Product photo short and fat

[trommie]

Hey,

Recently iv decided to try shooting a few things that i have never really tried before (i mainly shoot motorsport), one of these 'new experiences' is clothing products. I am a little stumped though as when i shoot a jacket, shirt or vest the image appears short and fat when infact the product is not.
Iv attached an image of what i am referring to.

Does anyone have any idea why the photo is turning out this way and how i could fix it?

I have tried taking the photo lengthways and then rotating once it was on the PC but once again, short and fat.

Don't judge on the lighting etc of the image, it was just a quick one i took so i had an example to show.

The gear i'm using is a Canon 50D, i have off camera flashes etc etc also but i don't think that would effect it.

for reference, the jacket itself measures 50cm wide by 70cm tall

Thanks

 

[bianni]

Is this image that you posted sooc or resized? If you did resize it, my guess is you must have done it without checking the constrain proportion in the dialog box, for it to be distorted (Short), as you say, it is 50cm wide by 70cm long. Your image is only 50x60

 

[o hey tyler]

It's because there's a lot of negative space on either side. Maximize the usage of your frame and turn your camera 90 degrees to the right and see if your photos look better, and your product will look less fat.

It's more of an optical illusion than anything, at least that's what I think.

 

[cgipson1]

What lens are you using to shoot it with? Are you using a wide angle? Could be barrel distortion.

 

[Helen B]

Could it be because it is flattened out? Unless the clothing is designed for cardboard cut-out people, it will look squatter when laid flat than when worn. (This assumes that you haven't done something silly like alter the proportions in Photoshop by resizing incorrectly or by changing the perspective incorrectly.)

 

[robolepa]

What lens are you using to shoot it with? Are you using a wide angle? Could be barrel distortion.

That's what I was thinking. If you're using a ultra-wide/wide angle lens, and you're camera's focal plane isn't exactly parallel to the surface of the table that the vest is on, the resultant image is going to show lens distortion. And, based on my own experience, the camera doesn't have to be cocked by much to cause significant distortion.

 

[bratkinson]

I'll go with the 'flattened out' answer. Take a look at similar items posted on various companies web sites. I'd be willing to bet they either show it on a manikin or, they've carefully folded about an inch from each side underneath to make it appear taller/slimmer. After all, when worn, there's a good 2-3" along the side of the body. Here, it's flattened out for all to see. Alternatively, put 6" of stuffing into it and it will look more natural. But watch your depth of field!

 

[gsgary]

Did you use a short focal length ?

 

[trommie]

Is it possible that it is just my computer screen?
im shooting it at about 30mm so i dont think that it is the lens as it seems to strighten everything up at about 25mm.
Resize was done using lightroom for upload purposes,has had no other alterations to it. It was based off the long edge of the image as i do with all my photos so its not out of proportion.
I got the idea from these two images, i just wanted to start off going flat and simple before ruffing the jacket up a bit:

These two images came from Driza-Bone | Home just for copyright purposes.