How Can I make these Better

One of my biggest issues was not being able to control the light, the water in the background lights turned out during the shoot, so it totally changed the contrast of the image, upset me because it was really hard to make each shoe look alike in the pictures, but I did the best I could, the water is a little over exposed, and maybe the pics are off balanced???? Somethings I noticed.

The first 2 are my favorite, despite the second one being soft/grainy.

I personally like the progression of time that you inadvertently captured by the light changing. The 2nd of the set is my favorite, and the water being blown out actually adds to the shot IMO. it keeps the kicks as the undeniable focal point, and the soft/grainy-ness looks perfect for what is going on. looks like an old-school magazine ad. and that is meant to be a compliment

what do you mean by better? I think you did a solid shoot based on the subject and its surroundings. are you looking for sharper, more contrast, more isolation?

natural320 wrote in post #16329036
I personally like the progression of time that you inadvertently captured by the light changing. The 2nd of the set is my favorite, and the water being blown out actually adds to the shot IMO. it keeps the kicks as the undeniable focal point, and the soft/grainy-ness looks perfect for what is going on. looks like an old-school magazine ad. and that is meant to be a compliment

what do you mean by better? I think you did a solid shoot based on the subject and its surroundings. are you looking for sharper, more contrast, more isolation?

To be honest I'm probably just not confident picture wise, I never knew it was so hard, and now that I know it is I feel like everything I do can be better. Im glad you liked them, they were actually for my first client, so just wanted to make sure they were fine.

I think you did ok, but if this is for a paying client here are the issues I'm seeing:

Your white balance is off between the shots. You need to make sure this is consistant in all of your shots. How can you tell what these really look like if the shoes are slightly different in each picture?

I think the backgrounds are too distracting and pull your eyes away from the actual product. The viewers eyes are going to be looking all over the place instead of at the shoes.

Keep at it and do your research. There's a lot of information out there for this type of photography.

Q

#1- Not bad. I may lose a little foreground, or clone out that overexposed marble edge. Background a little distracting (not horrible though) Maybe a saturation or exposure layer over the background to knock it back a touch..
#2- I like this.. My eyes go "Bam! blownout water, take a break with the shoes, Bam! blownout water, take a break with the shoes, etc" Just watch WB (as said) This is good though.
#3-The angle and brown "bokeh tumor" above the laces bothers me. Contrast and sharpness are spot on (for this processed look) however.
#4 I dont mind the alien beaming up the second shoe.. I do mind the rear of the quarter (and heel) being cut off.
Good work though, and keep it up!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, this was only my second time using my camera for pictures so glad I didn't get chewed up, definitely a lot of practice needs to be done tho. Im reshooting the shoes just for my personal reasons, client didn't seem to have a problem but I want to be a perfectionist and be happy with the shots I give him.

I didn't really notice the background on my own. Only payed attention to it because you mentioned the background and I went looking for the water.

However, I think the photos would have benefited from a minimalist background. If you look at Nike's advertising all their backgrounds are flat black or very dark simple textures. I found the shoes to be the main focus of your shots anyway, but having a simple background would have helped even more.

I think you did a fine job as is though, minus that cut off back heel. Try and avoid that.