Light a Drinking Glass

[rob.trek]

The goal is to create a visually appealing image of a powdered product as it is poured into a glass. Here is what I came up with; comments and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[korreman]

I like the first one most, it has some motion in it, makes it feel fresher. #2 looks too unsymmetrical (the water is not level). #3 looks unclean IMO, the overflow thing only works with beer, as people who buy powdered drink are gonna aim for convenience. That does not look convenient.

But #1 has motion (fresh), is pretty symmetrical, is clean (convenient and fresh again), and shows the coolest part of powdered drinks, the dissolving part

 

[rob.trek]

Thank you for your reply. I didn't notice the water level in the second image; you are right, it's not level. I can fix that in Lightroom. I appreciate your observation about the freshness. The idea at this point is to use a series as a banner or a slideshow on a web page so the final image will be an image of the glass with the product fizzing.

I see your point about the overflowing image. We want to present this as convenient and not give the idea that the drink overflows.

 

[Braineack]

the first is good, but it needs flags to separate it from the bg. the rest are unappealing.

 

[KmH]

The back edge of the rim of the glass should have better definition.
Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

I think you would need to subtract light as well as flag.

 

[Derrel]

I think the very,very white background is stealing all the thunder here; a dark backdrop would make the powder stand out much more, and would pull the eye much,much less. The upper part of the background is just too "hot"...too bright...the extreme backlighting is making it a challenge for my eye to remain firmly focused on the drink.

 

[Designer]

"Visually appealing" huh? To me, this concoction is not appealing, as in; would I want to then drink this stuff. No.

Also, use the same glass for all photographs.

 

[rob.trek]

Where should I put the flags? I am not an expert at this, and I appreciate your suggestion. I need some help to understand what you mean by separation from the background?

As you can see in the photo of the set there is a line between the foamboard on the table and the one used for the background. I wanted to blend the two boards so the line would not appear distinct. So, I pointed the light along the line where these two boards meet. This back-lit the glass. Is your suggestion to reduce the exposure on the background so it is more apparent?

 

[rob.trek]

I have black panels to subtract light, but I don't know where I should put the flags. Where should they be palced?View attachment 75009

 

[Derrel]

No wonder you are having so much difficulty. This set is so small, and the distances are so short that due to the inverse square law, even very minor distance shifts cause huge differences in the light levels. As far as the flags Braineack mentioned, I think you might want two smaller ones, inside the big ones, just outside of the lens's field of view, at say "10" and "1" o'clock, and fairly close to the glass.

A very DARK piece of card placed very close to the edge of the glass could help to darken the edge of the glass, through what's commonly called subtractive fill; I think that might be what Braineack was thinking when he mentioned flags to help the glass be separated from the background. No matter what he was talking about though, the issue that concerns me is that it seems that the background is where ALL of the light is coming from...I do not see a source of front lighting, so the effect is of intense, blinding back-lighting...I just do not think that's the best way to light this product. I think you need some source of light coming in from the front-side of the glass.

 

[rob.trek]

The set is in my garage. If I back my Explorer out I can both widen and lengthen the set. I'll try this today.

The flags you suggested will darken the edges of the glass, is that right?

I tried a front light and had several vertical reflections on the glass. Here is the web page that gave me the concept for the set I used:

How To: Light Glass Using Subtractive Lighting | Popular Photography

I wanted the background bright so the joint where the vertical piece and horizontal piece meet is not predominant. I"ll try a black background as you suggested.

Thank you for your help.

Rob

 

[Scatterbrained]

The problem here, as has been pointed out, is that you are trying to shoot a white powder against a white background. While shooting white on white is done all the time, in this case it's going to reduce the visual weight of the powder, making it a much less dominant element in the scene.

If shooting this on white is a must however, I would recommend changing up the tactic a bit. First, frame the scene. Use a longer focal length, like a 100mm or so. Use a low camera angle to help give a dramatic presence to the glass, rather than looking down on it, which diminishes it. If you are using a flat surface and separate wall for a background rather than a sweep, this will also bring the horizon line down below the bottom of the glass, rather than through the middle of it. Once you have the scene framed, mask off any area of the white background that isn't in the frame. Aim a light on the background and meter it about 1.5 stops above your exposure settings. Now you should be ready to turn off the ambient light and take a test shot. If everything looks good mark the location of the glass and start your pour shots. You may need to place a reflector to light the powder as it pours. After each pour, empty the cup and do it again until you get the shot you are happy with. Now you should have a good shot of the pour and a good clean shot of the glass to work with.

 

[Braineack]

A very DARK piece of card placed very close to the edge of the glass could help to darken the edge of the glass, through what's commonly called subtractive fill; I think that might be what Braineack was thinking when he mentioned flags to help the glass be separated from the background. No matter what he was talking about though, the issue that concerns me is that it seems that the background is where ALL of the light is coming from...I do not see a source of front lighting, so the effect is of intense, blinding back-lighting...I just do not think that's the best way to light this product. I think you need some source of light coming in from the front-side of the glass.

yeah sorry, I was talking more like this:

but the above images explain why it all seems backlit.

 

[rob.trek]

The problem here, as has been pointed out, is that you are trying to shoot a white powder against a white background. While shooting white on white is done all the time, in this case it's going to reduce the visual weight of the powder, making it a much less dominant element in the scene.

If shooting this on white is a must however, I would recommend changing up the tactic a bit. First, frame the scene. Use a longer focal length, like a 100mm or so. Use a low camera angle to help give a dramatic presence to the glass, rather than looking down on it, which diminishes it. If you are using a flat surface and separate wall for a background rather than a sweep, this will also bring the horizon line down below the bottom of the glass, rather than through the middle of it. Once you have the scene framed, mask off any area of the white background that isn't in the frame. Aim a light on the background and meter it about 1.5 stops above your exposure settings. Now you should be ready to turn off the ambient light and take a test shot. If everything looks good mark the location of the glass and start your pour shots. You may need to place a reflector to light the powder as it pours. After each pour, empty the cup and do it again until you get the shot you are happy with. Now you should have a good shot of the pour and a good clean shot of the glass to work with.

I am in the process of changing the set to allow for a longer focal length. (If nothing else, my garage is more organized). I am using a horizontal and vertical piece. What is the reason for masking off the white area that is not in the frame?

I have a bit more organzing in my garage so the set can be wider then I'm ready to shoot.

Thank you very much,

Rob

 

[rob.trek]

Oh this is magnificent. This seems to be all back-lit, is that correct?

I need to build some sort of stand to hold my black foam-boards in place.