Mirror Finish
I used to shoot cars for a living. They are nothing more than complex curved mirrored surfaces. Lighting up a car is not about shining a lamp on it directly, but on what the sides and hood are mirroring. Pianos are the same. When we shot cars we had a 50 foot soundstage with 40 feet of white foamcore on the walls and ceiling to reflect a nice white shine on the curves. On this project I had a 20' square beige and maroon paneled piano showroom to work with. For lights I had the overhead fluorescents, daylight from a South facing storefront window and a single 1000LED Daylight panel with a 24" softbox attached.
Luckily the beige walls were featureless with nothing hanging on them, except the back wall which was covered in maroon sound absorbing panels. The walls made for even reflecting surfaces, but I didn't want the marroon panels in the final composition. The Softbox served as overall fill for the scene and as a fill/key light for the interior shots of the soundboard, strings and hammers. It was not about the amount or number of lights on this shoot. It is all about looking at the reflections in the mirror and positioning the piano and camera to produce flat, even reflections where I want them and eliminate hot spots where I don't. It is also critical to examine the shots in detail on a large monitor while shooting. I am always surprised and caught off guard to see an errant wiping cloth or light stand in the reflection. And, I admit I often catch myself and the camera looking back.
Getting a clean shot with the kind of reflections I desire is only the first part of making this job complete. even though the client was satisfied with the piano looking like it was in a showroom, I felt that a photo can either enhance or detract from the value of what is being photographed. I decided to burn some midnight oil to replace the background in Photoshop to something less distracting and more premiere gallery sculpture showing than piano sale.
Finally, I wanted to add shine and luster to the immaculately fit and finished interior. Mike, the owner and full time piano tuner store owner http://pianoandguitarinstitute.com/ had just finished re-stringing and re-tuning this Model 208 Bechstein Parlor grand. Even on high magnification on my large high resolution computer screen I could not find one speck of dust. The attention to detail on the string winding and hammers is a testament to old world craftsmanship. The sign of an artist dedicated to perfection of their craft is to pay as much detail to the parts that are not seen as to those that are.
The client, a national seller of fine pianos, https://myperfectpiano.com/ was so pleased he said "...these were some of the finest photos I have ever worked with".
This job really reflected well on everyone. A mirror finish.