How to Capture the full effect of iridescent/"holo" nail polish?

[jisaacs]

My wife is a nail artist and active blogger/instagram poster. We recently upgraded from shooting her work in a light tent with a desk lamp to two 20"x28" 5 head soft boxes and the shots have been fabulous, with one major exception. Many of the new high end and independent nail polishes include iridescent pigments and are often referred to as "holo" polishes.

In the right lighting, especially daylight, the polish has a dramatic rainbow effect. We have been completely unable to capture this effect with our studio setup, instead getting a flat silver glitter look, and I've been unable to track down any good resources on how to photograph this kind of effect.

Below are a few links to examples of other instagram nail artists who seem to have worked this out. I was hoping someone could clue me in on what I'm missing and how I can make this work with my current setup or what additional equipment I need. Thanks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCIM3tOOhai/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAp-87WAjtr/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBN8Xkugjtm/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCMxrpOrZ3t/

[Dave Humphries]

Hi,

Warm welcome to the CiC forums from me.

That's an interesting question, which I have slightly re-worded to encourage more views and hopefully answers.

Did you succeed in catching the iridescence when photographing with the desk lamp?


Could you do me a favour please?
Could you click Settings (right at the top),
then Edit Profile (on left)
and put your first name in the Real Name field
and where you are (roughly) in the Location field,
then click the Save Changes button below and to right,
this helps everyone give you more personal and relevant answers - thanks in advance.

Many thanks, Dave

[Mike Buckley]

It would help if you would show a photo or two you made that displays a look that is closest to what you are trying to achieve so we can see the difference between them and the photos you provided in your first post.

[RobFellows]

Looking at the reflections on the instagram pics they appear to have a more harsh directional light??

[Dave Humphries]

Hi again James,

Looking at the reflections on the instagram pics they appear to have a more harsh directional light??

Yes, it occurs to me that one, or perhaps two, bright point sources of light will be better for this than an overall wash from a large surface area from all those soft boxes.

By all means have them as well, to expose the rest of the scene, but I'd try adding a bright point source to get the glitter to sparkle.


Why do I say this?
Well, we have one of those multifaceted polycarbonate 'gems' hanging in the window, on a dull day, it does nothing, but on a sunny day, when the point source of the suns rays strike it, it projects a rainbow of refracted/reflected coloured dots in to the room and looks colourful itself when observed, especially when it moves*. (think 'disco glitter ball')

* Not to get too gimmicky, but here's a thought regarding movement - something to try perhaps; you could shoot two or three images while slightly moving the bright point light source (NOT the hand, which must remain very still). This should result in different colours of sparkle from any given surface in the glitter between the shots. Now all you have to do is combine the shots in to an animated GIF file.

That's the theory, but I've never tried it myself, so can't help with the details of how to do it - others may be able to help, but I'd urge you engage with us to garner more help. It may take more than '2 or 3 shots' to get a GIF loop that looks nice, but it might really bring in the custom.

Cheers, Dave

PS thanks for adding your name and location

[jisaacs]

I appreciate the suggestions. I will try and work out a bright point light source this evening and post my results.