My first shot at product photography - C&C please!

Just like the title says - this is my first shot at product photography. I'd like to know what I can do to spice these up. I have a lady coming next weekend with some more of her hand made cloth diapers along with some babies, as models. I'd love some advice. I spent some time today doing some test shots, trying to get prepared. I am using an elinchrom ranger with a 3' x 4' softbox boomed above with a C-Stand. Just the one light.

FWIW: I also have 2x YN-568's and (4x) YN-622's to trigger all the lights. I have a 22" Mola Demi with grid and sock, a couple umbrellas, and some other doo-dads. Lemme hear it!!!!!

are you hitting it from the top left? most product photography i see, they usually hit it from the top down to kill the visible shadow, or they use 2 lights minimum to kill the shadow.

IMO the shadow is a little too hard on this shot. I have no idea how to compose the product so that they look more appealing, what was your thought process when you place them like that in the shot?

warlock110 wrote in post #16712218
are you hitting it from the top left? most product photography i see, they usually hit it from the top down to kill the visible shadow, or they use 2 lights minimum to kill the shadow.

IMO the shadow is a little too hard on this shot. I have no idea how to compose the product so that they look more appealing, what was your thought process when you place them like that in the shot?

Funny you ask because the soft box was boomed directly over head and it was a rather large soft box used was 3' x 4'. I didn't think the shadow was all that bad. As for the placement, the lady I am shooting the photos for asked for a sample shot like this so that's simply what I gave her. Next weekend is the real shoot.

Any other tips guys?

It looks to me that you are getting enough wrap light that your edges (on top) and getting a little soft and beginning to lose contrast and sharpness. Its not bad, but be careful there. It is possible to overlight the backdrop.

I am certainly no expert in product photography - but here's what I did that seemed to come out okay.

My goal was to have little to no shadow so you could cut the item out and paste on a white background for web site use...don't know if that's the intended use for your photos...

I made a white foam board box and hung a piece of bright white paper from the back so it covered the rear seam of the box (where bottom and back come together. Used two Speedlites with diffusers triggered wirelessly.

Setup:

warlock110 wrote in post #16712218
are you hitting it from the top left? most product photography i see, they usually hit it from the top down to kill the visible shadow, or they use 2 lights minimum to kill the shadow.

IMO the shadow is a little too hard on this shot. I have no idea how to compose the product so that they look more appealing, what was your thought process when you place them like that in the shot?

Would you stick to using one light with the big soft box? If so, how should I position it Gonzo? Thanks for the feedback btw.

I would probably bring the big light more to the front and less from directly up above. Then add a bit of light to the drop if you get shadows on the white drop.

Personally, I rather like the shot. If I were to change anything about it, it would be that you try to get a little bit of light to the inside of each diaper, somehow, or maybe reposition one to reveal the insides a little. Which ties in to my second suggestion of simply adjusting the labels so they're all clearly readable and not overtaken by light or falling away from the focus plane.
Stuffing the diapers with something to fill them out a little would help greatly. Just make sure the stuffing isn't visible in the top waistband or leg holes. It's a really, really subtle thing but it helps the customer envision what the diaper would look like in-situ... as they are right now, this is how they'd look out of the box.

Whatever you do, just make sure it's more than what she could do at home, or else there's no reason for her to pay you.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will play some more during the week.

Unless it's for catalogue work why not set up a scene with some props instead and get completely away from the white seamless?

cutwater wrote in post #16713400
I am certainly no expert in product photography - but here's what I did that seemed to come out okay.

My goal was to have little to no shadow so you could cut the item out and paste on a white background for web site use...don't know if that's the intended use for your photos...

I made a white foam board box and hung a piece of bright white paper from the back so it covered the rear seam of the box (where bottom and back come together. Used two Speedlites with diffusers triggered wirelessly.

Setup:

Results:

The glass bottle result didn't come out as good as I would have liked, too many reflections...

Seemed to come out OK? Those are terrific! I've always seen people cutting up boxes or making PVC frames with diffusers, this is the first time I've seen someone do it this way with all bounce. Looks great!

What is the whitest paper for this project? Do you just use a roll of white wrapping paper you get at an office supply store or variety store, or is there a higher quality product designed for photography?

Yay for cloth diapers! (We use them and my wife owns a cloth diaper store)

The left side looks little messy like it's a bit confusing. I would just sit that up and stuff it with something to make it look like a cloth diaper in use. It doesn't hurt to have a baby wear them which they seem to do often with cloth diaper shots. Otherwise the lighting could be softened to avoid that harsh shadow as noted above.