attempt at product photography :O

Dew · Jan 25, 2004

well, i had to try this out, the hubby does a lot of product photography and i figured, what the hell ... i'd give it a shot .... i like the controlled environment and lighting challenges that u have to manipulate ...

anywho, the hubby brought this bottle of vodka home, a gift from one of his cleints ... i thought the bottle looked interesting and wanted to see it on our blue back drop ....

well, im not claiming to be a professional ... but u get the idea :lol:

..

Olympus E20 digital

AirVenture · Jan 25, 2004

Well, it looks mighty good to me! Both the picture and the vodka.

-Brett

pilgrim · Jan 25, 2004

Amazing dew! That is right up there with the pros. Something I could see in a magazine.

metroshane · Jan 25, 2004

Is the table blue too? And is that a muslin backdrop?

manda · Jan 25, 2004

that is gorgeous
makes me want vodkaaaa mmmmmmmmmmmm :greenpbl:

voodoocat · Jan 25, 2004

That kicks ass Dew. Great shot. Just a single light on the bottom facing up towards the backdrop?

Dew · Jan 25, 2004

thanks for the feedback

... i was a little nervous about this one :roll: ... the hubby thinks its good, but he's also my hubby, so he'd better say that :lol:

nah, but seriously .... i watched my hubby (from afar) do a product shot the other day for a hair care product (a start-up company) ... and it seemed so intense ... i was very curious about it ... it was like a "mad scientist" going into his lab ... its just u, the camera, and the product, so u have lots of time to experiment with different lighting and angles ...

so i went to the dollar store and bought a few items that i wanted to photograph ... i did some "white" background stuff too (really basic) ... but i would like to experiment more with "alternative" product shots ... like funky shoe companies, etc ... i have a few ideas brewing for a shoe session ... but i need a few more items (gotta go on a treasure hunt :lol:

)

i used this blue Savage seamless paper roll that we got from b&h photo (about $30), i used a chair stool, cut a piece of the roll off (about 3 ft) and stapled it to the stool for a base (stapled the ends of the paper together so the paper would stay put), thats the blue paper u see there under the bottle (same paper also used for backdrop hanging from the ceiling in our make-shift studio) ....

i used a softbox in front ... a flash from the back (bottom) ... i used a slave flash bulb with a blue colored cap (the kind of bulb u use with the umbrella) ... just the bulb, with a "regular" office table lamp (my hubby had this set up this way, dont ask me why :lol:

) ... i laid the lamp down on the floor facing the backdrop (i tried using the lamp straight upwards, but it didnt give the same effect .. too much direct light) ... shot it in RAW mode and had my aperture at about f8-f11 ...

jeese, that was long :lol:

doxx · Jan 26, 2004

and the vodka was YUMMY! :drunk:

terri · Jan 26, 2004

Great shot, Dew. You did good work!!!

dlc · Jan 26, 2004

Still good contrast with the blue on blue, but a little hot at the base. Crop some on both sides. Very nice.

Dew · Jan 26, 2004

dlc said:
Still good contrast with the blue on blue, but a little hot at the base. Crop some on both sides. Very nice.

i didnt crop it because, with product photography (watching the hubby) ... they want the "raw" data .... and they compose it the way they want ... most likely they would add text or other things in the photo ... so i left it wide as an example of the possibilities for the make-believe client ... they can compose it to the left or right

mrsid99 · Jan 26, 2004

Well done Dew!
Looks very professional to me, partners in crime with hubby huh?

BigRC · Jan 26, 2004

Very nice shot! I would like to do stuff like this. Actually, I tried one the other day, but it didn't turn out nearly this well. Maybe after I get a few more photo props...

craig · Jan 26, 2004

Good Job! The light is positioned perfectly, showing the text of the bottle. (I'm sure you know clients look for those details) I am curious to know why the text under "imported" is soft. Generally, I keep the F stop closer to 16. Although, shallow depth of field is all the rage these days.

Dew · Jan 27, 2004

craig said:
Good Job! The light is positioned perfectly, showing the text of the bottle. (I'm sure you know clients look for those details) I am curious to know why the text under "imported" is soft. Generally, I keep the F stop closer to 16. Although, shallow depth of field is all the rage these days.

the label of the brand name was intentionally removed from the bottle and some blurred to show text, but unreadable (u know, copyright stuff).... since i didnt have an actual photo shoot with these guys .. :roll: ... the hubby thinks i should send it to them, im not quite bent on that its good enough ..

the original file still has all the elements ... but if im showing it to the "public" .. i wanted to remove their product name

btw, i did that for all the shots that i photographed with different products, i just removed the brand name ... if u guys experiment with this sort of thing and plan to show it, i would recommend u do the same :wink: