Impromptu product shot

[leeroix]

Here is a 4 shot stack of a new rhum. They would like to use some similar pictures on a webpage.

Batiste Rhum by keips66, on Flickr
Anything that could be done to improve it? I know that the reflections in glass can be a *****, and this was shot on my coffee table with natural light, and the philips hue set to a nice white tone for ambient. Some photoshop work to eliminate some really obvious reflections that did not belong. Thoughts?

 

[D-B-J]

I like it. Clear, can see the edges off the glass, and I love the color of the table. My gripe is with the background. The big chunk of blue/black is rather distracting, and I wish the background was just one solid color.

Jake

 

[Braineack]

Had the same comment.

 

[Derrel]

I wish there were a shot glass in this photo...

 

[leeroix]

Batiste3-edit by keips66, on Flickr
Better?
I thought of adding a shot glass, but they really only wanted the bottle itself. Also, Im not sure you would shoot good rum like this. I think this is more for high-end cocktails. Which, hopefully, will follow shortly...

 

[D-B-J]

Batiste3-edit by keips66, on Flickr
Better?
I thought of adding a shot glass, but they really only wanted the bottle itself. Also, Im not sure you would shoot good rum like this. I think this is more for high-end cocktails. Which, hopefully, will follow shortly...

Much better


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[leeroix]

Couple more...

Batiste1 by keips66, on Flickr

batiste4 by keips66, on Flickr
^sort of an art deco feel to it. - not intentional, just a interesting mess-up

 

[sashbar]

I think the color scheme and composition are a bit bland. I would add a glass, preferably the kind they use for Daiquiri cocktail - http://0.tqn.com/d/cocktails/1/0/q/J/-/-/margarita-002.jpg - it has strong diagonals, so you could put it behind the bottle. Cut a lime in two and put it strategically so it could balance the composition and add some bright color.

PS OK, I read about the clience request.. could you find some nice colourful fabric, put it on the background and blur it?

 

[leeroix]

^Yep thats a good idea. This was a sort of preliminary shoot. Ill try it!

 

[leeroix]

Now Ive been asked for an even simpler backdrop. -like white. Argh. I have a smooth white vinyl backdrop but im still worried about light and the reflections. Ill give it my best. Any pointers?

 

[cynicaster]

Disclaimer: Just “thinking out loud” here so take it for what it’s worth.

If I were taking this shot, my technical objectives (challenges?) would be:

• Clean background free of distractions (no big deal—just rig something up)
• Separation of bottle from background (i.e., eye-catching/dramatic contrast—should be no problem with white background, light positioning, and curves tool in post)
• Slightly directional/off-axis lighting to prevent an ugly flat look, but no so much that any part of the label is buried in shadow (just experiment and watch out for too much fall off)
• Keeping specular highlights at bay

The last point is, IMO, what will separate a “decent” result from a “great” one, as it’s a bit of a challenge with shiny rounded surfaces.

I’d approach the problem by trying to use a light source that is bigger than the bottle itself in all dimensions. A window is an obvious choice, but personally, I don’t like being at the mercy of mother nature’s whims, so I’d probably go for a strobe-based solution where I have full control (again, this is just me, YMMV). I don’t think I’d even bother trying the umbrella because it’d just show up in a fugly ribbed reflection, and I don’t have a large softbox (yet), so what I’d do is rig up 2 or 3 off-camera strobes in a vertical line and “double diffuse” them via 2 layers (separated by a few inches) of something like tissue paper or parchment paper. The dual layers help smooth out the “hot spots” from the strobes, thereby creating a large and even light source that you can move around to taste. I’d probably end up rigging some ad hoc gobos to keep light from going places it doesn’t belong. It’s hard to pre-imagine every possible problem on shots like this, so some on-the-fly ingenuity is always going to be required.

You might also want to try placing the bottle on a glass surface and lighting it from underneath, in addition to the key light, for some interesting effects.

A long exposure “light painting” approach using a light wand might also yield a striking result, after some trial and error.

 

[leeroix]

Good deal man. You just gave me some ideas I was poking around on line as well, and there are various light setups for different effects. I have my work cut out for me this weekend. Diffused, or bounced light is going to be the key. No umbrella or hotspots needed in the glass...Ill post up my results.

 

[Derrel]

Now Ive been asked for an even simpler backdrop. -like white. Argh. I have a smooth white vinyl backdrop but im still worried about light and the reflections. Ill give it my best. Any pointers?

One old trick for shooting bottles and glassware is to make a reflector that is stood up or taped in place and propped up right behind the bottle. One suggestion might be to move back a few feet, to a slightly cleaner spot on the table, with no knots in the wood, and so on. Looking at the sample in post #6, I can see the burn ring on the table, and then through the bottle, can see what looks like a knot in the table through the bottom part of the bottle. What I think makes this table shot work is that it looks "real"...not so "studio", but more, well, real, and everyday living, kind of a casual,light,airy feeling. Apparently,somebody wants to see it shot in a more "controlled environment", with a plain white background. A plain, white background with no other props really risks becoming dead, lifeless, and sterile, and then you're going to lose the "view" seen through the bottle. If the background is shifted to plain white, then it's going to fall to you to create "some kind" of image behind/in the rum bottle, to create some kind of "presence" in the product.

 

[leeroix]

^my thoughts exactly. They love the shots so far. But also want a sterile version. I was considering bouncing the light around a slit in-between some white fomecore and a seamless white vinyl backdrop. the only problem is I have one speedlight. I may have to borrow another...

 

[Tee]

Don't forget to leave room in the image should they want to put print in the ad.