How can I photograph iridescent glitter so it shows sparkle while keeping the same angle and background?
Asked 3/27/2015
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I need to photograph a textile with iridescent glitter, but in my images most of the glitter looks clear with only a few visible sparkles. The setup has to stay consistent: a grey background, the same camera angle, and an aperture of at least f/8. I’m shooting in a lightbox with diffused side and front lights, and I’ve also tried flash, mirrors, LEDs, long exposure, and moving the light. Is there a practical way to make the glitter sparkle under these restrictions?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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It's not impossible, just unnecessarily difficult. We're not shooting slide film in 8x10 view cameras anymore; we live in a digital world. Getting the glitter, or at least one part of the glitter at a time, is relatively easy with a small light source. Getting the overall picture of the product is pretty easy as well, as these things go. If you're on a tripod, and don't move either the camera or the product, then putting together several exposures that each show off one part of the image at its best is also pretty easy with any image editor that has layers and layer masks.
Yes, it's extra time spent in post-processing, but it's a few minutes of extra time at most. Getting the light exactly right on every part of a product all at the same time for a beautiful single in-camera exposure can be an hour or more per item. The trade-off is more than worth the trouble.
Originally by user38275. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user38275
11y ago
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Yes. The easiest approach is usually not a single exposure, but a composite.
Glitter sparkles when small, directional light hits individual particles at the right angle to the camera. A fully diffused lightbox tends to suppress that sparkle, so trying to make every part glitter evenly in one shot is unnecessarily hard.
Keep the camera and product locked on a tripod. First make a clean base exposure for the overall product and background. Then make additional exposures using a smaller, more directional light source moved to different positions so different areas of the glitter catch highlights. In post-processing, combine the frames with layers/masks so you keep the best sparkle from each exposure while preserving the consistent angle and grey background.
So: no, it’s not impossible under your restrictions—but it is much easier if you treat sparkle and overall product lighting as separate exposures and blend them afterward.
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