528., originally uploaded by Opus104.

This shiny trumpet has never been played – it was taken out of the case for the first time for this shoot. I found the trumpet to be a difficult item to photograph. The reflective surface and irregular shape presents problems with hotspots, and finding the right composition was also challenging.

For this particular shot, the trumpet was placed on a trumpet stand and set on a table in front of a black background. I chose to use side lighting, so that the hot spots would emphasize the length of the instrument. The main light was provided by a light table set on its side, and a white foam core board was used as a fill on the other side. The only post-processing for the image was a sight crop and and increase of levels on the caps of the valves, which were a bit underlit.