Various Product Photographs

Carlh

Carlh

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Name
Carl
Edit My Images
Yes
Its my 2nd attempt, so feel free to nit pick at anything - I want my next set to be <flawless> (if thats possible).
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5..
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6..
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Cheers for popping in.

Lessons I learned: Higher aperture (closed more, maybe F16/F18 or even F20), clean my lenses and blow any dust off that might be on the sensor. Also, keep cleaning the perspex. Every little mark shows up... (I cleaned most of the marks off with the spot removal or clone tool).
 
Very interesting Carl here are my thoughts

#1 needs a reflector as the shadow parts are very dark and I want to be made to feel I want to eat the sweets. ;) you have cut the shadow at the front. Maybe a light above with a big sheet of muslin in a frame check out Garry's @Garry Edwards tuutorial I will try and dig it out. He did it with peppers can't find the link though.

#2 think this is the best of the set composition is great highlights are a tad blown

#3/4 can see a light cast on the watch face this needs elminating and maybe a little less fall off

#5/6 follow Garry's tutorial to change the specular highlight think that's what it's called

@G.K.Jnr. may also have some good tips.
 
This is my tutorial on diffused specular highlights
And this is the single light photo of them
largesoftbox.jpg

And the same shot with a gelled light on the background, and a fill card
fillcard1.jpg

It really is all about distance, relative size and angle.

As you will have seen for yourself, the strength of the reflection is dependent on the height of the camera, it's pretty much all under your control.

I think you've made a pretty good effort, it isn't the easiest type of lighting to master at first.
 
Awesome shots. I particularly like the one of the forks.

With shot 6 I feel that the reflections blend too much on the edges of the real batteries, without much to separate them.
 
Garry Edwards said:
This is my tutorial on diffused specular highlights
And this is the single light photo of them
largesoftbox.jpg

And the same shot with a gelled light on the background, and a fill card
fillcard1.jpg

It really is all about distance, relative size and angle.

As you will have seen for yourself, the strength of the reflection is dependent on the height of the camera, it's pretty much all under your control.

I think you've made a pretty good effort, it isn't the easiest type of lighting to master at first.
Click to expand...


Thats the one and link saved this time.... as its awesome.
 
Carl, There's no point in me adding to Gary's "Excellent" link. You'll not go far wrong if you follow his tuition as is.(y)

George.
 
Okay, you've had the input on lighting, now for some composition nit-picking...

1 - personally, i'd have preferred the reflection of the lowest sweetie not to have been cropped off.

2 - all four of the tines of the fork should be touching - it's surprising how many bits of cutlery are slightly out of alignment like that.

3 & 4 - its usual to set watches to "ten minutes to two" so that the hands form a V around the watchmakers logo. Also, as an aside, if it's a date watch, with the date number at the 3 position, set the date to 3rd as well... not aplicable in this case, but one for reference. Also, try and not do a selfie in the reflective surface around the face of the watch... (ETA: there are a couple of other conventions - Timex watches are always shipped as new (to make Jewellers displays look consistant) and shot as 10:09:36 (even digitals!), and Rolex's at 10:10:31 with the date as Monday 28th)

5 - well, it's the lighting and Gary's covered that.

6 - again the lighting - the highlight almost blocks out the Duracell Name (which for a product shot is one of the key things to be showing...)

I'll be honest, I'm no pro at this either, but I tend to do my setups with the camera on a tripod, tethered and use a live-view on the laptop screen so I can see the tiny differences (like the fork tines not lining up exactly - or your reflection in the watch Bezel) as I tweak composition
 
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If I was paying serious money for product photos (I'm not so don't worry) I would expect all of my products to be in focus, so would expect some tilt and shifting to be going on, but as you are just trying this theme I say I like photo 1 the best.
 
seaodyssey said:
If I was paying serious money for product photos (I'm not so don't worry) I would expect all of my products to be in focus, so would expect some tilt and shifting to be going on, but as you are just trying this theme I say I like photo 1 the best.
Click to expand...

Depends on the Brief from the Clients "creatives" usually...
 
In addition to Pete's post, if I was paying for product shots, I would expect the products themselves to be spotless in the shots - the watch is dusty and a bit grubby. The forks could do with a polish too!
 
again, slightly easier in a genuine product shot situation, as it's down to the client to provide a pristine copy of the item (or pay for the time involved in GETTING it pristine) - okay, you'd have to take steps to ensure you don't leave paw-prints all over the items, but, as I learned a week or so ago, it's pretty tough to get a perfect shot of (say) a daily wear wristwatch with 11 years service...
 
You invited nit picking .......

Some good stuff already suggesed, so probably into diminishing returns but a few further comments ......

Compositionally the sweet picture doesn't make me want to eat them - just an untidy pile:(

Forks - no additional comments.

Watches - as I understand it the reason for the 10 to 2 is to give a smiley face - and if so then the watches need to have '10 to 2' AND be upright

Tangerines(?) - again, don't make me want to pick one up and eat it - so ? put an extra one on top?

Batteries - accepting that you need space in a product image for adverting copy there seems to be too much space. ?maybe the image should also include a torch or something that the batteries are used for. Would also allow (maybe) a more interesting composition.
 
Yes, there are a few things that we can nitpick over, and these things are all important

BUT I think we should remember that the OP
1. Isn't a pro who is charging for these product-type shots, he's just someone who is trying to improve his skills, that's why he has posted his shots here, warts and all
2. Shots of this type are in fact much harder than they look.
3. Tiny faults in arrangement, tiny bits of dirt on the products and tiny errors in camera positioning (especially camera height) show up far more than we expect, it takes a lot of experience to get all of these things spot on - and even then, there is an element of luck involved.

Just as a rough guide for the future, the best (only) sequence of approach is
1. The idea - what you want to achieve from the shot
2. The benefits - what are the important benefits of the product that need to be shown, and that will make the viewer want to buy it/hold it/eat it?
3. Camera height/position/distance - which camera height will emphasise the most important benefits the most? Which camera distance will optimise the depth of field?
4. Lighting - by far the most important, but it comes last because it is very much affected by everything that comes before it.
 
Thanks for mentioning that Gary.

Having tried to do that sort of picture myself I know what you are saying is correct; it is difficult to do:).
 
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