http://www.techgadgets.in/images/sony-ericsson-mobile-phones.jpg
http://www.thelatestone.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/sony-ericsson-c903-cybershot.jpg
As you can see, both these picture display the phone's shape very clearly and also the illumination in the screen and keypad. There are two illuminated areas in a mobile phone – the screen and the keypad. I was trying to get result similar to these print ads some time back.
My objective: illumination inside the screen and on the keypad should be displayed along with giving enough details about the shape and brand of the phone. All this without the use of any image manipulation using post processing softwares.
I started off by changing my mobile phone setting to display the screen and key pad lights for 60 seconds after which they will shut.
First Try:
f/9 | 2.9s | ISO 100 | Flash Off | Ambient light via 20w bulb
I got the illumination in the screen and keypad, but could not highlight the shape / brand of mobile
Second Try:
f/14 | 1/100s | ISO 100 | Flash On (Full Power) | Ambient light via 20w bulb
Here, I got the shape but the flash over powered every other aspect of the shot – no screen or keypad illumination was captured. In fact, due to flash, all artifacts on my phone (dirt particles, finger prints etc) started displaying very prominently.
Third Try:
f/14 | 5s | ISO 100 | Flash On (First Curtain Sync) | Ambient light via 20w bulb
The first curtain sync worked like a charm. The shutter was open for 5 seconds in which I got the flash to fire as soon as the curtain is opened. This made sure the mobile phone shape is captured. I placed a white card paper behind the phone to throw some light back on phone to capture the brand name.
Once that was done, the camera kept capturing illumination of screen and keypad in the next 4 seconds with help of some very low ambient light.
Similar results can be obtained by 'rear or second curtain sync' also.
