflections in post using a new background?

Thanks for your help!

Rob

[Herbc]

there are some household dusting gadgets that have anti static properties, I think whatever you do killing static is a definite must.

[JoeKitchen]

Aside form killing static and using a can of air to dust off the set when all is set and ready, there is a filter in PS for removing dust and scratched.  It works pretty well in removing random small details, like dust and scratched.  However, if you have a lot of fine detail you need to retain, you may be limited in how much you can use it. 

[littledab]

ventilation and negative pressure to keep the dust from resetelling on the surfaces.  can be accomplished with something as a window fan  to outside.

[avelpavel]

Thank you very much for your help! Antidust gadgets is the thing I use, I think the fan tip can be really useful! I will give it a try!

All the best

Rob

[MarkL]

Be careful with compressed air and cloths. The last thing you want to do it statically charge the surface, I know this from the LF film days where after I kept the holders in anti-static bags he dust problem greatly reduced. A damp environment can stop static buildup or if you shoot a lot of things like this look at air ionising products.

On the post side, this is a great task for frequency separation.

[louoates]

Why fight the dust if you can create a perfect background digitally? If I had lots of items to shoot I'd rather spend time with the pen tool on objects such as skis than labor with the stamp tool on background dust. Mirror effects for me are a lot easier in Photoshop than fiddling with lights on every product to get the mirror effect right.

[Lightsmith]

A light tent also keeps your object from accumulating dust. I like the Interfit Light Pod 'Cocoon' light tents as they enclose the subject and have hard sides so no problems with wrinkles and you can light the subject from the top, sides, back, and bottom with these. I use the medium and large Cocoons on a glass table but Bogen makes a $55 folding stand for use with these light tents and that makes it easier to position lights to illuminate objects from below.

These light tents are a big time saver and once I found them and started using them my product photography post processing time diminished by 95%.

[avelpavel]

@MarkL: the air ionizing tip is useful, I will look around how it works and how much it costs for it.

@Louoates: yes thanks, the paths are made for every image as selective correction need to be carefully applied. I often use to fill the background with black and recreate the shadow but it's always better to have a correct reflection on the shot you show to the client on set, so in camera is really better.

@Lightsmith: I used the tent some time ago but for small objects, never liked it anyway, thanks!

Kind regards to all for the help!

Rob

[Wayne Fox]

we use this for applying face mounts. works pretty good. we also use their static gloves to wipe things down and loosen them before blowing off. Does require an air compressor so an additional expense.

http://kinetronics.com/store/iag.html

[avelpavel]

Thanks Wayne! It seems a good solution.

Rob

[RobbieV]

Hey there. I remembered this tutorial from a long time ago and thought I'd share it with you. No one mentioned retouching, so I figured it might be useful for you to check out. Maybe you're already doing it or have a retoucher, but in any case:

http://www.perfectphotoblog.com/product-photography-tips-the-fast-way-to-clean-dust/2403/

[avelpavel]

Thank you Robbie! Helpful video for sure, I'm using an air compressor and antidust clothes now and the situation is already better.

Best

Roberto