Tazo Tea... Getting Betterss!

[Scatterbrained]

OK, so while digging around in the pantry last night for some adult beverages, I encountered a case of Tazo that has likely been there for over a year. I decided to take a bottle upstairs and try my hand at it to see if I can help give you some direction here. The first shot I did with just one light. The light has a 30* grid on it and is angled down to skim the diffusion material and bounce off the ground to give a bit of a gradient to the background. The reflector fills the other side and some copy paper works as a card for the tea. The one light set up works, but needs a bit of tweaking in post to get things evened out.

........
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This is the image after a few seconds in Lr to burn down my acrylic (it's a bit foggy so tosses light everywhere) and some mild D&B to even out the bottle.

..................
​

After that I went to my normal "bottle" set up. This is a bit more complex but allows for more fine tuning. Two softboxes feathered across the diffusion material. This gives a softer, more feathered edge to the highlights on the front of the bottle rather than the crisp edge you'd get from just a softbox. Black flags on either side to give a crisp edge to the highlight along the outer edges. This helps to give strong definition to the edge of the bottle by getting rid of the glowing highlight down the side. Granted it works better on a white sweep. :blushing: Simply moving the cards forward or backward allows you to determine how close to the edge of the bottle the highlight will start. Putting it behind the diffusion material will give a softer edge on the outside, rather than the crisp edge you get with it on the inside of the diffusion material. A separate light on the background and a speedlight pushing light through the paper behind the tea (this is needed because the flags block the light that would otherwise illuminate the card behind the bottle).

​

One thing to bear in mind is that you're going to want to turn out all the lights in the room, otherwise any point light source or direct reflection will show up in the bottle. Take a test shot with the flashes off just to make sure you're not getting any ambient light contaminating the shot (in this case via unwanted reflections). If you want to add some "atmosphere" to the image you can wax the bottle and then spay it with water. Hope this helps. Either way, it gave me something to do last night.

Also, what stands did you use to hold the flags and scrims? Those looks SO helpful.

Cheers!
Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amazon.com: Kupo Master 40-Inch C Stand with Turtle Base Kit - Silver KS743712: Camera & Photo

http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-E650-...d_sim_p_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=13H6ZPTADGE4EMNPARCQ

Amazon.com: Kupo 20-Inch Extension Grip Arm with Big Handle - Silver, KG203212: Electronics

Amazon.com: Pro Art 36-Inch by 5-Yards Tracing Vellum Paper Roll

Amazon.com : Office Depot(R) Brand Sturdy Board(R) Foam Boards, 20In. X 30In., Black/Black, Pack Of 2 : Office Products

 

[D-B-J]

OK, so while digging around in the pantry last night for some adult beverages, I encountered a case of Tazo that has likely been there for over a year. I decided to take a bottle upstairs and try my hand at it to see if I can help give you some direction here. The first shot I did with just one light. The light has a 30* grid on it and is angled down to skim the diffusion material and bounce off the ground to give a bit of a gradient to the background. The reflector fills the other side and some copy paper works as a card for the tea. The one light set up works, but needs a bit of tweaking in post to get things evened out.

........
​

This is the image after a few seconds in Lr to burn down my acrylic (it's a bit foggy so tosses light everywhere) and some mild D&B to even out the bottle.

..................
​

After that I went to my normal "bottle" set up. This is a bit more complex but allows for more fine tuning. Two softboxes feathered across the diffusion material. This gives a softer, more feathered edge to the highlights on the front of the bottle rather than the crisp edge you'd get from just a softbox. Black flags on either side to give a crisp edge to the highlight along the outer edges. This helps to give strong definition to the edge of the bottle by getting rid of the glowing highlight down the side. Granted it works better on a white sweep. :blushing: Simply moving the cards forward or backward allows you to determine how close to the edge of the bottle the highlight will start. Putting it behind the diffusion material will give a softer edge on the outside, rather than the crisp edge you get with it on the inside of the diffusion material. A separate light on the background and a speedlight pushing light through the paper behind the tea (this is needed because the flags block the light that would otherwise illuminate the card behind the bottle).

​

One thing to bear in mind is that you're going to want to turn out all the lights in the room, otherwise any point light source or direct reflection will show up in the bottle. Take a test shot with the flashes off just to make sure you're not getting any ambient light contaminating the shot (in this case via unwanted reflections). If you want to add some "atmosphere" to the image you can wax the bottle and then spay it with water. Hope this helps. Either way, it gave me something to do last night.

Also, what stands did you use to hold the flags and scrims? Those looks SO helpful.

Cheers!
Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amazon.com: Kupo Master 40-Inch C Stand with Turtle Base Kit - Silver KS743712: Camera & Photo

http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-E650-...d_sim_p_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=13H6ZPTADGE4EMNPARCQ

Amazon.com: Kupo 20-Inch Extension Grip Arm with Big Handle - Silver, KG203212: Electronics

Amazon.com: Pro Art 36-Inch by 5-Yards Tracing Vellum Paper Roll

Amazon.com : Office Depot(R) Brand Sturdy Board(R) Foam Boards, 20In. X 30In., Black/Black, Pack Of 2 : Office Products

Geez! They are more expensive than I thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Scatterbrained]

Also, what stands did you use to hold the flags and scrims? Those looks SO helpful.

Cheers!
Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amazon.com: Kupo Master 40-Inch C Stand with Turtle Base Kit - Silver KS743712: Camera & Photo

http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-E650-...d_sim_p_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=13H6ZPTADGE4EMNPARCQ

Amazon.com: Kupo 20-Inch Extension Grip Arm with Big Handle - Silver, KG203212: Electronics

Amazon.com: Pro Art 36-Inch by 5-Yards Tracing Vellum Paper Roll

Amazon.com : Office Depot(R) Brand Sturdy Board(R) Foam Boards, 20In. X 30In., Black/Black, Pack Of 2 : Office Products

Geez! They are more expensive than I thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, grip equipment isn't cheap, but once you've used some proper C-stands you'll never want to go back. You can always check B&H for their Impact line. Impact sells lower cost C stands and grip equipment. Another thing you can do is head over to DIYPhotography.com and check out their lighting and home studio sections. Lots of great ideas for super low budget lighting, as long as you don't mind doing a little bit of work.

 

[Derrel]

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a decent C-stand. Midwest Photo Exchange LumoPro Silver 40" Double Riser C-stand

Five year warranty on these.

 

[leeroix]

Is the white card behind the bottle to help illuminate the contents?

 

[D-B-J]

Is the white card behind the bottle to help illuminate the contents?

Yes. It didn't do much with the label being so big, but on bottles like soda and such (the "throwback" ones), it makes a huge difference.

Cheers!
Jake


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