Made ya look

[okiewan]

Now THIS is exciting. :P More seamless white product shootage.

[Mr. Pickles]

Exciting? It looks like a very good job, but exciting?

[okiewan]

That was an attempt at humor.
Any post at all in this forum is exciting at one / two per week.

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by okiewan

That was an attempt at humor.
Any post at all in this forum is exciting at one / two per week.

Yep, it hasn't exactly taken off has it? I shoot on seamless or graded backgrounds a lot but usually don't post'em... but hey gotta post something.

I actually enjoy handling reflective pieces, it make catalog work more challenging... though the customer rarely appreciates the controlled specs and highlights.

Ever use cross-polarized light on product?

Chip

[okiewan]

"Ever use cross-polarized light on product?"

Tell me more please.

[epatsellis]

you can get rid of that annoying (to me at least) shadow by creatively lifting the product up an inch or so...


erie

[okiewan]

There's actually a story behind that shadow .... originally it was submitted in a way more soft fashion, ie, no real detail. Had to reshoot it as you see it.

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by okiewan

There's actually a story behind that shadow .... originally it was submitted in a way more soft fashion, ie, no real detail. Had to reshoot it as you see it.

I can see that. Shadows are good.

Chip

Ps. I'm looking for some decent examples of x-polarized lighting but they must be archived. The idea anyway is to manage diffusion and reflection by orienting polarizing film on your lights like gels and then using a polarizer on your lens to control the non-polarized light getting onto the film plane. I learned about it doing Art Repro but since I've used it on lots of product stuff. Mostly patterned stuff with polished surfaces like wood furniture. There's a thread here somewhere called 'Home Entertainment' that goes into it a little bit.

[okiewan]

Interesting. I'll do some searching. Thanks!

[d2creative]

Please post any info if you find it.

Product and commercial photography is something I'm going to be doing more and more of probably. I'd love see a bunch of tips and tricks threads in this forum. Might be a good way to keep this forum going and keep it interesting and it could turn into a great resource. For instance, the original poster could have posted his image but also given a detailed description of how the reflections were achieved/dealt with. Food styling would be another great example. The tips and tricks that food stylists use are amazing!

[okiewan]

I could list out the gear in my studio (converted 3-car garage, with NO A/C! lol) but I'm really just a catalog shooter, with limited knowledge and surely not in the same league (yet!) as Blinky. My stuff is required to be all about detail, zero imagination or creative lighting required (or accepted).

I use 3 800ws monolights with large softboxes, typical set-up is key light, above on a boom and the last at 40 degrees or so. The big lights are required because I shoot stuff as large as patio sets, white goods, etc. The setup changes a lot obviously, based on the subject, reflective (I get a lot of it too) is what I'm researching and trying to improve on at the moment, drives me nuts. I'll post up a couple as examples, maybe Blinky can offer some suggestions. It's a lot of work post processing to "fix" the stuff.

[d2creative]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I wasn't speaking of studio equipment but more of little tips and tricks.
For instance, I'm in the studio right now shooting some fruit to be used as drop outs on food packaging. Two things I've done is rub some vaseline into the fruit to bring the color out and for shots where I want water droplets I'm using a mixture of glycerin and water to keep the water droplets more stable, last longer and give me larger droplets. That's the kind of thing I was talking about. In your case it might have been how to control reflections, but I was just using you as an example.

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by okiewan

I could list out the gear in my studio (converted 3-car garage, with NO A/C! lol) but I'm really just a catalog shooter, with limited knowledge and surely not in the same league (yet!) as Blinky. ...

Don't be so sure. True confessions time...

I'm small time, my studio (soon to move unfortunately) is an 18' x 30' room in my small, rented millhouse. My office is in my bedroom. I'm poor... financially anyway. I've been at it full time since 2000. I made a whole lot more money in IT than I will ever make with a camera. I learned a lot of the trade working a few years as an assistant in the early '80s.

I had a large studio downtown with 3 camera rooms and a wet darkroom where I did mostly fine art repro, jewelry and furniture. I worked with a graphic designer and we did a lot of printing too, large format art prints, posters, gift cards, custom invites... fancy business cards, etc. We closed it a couple of years ago, the rent was high, margins were low and we got bilked on a couple of major projects within a month of each other which virtually exhausted our capital.

I cannot overstress the need to keep overhead as low as possible and attend to your marketing and basic business with as much enthusiasm as your photography... more at first. Once you're out of working money, it's tough to come back. I plowed through more than $80K in 3 years, mostly overhead. Make jobs pay for your equipment, use your capital to market yourself. ...I learned (am learning) the hard way.

Not a day passes that I don't swear to myself that I'll just go back to a real job, at least long enough to rebuild my marketing funds and maybe move the studio into a downtown loft somewhere. You can make a good living with product photography but it takes years of marketing to build up the client list. It's a good idea to do portraits and weddings (which are indeed lucrative) to supplement until you're on track. Having a gainfully employed wife with health insurance is a major plus... something I neglected.

It's hard to work creativity into product work, same with using models. I do it on spec and try to sell the client by showing them how much more impact it will have... works less than half the time.

I teach myself by experimenting and helping people on this forum... it really solidifies knowledge when you have to explain it in writing.

As for your work, from what I've seen it has a lot of commercial polish, it's very professionally done. Do you keep an up to date portfolio?

...and dude! Get some AC!

Chip

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by d2creative

Please post any info if you find it.

Product and commercial photography is something I'm going to be doing more and more of probably. I'd love see a bunch of tips and tricks threads in this forum. Might be a good way to keep this forum going and keep it interesting and it could turn into a great resource. For instance, the original poster could have posted his image but also given a detailed description of how the reflections were achieved/dealt with. Food styling would be another great example. The tips and tricks that food stylists use are amazing!

Food is a cool discipline. I've not done it except experimentally but would love to spend more time on it. The glycerin and water thing a tried and true trick. I recently got a sample of some chemicals for for effects that I'm dying to try out. It's for simulating steam (like in coffee), frost, condensate (like on a cold glass), and slushy ice. Special Effects Sample Kit.

I think I'll work up a cross-polarization tutorial... it would have lots of application in food as well as general products.

Chip

[okiewan]

To be sure, when I said same league, I mean in knowledge... as we are all aware (or should be), some of the best at ANY game aren't always the best paid, most "successful". How many painters didn't get rich until they were dead ?!

As far as overhead ... that's exactly why my "studio" is my garage. If I were doing portraits, there's no way it could be in there. Sweat control is an issue just shooting product lol. If someone saw me in my 70's vintage red-white & blue head band I'd die! I'd love to have a nice loft, trust me, I've got it laid out in my mind's eye and yes, really good A/C., but it's just not in the cards and may never be, but that's cool. I feel damn lucky to get the work I do and if I have to lose water weight everytime I shoot, so be it.

BTW, my portfolio is pretty weak, I need to add some better stuff, a lot I've posted here is there in one form or another.
http://bvostudio.com