tips on photographing black velour?

[Peter Blake]

I have a little project that involves a Chanel bag, which is covered in black velour. will be a pseudo fashion shot.

since I believe this stuff more or less sucks up light, any tips on shooting it? it has a stitched pattern, as well as the signature gold chain strap.

 

[Larry Bolch]

Shooting dark objects against a dark background, lets you use loads of exposure and capture great detail. Using auto exposure, a light background will often force underexposure to the point that detail is completely lost.

Automatic Cameras and how to come to trust them

If the contrast range is beyond the capability of the camera, one can always bracket and use HDR. Just avoid the cliché look of big haloes and stick with realism. Well done, it is an extremely useful technique that is all but impossible to detect, but produces rich detail from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights.

 

[Peter Blake]

thanks Larry. in the end I used the shadow detail control in PP, and a gridded reflector in the shot.

http://www.realphotographersforum.com/abstract-still-life/11149-chanel-rubbish.html#post89340