How I photograph duo/multichrome polishes featuring ILNP Birefringence

Hey guys! I've noticed a ton of people have been asking for advice on how to capture the shifts that come with iridescent, duochrome or multichrome finishes. I figured I'd share some of my knowledge on the topic. So let's just get right into!
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 

So when photographing these kinds of finishes, you want a ton of light without using direct light. Also based on the name of the finish, duoCHROME or multiCHROME, you probably already know that they have that shiny finish that looks well chrome-like. So if you were to directly shine the light on the polishes, the particles really start to sparkle mainly in one spot, & the sides darken up. So when you do see the shift it's more of a glare. Please keep in mind that I'm extremely frugal, so I'm warming you now, it does not look pretty or professional in anyway, whatsoever.
Now with that being said, here it is. This my set up.
IntensePolishTherapy - How I photograph duo/multichrome polishes
IntensePolishTherapy - How I photograph duo/multichrome polishes
For this set up, I have my 3 lights. There's one Ottlite lamp, one Ottlite bulb in a desk lamp & a Phillips day light bulb. Yes I'm aware the one is stacked on two boxes. However don't worry there's a bunch of products in the pen holder parts of the base so it's weighed down.

Anyways, the base of my set up is a huge marble slab, the back part is white foam board, then there's another piece of foam board to cover up the boxes so the colours & designs isn't reflecting on my nails, & for another reason which I'll show you later in the post.

Taped to the back foam board is two sheets of white tissue paper that's folded in half so its 4 layers thick, then the paper is also taped onto one of the desk lamps. It's kind of a makeshift light box. It's also kind of handy because once I'm done with it, I peel the tape off the lamp & fold the paper behind the foam board. 
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 
After everything's set up I can take the photos close or as far as I'd like & the shift should show up extremely well. The one above is about 4-5 inches away from the paper, the one below is about 2-3 inches away. Then the one that's even lower & shows two nails is the bottle completely rested on the marble slab. So as you can see it works great no matter how close or far. I recommend playing around with angles & different heights. 
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 

Now to showcase as much as the shift as possible hold my hand tilted towards the white foam board on the side. Due to it being white it's very reflective of the light, plus you don't even get the subtle glare from the light bulbs that you still even get when using the tissue paper. Also because it's one solid board you also don't get any reflections, like you can in the the photos above.  
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 
ILNP Birefringence
ILNP Birefringence 

For both of these methods I highly recommend zooming in on your camera or phone that way, there's no shade, or reflection of the camera on your nails. I hope I explained this all in a super simple & understandable way. & I hope it helps you in some sort of way. 

Thank you so much for reading,
Anita xo

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much! Always interesting to see the setups from people who have great photos. Since you are a blogger, do you keep this setup in it's place all the time? I should look into getting the materials involved, or something similar, to try to get better pics. We'll see. :)

    Do you remember when people were taking pics of the duo/multichromes under water? :)

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