[Dakota]

Hi all
I need to take a bunch of product photos to put on web site and some of them happen to be clear glass containers, and I was wondering what would be the best color background to shoot against.I will be removing the background in photoshop, I've tryed a couple of differant background colors but they show through the glass.Any thought would be appreciated.

Thanks
Dakota

[Chip Hildreth]

I'm not certain I have a solution for you but let me ask, are you planning to have them be transparent and show through whatever background you happen to choose?
The reason I ask is, regardless of what background you shoot them with, the color(s) in that background will be evident in varying degrees in the glass proper, especially in the base and curvatures. You will have to replace that cast with your new background and blend in the sort of distortions glass subjects create. It's going to be a lot of trouble making that look natural; perhaps a lot more trouble than deciding on a particular background and shooting that way. Kind of goes with the not-so-old saying, "If you can do it in the camera, do it in the camera, it will be harder in post.".
I get a fair amount of extraction work and I usually go with a white seamless BG but with glass... hmmmm, I don't know. I'm gonna have to go experiment now. This is an excellent problem... for which there is probably some simple, elegant solution that someone else here will point out soon enough. Good luck, I'll be checking back and let you know if I find something.

Chip

[Duv]

Chip is right. No matter what color you use for the background, it's going to be reflected in different ways and tones in the subject. I'm not sure if you are trying to use natural available light or strobe but placing the product in a white tent and firing light thru the fabric may give you a starting point. Also, what is the end use of the product? For example, if it is a martini glass, a light grey background could convey a very dry martini, an orange background, a very sunny tequila sunrise.
Back to the tent, you could also place black strips to the inside lining to add dark accents.

Cheers
Dave

[Mike]

Amen.

I would determine the final backgound, then shoot them on that. Otherwise you will be beating your head against the nearest wall.

I believe that it is possable to extract the clear glass from a backgound, by the time you get it down, you will indeed be quite a Photoshop expert or crazy. Sometimes its hard to tell the differance........

Mike

[ExclamPt]

Do a Google image search on "glassware." There are a number of product photos (some good, some not, of course) which may give you ideas.

[Dakota]

Thanks all for they feedback!
Well did this on with a white bg,to bad they don't make a scanner with a big enough cover so you could just scan smaller items.