Kitchen stuff

[lassmanac]

So, just goofing around with recent purchases and posting pics on Amazon. But, i do take it seriously. Please C&C these for lighting and composition. I would like to make them better.

The set up is a SB600 set to 1/4 through a shoot-through umbrella, 1/200 sec at f4.0, ISO 200. PP increase contrast, sharpen, reduce for web.

[Rain Lily]

I'm not much help on the lighting but I would say you needed to keep one side of the skillet in the image, instead of clipping it on two sides (I know it's a circle, but you know what I mean ) Also, I think I'd like to see the front of the cookie skillet in focus as well.

Other than that, I really do like these. Those cookies look great!

[Brooks]

Lassman,

The lighting is good on these, especially on the cookie shot.

The first shot of knives could use a much tighter crop with more emphasis on the knives and less table. Take off the knife covers and show the blades. The vegetables should be in the back of the shot unless there were some small cut pieces that could be positioned in the front near a knife blade. The cut pepper would be better positioned so the inside is visible. And the garlic is hard to recognize.

The cookie shot is much cleaner though the front should be in focus. Shoot a tighter f/stop for more dof. I don't mind the tight crop as Sis does. But then she's much harder to please than I !

In spite of my suggestions, this is a very nice start. I'd like to see you do more!

[lassmanac]

Thanks Sis. the cookies are super great, i must say. I've taken a few pictures of my cast iron in the past and always wonder about leaving in more of one side than the other. Just seems a little asymmetrical if i do, but i'll give it a try next time around and see if i can find a way to make it work.

[lassmanac]

Thank you Brooks. I was wondering about a tighter shot on the knives too. I generally like to shoot a little tighter than this, but in my mind was thinking that i shouldn't cut off the logos at either end as I was hoping to pull off getting two products in the same shot, the knives and the blade guards. And now that you mention it, if i handn't put the garlic there myself, i can see how it could be a little difficult to identify.

[JACKCAT]

Brooks beat me to the comment Iwas going to make, better him than me, his crit is always more complete. All in all, a nice job.

[lassmanac]

thank you Jackcat.

[Ed Shapiro]

Hey Sparky- Good effort!

The first thing you need to think of when you are making a commercial still-life image is “what am I selling”. In this particular case it is the knives. The blades are a bit confusing- I can’t tell what the “flat” ones are- spatulas, special chopping knives? They are intersecting a certain points that add to the confusion. You really don’t need to show the sheaths unless you are showing a package layout- as it is, it is hard to tell exactly what they are.

Basically, your lighting is good- it is what is called bright field lighting because the light reflecting from the metallic surfaces shows the blades as being the color of metal (basically white) That is because the angle of incidence is correct. Sometimes if the angle of incidence is such that the camera does not “see” the reflection of the overhead light the metal surfaces can appear as black. The only major suggestion as to lighting I would suggest that you do this kind of product with a large soft box rather than a shoot-through umbrella. Notice the hot spot on the cutting board?- that is less likely to happen with a soft box suspended over the set and coming in from slightly behind the main subjects. The angle of incidence of the lighting would be more in control whereby would could placed the knives on the cutting board, tilting them to different angles until one can differentiate between the blade and the edge. The edges should look razor sharp and be honed perfectly before the shot is made. You would also get a better rendition of the trademark on the knives. Since you are not selling the food it should be strategically placed and PERFECTLY cut so that the edges are extremely clean. The way they appear here is as if the were cut with a blunt knife because the edges are ragged. We are selling SHARP knives. The garlic clove too, appears ragged- perhaps, the garlic should have been finely minced as one can do with a sharp knife.

When food appears in a kitchen tool or appliance ad, the food needs to be styled the same as a food shot otherwise it reflects badly on the product you are illustrating.

Photographing shiny, highly polished and reflective items can be difficult- adding some food adds more difficulty.

Good concept shot- a bit of refinement and you have a winner.



I hope this helps,


Ed

PS- I went and too another look and realized that the sheaths are on all but one of the knives. I would remove them and start again using some of the tips above. You will find it more interesting.