Pocket Source

Phone Flashlight Raking Texture Packaging

Lighting setup

Matte kraft packaging lit by a phone flashlight at contact distance — the rear LED rakes the fibres so falloff across the box top is violent and the grain reads hard.

Lighting breakdown

1
Phone Flashlight LED
The phone flashlight — rear LED next to the camera lenses — aimed across the kraft box top from camera-left at about 6 cm. Hotspot near the LED; far edge of the lid drops hard.
Phone flashlight rear LED at ~6 cm · 0.45
Phone flashlight
2
Optional
Copy Paper Diffuse
A single sheet of white copy paper covering the rear LED at the same position. Softens the rake and slows falloff across the kraft top. Base leaves it off; the Paper Diffuse tab is its witness.
One sheet of copy paper over the phone flashlight LED · 0.45
Scrim / diffusion

Square kraft cardboard gift box on a dark table, cool LED rake from camera-left lighting the fibre grain on the lid while the far edge falls into shadow.

Base setup

A 3 mm LED. Six centimetres. Texture you can feel.

Top view

Complete setup · 1 light · 1 optional

Learning path

This setup appears in curated assignments — continue the sequence when you are ready.

Step 7/7Product tabletop lighting
Phone flashlight at centimetre distance — violent falloff and kraft texture rake.
Light Builder

Lights: 1
Contrast: 6:1
Catchlight: N/A — product still life
Key position: Phone flashlight camera-left, ~6 cm from the box top, slightly above the surface
Mood: Dramatic / Commercial
Quality: Hard Light
Subject: Product
Environment: Studio / Dark Background

Mood variations

Same kraft gift box with a sheet of copy paper over the phone LED — grain softens and the brightness drop across the lid slows. — Paper Diffuse
One sheet of copy paper over the phone flashlight at the same spot — kraft texture softens and the stop drop across the lid slows.

Same kraft gift box with the phone LED stepped back — weaker wash, flatter lid, less readable fibre. — Farther LED
Pull the phone flashlight back toward arm's length — falloff across the box flattens and the kraft texture goes quiet.

Final look

Base setup

A phone flashlight is a tiny point source. At about 6 cm it still subtends a few degrees, so shadow edges stay softer than noon sun, but inverse-square falloff across a small box is brutal — hotspot near the LED, far edge a stop or more down. That gradient is the lesson. One sheet of copy paper over the LED is the only modifier: same position, softer texture, slower falloff.

Camera & framing

Exposure

ISO

ISO 400

Shutter

1/60s

Aperture

f/8 – f/11

Lens & framing

Lens

90 – 100mm macro or short tele

Camera height

Slightly above table height, parallel to label plane

Framing

Hero product fill, label readable, minimal distortion

Try these settings → Key : fill ratio →

Key notes

1Torch mode on — aim the rear LED, not the display.
2Keep the phone within centimetres of the kraft surface; at arm's length the LED is a speck and falloff collapses.
3Watch the hotspot→far-edge gradient on the box top — if the top reads as a flat wash, move closer or raise ISO, do not flood from farther away.
4Paper Diffuse tab: one sheet of copy paper over the LED at the same spot — texture softens and the stop drop across the lid slows.