A couple Product shots

MDowdey · May 16, 2005

Ok, tell me what i could do better, or tell me how close i got to being right...

Natural window light from the left, plain white paper as the background and floor, around 1/45th and f1.8 so i could blur the backgroud out...

thanks for viewing!

matt

mentos_007 · May 16, 2005

hello Matt

for me the first one is much better. it's all sharp. in the second one the bottom part of this is blurred that is a bit distracting.

KevinR · May 16, 2005

It looks nice(#1). The question is: Do you want the shadow? This can be good and bad in a product shot. If you don't, then you need to use another light source or try reflecting some light.

ferny · May 16, 2005

It's not bad. A good base to start with. I can see some jaggies from the resize. I think the background could do with being whiter. I doubt the white paper was white to begin with. The product seems a bit under exposed to me. What sort of metering did you use? I wondering if the hotspots on the tin are telling the camera it needs less exposure than it does. I'd recommend defusing the light source. Tracing paper would be great for that. It'd help sort out the hotspots. Reflecting light onto the face of the tin may be something worth trying as well.

I think the first is much better. It's lighter and sharper.

Nikon Fan · May 16, 2005

I like the idea you're going for here Matt. However I think I would try opening the tin and showing the product, maybe lay the tin down and lean the top up next to it, so that you can still see the brand name and everything, but also are showing what's inside. I like the idea of some reflected light as well, it would really give this some sparkle! You've got a great start, just keep trying different things

Digital Matt · May 16, 2005

Looks good. Personally I wouldn't shoot at f/1.8. You don't need to blur your background, because it's just plain white, with no texture. The better thing to do would be to use a strong backlight, and overexpose your background. Were you using a tripod? If not, you should, and then I would shoot at f/8, for a much sharper picture. As said, if you want to eliminate the shadow, you'll need to bounce some light on that side. I find a bit of shadow adds some realism to it. Otherwise it will appear to be floating in nothing.

Also, you can buy plain white paper in large sheets, which is nice because you can use it as your foreground, and curve it up behind for your background, and you'll have a seamless curve. That's what I used in this photo, with a large flourescent light overhead, and directional spot.
http://www.anti-rejection.com/photography/new/an_apple_a_day.jpg

MDowdey · May 16, 2005

Also, you can buy plain white paper in large sheets, which is nice because you can use it as your foreground, and curve it up behind for your background, and you'll have a seamless curve. That's what I used in this photo, with a large flourescent light overhead, and directional spot.
http://www.anti-rejection.com/photography/new/an_apple_a_day.jpg

yeah thats what i was looking for. it was short notice and i was just goofing around. the paper i used had a very noticable crease so i had to shoot shallow to blur it. i was using a tripod but i think the f1.8 got me in the end.

thanks for all the tips gang!

Raymond J Barlow · May 16, 2005

nice work, first one is very good.. I like the shadow, but i would keep all the shadow within the frame, possibly move the subject off centre.. left. very cool shot