Quite happy with my very first white-background shots (from DIY box)

[ACF3Passion]

C&C welcome. Leveling for pure whiteness, cropping, contrast, saturation & even white brush.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/31/119/765060367/n765060367_2216428_7126.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/31/119/765060367/n765060367_2216403_8586.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/31/119/765060367/n765060367_2216675_4389.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/31/119/765060367/n765060367_2216401_8109.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/31/119/765060367/n765060367_2216404_8820.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/31/119/765060367/n765060367_2216405_9062.jpg

[tdodd]

Some nice sharp shots there and lighting mostly looks pretty good but there are a few problems...

- With the blue scent(?) bottle the level of the liquid remaining has created an odd deep band of colour right through the BLV branding. There is also reversed lettering showing through. I've no idea how to remedy the problem but it does look odd.

- I'm not sure about the lighting for the watch. I know the face is black, but it does not look like it's catching a lot of light. The numeral indiators don't seem to be reflecting back much light and look a little flat. However, there do seem to be a lot of hot spots all over the watch, its bracelet, and the rings, in general. I'm not sure what the best solution is. Maybe push the watch a little deeper into the light box? Maybe some matting spray, or whatever it's called?

- I'd say your wallet shot is by far the best. It depends on where/how the shot will be used but that is a lot of white space above the subject. Sure, text could go there if required, but for inclusion in a web catalogue, for example, it serves no purpose. I should think it could be cropped out.

- For the phone, I think I'd like a little more DOF. It doesn't have to be the whole phone but I'd like more of the keypad sharper. I'm assuming the lettering at the top of the keypad is some sort of branding. It is impossible to read or even guess at. It doesn't seem the best way to present the product.

- For the belts(?) I like the "in your face" sharpness of the front belt. What I don't like so much is the difference in colour and texture between the shiny greyish foreground and the pure white matt background. There also seems to be a dark band running across the near edge of the foreground. If you had a sea of belts, disappearing into the background, that might work, but otherwise I think you need your foreground, background and "underground" material to look the same.

- With a few of the photos it looks like you are applying the rule of thirds in your positioning of the products within the frame. I'm not sure this is usual for product shots and, to me, it looks rather odd.

- I'm afraid your "white brush work" is very obvious and quite untidy, with very obvious hard, wobbly edges to it. I don't use Photoshop so don't know how the "pros" would tackle the problem. Hopefully someone else can help out.

- I'm not sure about your colour balance. Sampling the lens with a dropper, the black of the lens barrel is reading a little blue, which is fine - perhaps it is a little blue :) But the reflection in front of the lens has a red tint to it. Against the painted white areas the reddish hue is visible. It's not really an issue, just an observation and suggestion to check it out.

Have you seen the massive thread in the lighting forum about lightboxes? There may be all the answers you need, there. There are around 1,700 posts so far - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=281524

[krnlscott]

Great critique tdodd, I learned a few things.

[ACF3Passion]

Great stuff Todd! I appreciate EVERY word.

Some nice sharp shots there and lighting mostly looks pretty good but there are a few problems...

- With the blue scent(?) bottle the level of the liquid remaining has created an odd deep band of colour right through the BLV branding. There is also reversed lettering showing through. I've no idea how to remedy the problem but it does look odd.

The deep band is how much the cologne is left and the reversed lettering is the reflection of the logo to the back of the bottle. What I'm saying is that these 'flaws' are all naturally occurring. Should I have used a brand new bottle? It would've been ideal but I did not have any.

- I'm not sure about the lighting for the watch. I know the face is black, but it does not look like it's catching a lot of light. The numeral indiators don't seem to be reflecting back much light and look a little flat. However, there do seem to be a lot of hot spots all over the watch, its bracelet, and the rings, in general. I'm not sure what the best solution is. Maybe push the watch a little deeper into the light box? Maybe some matting spray, or whatever it's called?

Yea, I was having the problem with this as well. The box is simply too shallow and I couldn't push the watch deep enough without capturing ugly background. I'll try more with this.

- I'd say your wallet shot is by far the best. It depends on where/how the shot will be used but that is a lot of white space above the subject. Sure, text could go there if required, but for inclusion in a web catalogue, for example, it serves no purpose. I should think it could be cropped out.

I just love the extra white space. I thought of the whole picture as a magazine page and I think it looks nice in its composition. I do agree some are awkwardly done though like the Tamron lens. But Coach wallet and the watch are spot-on.

- For the phone, I think I'd like a little more DOF. It doesn't have to be the whole phone but I'd like more of the keypad sharper. I'm assuming the lettering at the top of the keypad is some sort of branding. It is impossible to read or even guess at. It doesn't seem the best way to present the product.

I agree.

- For the belts(?) I like the "in your face" sharpness of the front belt. What I don't like so much is the difference in colour and texture between the shiny greyish foreground and the pure white matt background. There also seems to be a dark band running across the near edge of the foreground. If you had a sea of belts, disappearing into the background, that might work, but otherwise I think you need your foreground, background and "underground" material to look the same.

Totally with you. The sashes should not have been cropped at the edges- its sides and definitely the shadows at the bottom. Again, this is due to the light box being too small.

- With a few of the photos it looks like you are applying the rule of thirds in your positioning of the products within the frame. I'm not sure this is usual for product shots and, to me, it looks rather odd.

See previous comment

- I'm afraid your "white brush work" is very obvious and quite untidy, with very obvious hard, wobbly edges to it. I don't use Photoshop so don't know how the "pros" would tackle the problem. Hopefully someone else can help out.

This is my BIGGEST problem. Should I create a separate layer of the subject and white out the background isolated? What's the professional way to approach this?

- I'm not sure about your colour balance. Sampling the lens with a dropper, the black of the lens barrel is reading a little blue, which is fine - perhaps it is a little blue :) But the reflection in front of the lens has a red tint to it. Against the painted white areas the reddish hue is visible. It's not really an issue, just an observation and suggestion to check it out.


Have you seen the massive thread in the lighting forum about lightboxes? There may be all the answers you need, there. There are around 1,700 posts so far - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=281524[/quote]

That, my friend, is exactly how I got these shots. Read them at work and immediately spent $35~ on supplies and gave it a go. I was strongly skeptical thinking, 'how is this ghetto box gonna work?' Overall I was very VERY pleased.

Thanks for your extensive feedback! But I want to hear more on fixing the white brushing and its noobish edges to the subject it creates. Please contribute if you have a solution!

I love the forum. Thanks guys.

[tdodd]

I posted in that thread a long time ago, and got told off for suggesting people could buy a convenient collapsible solution for little more money than cobbling one together from odds and sods. Here's one of my posts - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3601159&postcount=993

I ended up returning the little cuboid thing and buying an 80cm tent from eBay for £14 - ~ $28. Actually, I haven't used it once since I bought it but it surely looks up to the job when I have something to shoot. What's nice is the complate wraparound front that will throw light right back onto the front of the item (like your watch). Plus it's nice and roomy for positioning things without edges creeping into the shot.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/80cm-Photo-Cube-Soft-Box-Light-Tent-4-Colour-Backdrops_W0QQitemZ230220413611QQihZ013QQcategoryZ 3860QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[chauncey]

I cannot, out of ignorance, comment on the images. However, I very much enjoyed reading the C&C by tdodd.

[Bill Boehme]

I think that tdodd did an excellent review and critique of the shots and I agree with all that he has said. The first thing that I noticed was that there was some problematic blending of your white background with the painted white, especially on the shot of the watch and of the cell phone and lens. There might be a problem with the light source that you are using and the custom white balance that you have set in your camera. Also, if you have any other light that is causing mixed lighting conditions, that will always result is problems in the shadow areas. Even different types of incandescent lights in the set up will result in odd colors in the shadows.

If you are going to use the brush tool to paint the background white, I suggest using the pen tool to outline and protect the subject and then paint in the background with a very large soft edged brush rather than the hard edged brush that you used. In this way, you can feather the white background into the picture with better results.

In the first image of the blue labeled bottle, there are a lot of granular looking artifacts at the bottom of the container that doesn't look right. The wallet picture is much different from the others in lighting and merging into the background and also depth of field, whatever you did that was different in that one should be done to the other shots although, I detected the slightly ragged edge where the whites merge together (it was barely noticeable). Did you have different lighting?