First Attempt At Product Photography

C&C Welcome, especially if you've done this before!

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

It's well lit, but it loks like it is falling and the white balance is off.

I agree ... it needs to be straightened. Also, almost all table-top product images are done on a sweep of some kind ... usually white. Your cloth has wrinkes and undulations in it that detract from the product. I use a roll of white vellum material.

Color balance is off, and it needs some perspective straightening to make it feel right. The lighting on the background works to help separate the image, but I find the blacks are blocked up more than a art director would normally like. The sharpness on the top of the bottle and the gold band is lacking and could be from DOF or post processing. The internal feed tube is usually removed before the image is taken.

Some quick low end catalog or web product shots are done on white sweeps, but most product shots are not. If you look at catalogs, trade catalogs, product data sheets, advertising and such, they use all sorts of backgrounds and sets. Some very complicated in their props, setups, and lighting. They are all trying to add interest to their product, and a white seamless does the opposite.

sfaust wrote in post #2466020
Color balance is off, and it needs some perspective straightening to make it feel right. The lighting on the background works to help separate the image, but I find the blacks are blocked up more than a art director would normally like. The sharpness on the top of the bottle and the gold band is lacking and could be from DOF or post processing. The internal feed tube is usually removed before the image is taken.


Some quick low end catalog or web product shots are done on white sweeps, but most product shots are not. If you look at catalogs, trade catalogs, product data sheets, advertising and such, they use all sorts of backgrounds and sets. Some very complicated in their props, setups, and lighting. They are all trying to add interest to their product, and a white seamless does the opposite.

Stephen - I was REALLY impressed with your product photography on your web page. Could you tell us a bit about the backgrounds and lighting you use to capture the effects you create? How much PS is involved?

Daytona, first, thanks for the compliments. Its nice to get feedback from other than the clients themselves. Sometimes they get real picky on things that really don't seem to matter, but its their products that are more important than the artistic impression thats done of them.

I use all sorts of backgrounds, surfaces, etc, to make the images. Nothing is dismissed. I find things that I think will fit a certain feel and bring them to the studio in anticipation of using them somehow in the future. I've got things like old rotted out wood, a rusted metal panel, black marbles in a shallow baking dish, sections of tile, rocks, glossy paper in copper, silver, gold, etc, sections of various colors and textures of leather, dirt, asphalt, etc. Seriously, a small collection of weird stuff.

The lighting would be hard to discuss without mentioning a specific image to talk to. I use so many different techniques, and use ones that seem to fit the look, mood, or image I am after. So I pretty much use all the tricks in my tool bag. So its hard to discuss without using a specific image as an example. I'll try to pose an image in the still life section, and then we can discuss it there.

I try to limit the amount of photoshop work, and do everything I can in camera. That allows me to get the product shot and out the door quicker. If I have to mess around in Photoshop, it just slows everything down. I do color correction, levels, curves, and sharpening on all images.

I hope that helps.

sfaust wrote in post #2468744
Daytona, first, thanks for the compliments. Its nice to get feedback from other than the clients themselves. Sometimes they get real picky on things that really don't seem to matter, but its their products that are more important than the artistic impression thats done of them.

I use all sorts of backgrounds, surfaces, etc, to make the images. Nothing is dismissed. I find things that I think will fit a certain feel and bring them to the studio in anticipation of using them somehow in the future. I've got things like old rotted out wood, a rusted metal panel, black marbles in a shallow baking dish, sections of tile, rocks, glossy paper in copper, silver, gold, etc, sections of various colors and textures of leather, dirt, asphalt, etc. Seriously, a small collection of weird stuff.

The lighting would be hard to discuss without mentioning a specific image to talk to. I use so many different techniques, and use ones that seem to fit the look, mood, or image I am after. So I pretty much use all the tricks in my tool bag. So its hard to discuss without using a specific image as an example. I'll try to pose an image in the still life section, and then we can discuss it there.

I try to limit the amount of photoshop work, and do everything I can in camera. That allows me to get the product shot and out the door quicker. If I have to mess around in Photoshop, it just slows everything down. I do color correction, levels, curves, and sharpening on all images.

I hope that helps.

Thanks much for taking the time to offer up the explaination!