~ Perfect Glossy Reflections Using Nintendo DS ~

When I was shopping for a lightbox, I looked at the EZCube. They had a tutorial about taking pictures to create a glossy reflection using a plastic raised platform.



I have one. It's plexiglass, but it certainly didn't give me a reflection like that. Granted, I probably don't have the right lighting. So, I gave up on that. One day, I took out my white Nintendo DS to use as a prop for my gadget charms pictures. Looks nice.


Being the busy (ok, more like lazy) person that I am, I left the DS in my mini photo studio. One day, it occurred to me that it's very glossy! So I started experimenting with taking pictures using the DS as the background. Look at these reflections!



Lighting is, of course, very important though. In the following 2 pictures, I took the picture from an angle such that the shadow of the window frame was over the earrings. The reflections are very muted.



I shifted my angle so the light from the window is directly shining on the DS and voila! Clear reflections! Now, I did this on a cloudy day, with increased exposure. The tV setting in my DSLR was set to 20 or 30, if I remember correctly. My brother would be proud that I learned how to set something on the DSLR, finally after all these months of using the automatic settings. But of course, these pictures are still going to be crappy to him.


Here's a picture after I am done cropping. I am going to work on the angle some more so that I can get a pure white background. You are seeing the window sill behind the DS from this angle.


I know a few of you are cringing at the thought that I use such a fabulous gadget as a background for pictures. But, hey, better a background then a forgotten gadget in the drawer right? I still love to play games and I will play once I get my R4 fixed or get a new one :)

What do you reuse as background or props for your pictures? Do share!