Initial shots were as planned but not satisfactory. Experimentation provided valuable experience which should allow for a more successful shoot at the next studio session.
Problems encountered:
- Black velvet cloth on table sucked up too much light and would have been better with a silky material that reflected some light.
- Plan had been to use back lighting with reflected light on the front. The back light was to provide a halo around the product and the reflectors, white card and silver card, to provide a soft non reflective light.
- The silver reflector card had too harsh a reflection and caused it to be visible in the product.
- Angle of camera needed to be higher to put the product in context as it is normally seen, low and on a dish with the viewer looking down at it as they would a dish of chocolates on a table.
- The unwrapped chocolate on the dish needed additional lighting and longer exposure so the embossed design and brand name could be read. Used the fibre optic light with longer shutter time for the last set of shots.
- DoF questions.
- Should the entire dish of chocolate and product packaging be sharp?
- Should only the unwrapped enticing piece of chocolate be the only thing in sharp focus and the others softer and the package more soft focused? I have mixed feeling about this and feel the chocolate should be sharp and the packaging soft but still subtle enough for the viewer to recognise the product on the shelf in the retail market.
- Product individual item selection and preparation. I realised when looking at the images enlarged, not notice when shooting tethered, that the unwrapped chocolate was flawed. Indentation/scratch over the Lindt name and the edges had varied coloured flakes of colour. Although this could be fixed in post production I should have noticed it before commencing the shoot or after the initial shots. I did have and used a soft artists brush to remove some chocolate dust initially. Noticed also that there was some choc dust on the plate that should have been dusted off.
- The product shoot itself although I consider it a failure, it was successful in teaching me some valuable lessons about product presentation and lighting.
Photos as shot – no post-production
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| Softbox back light and reflector board |
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| Silver reflector board on left |
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| 2nd light to brighten background |
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| 2nd light on product |
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| packet well lit angle of view too low |
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| Angle of view still too low / reflection on pkg / DoF |
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| Angle of view good / DoF / shadow / choc not lit enough |
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| DoF / need more light on choc |
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| DoF / Lindt not easily visible on choc / fibre optic light need to be higher choc does not look appetising with marks on it |
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| Similar to the last shot fibre optic angle changed |
From: "Stevenson, Julian"
ReplyDeleteDate: Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:25:18 +0000
To: Paul Livingston
Subject: RE: Product Photos Blog
Sorry Paul, @#$$$!^^&%$*( BLOGGER won’t let me bloody post a comment. My thoughts are;
DOF: There has been a slight move away from artificially extended depth of field in advertising to a more natural approach with the seen shallow depth of field adding a greater sense of reality. Extended depth of field at this short subject distance can only be achieved with a tilt-shift lens or a view camera with movements. In the first few shots you have used a horizontal viewpoint when this probably should have been vertical or square, there is a lot of empty space. Could potentially be used as a double page spread or horizontal ad with text but seems empty just here. I'm pleased you used your research as a basis for the first shots but it may have in this case limited your ability to see what would work best for your product. You have gradually improved your shots in terms of lighting , use of background and viewpoint but the thing that you couldn't let go of was the plate. I think there are two issues with this. The product is sold as a luxury item but the plate of dozens of randomly placed chocolates suggests a down-market item, the sort of free chocolates one gets free when in a n Asian restaurant. The overall shape of the plate is also at odds with the rectangular shape of the packet. Picture #6 shows (at this resolution) the best lighting on the packet and presents a clean background shape for the foreground objects. The lighting here is working the best as well but you needed to add some depth/lighting to the actual background and square off the horizon. If using this shot I'd ditch the plate of messy chocolates and use either a smaller plate with one or two, no plate at all with 2-3 placed in front on the table, or just a single chocolate out of its wrapper standing on edge with a lower viewpoint. I think we should start again but this time I’ll try to spend more time with you, difficult to get around everyone.
J