[matthew]

The days of the digital watch are numbered.
- Tom Stoppard

Product photography is everywhere. Combining elements of still life and glamour, typically with very high production quality, it encompasses every possible subject. Watches, cars, fashion and even architecture: if something has been made or sold, it's a good candidate for a product photograph.

I realize that this may be outside of many people's experience, which is a great reason to grab a camera, tripod, and some lights.
But, as this can be demanding, archived favourites are welcome. As always, I would love to read how the images were made, as this is a place for everyone to learn.

[matthew]

I found an excellent tutorial on small-item photography: http://www.theswitchboards.com/articles_...hotos.html

...but product photography encompasses much more than small-item features. If you don't have, or don't want, a mini-studio, don't think that this assignment isn't for you. I will have some non-studio examples myself in a few days.

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Nice tutorial if you dont have any lights, but faster and better results can be achived with only a speedlight and stuff most people have in their home. The tutorial is more for photoshop then lightning.

Looking forward to your non studio shots Matthew. I'll post some old stuff, and later on im gonna add some taken for this asigment.

/Paul L.

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

A few old ones.


Large Version


Large Version


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Large Version



/Paul L.

[Toad]

All great, Paul - I like the mint the best - except the product name should be more visible.

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Thanx Rob. Many of them would be excuted diffrently if i was to re-shoot them today, both lightning wise a composition. Oh well you learn.

/Paul L.

[matthew]

Nice tutorial if you dont have any lights, but faster and better results can be achived with only a speedlight and stuff you everyone have in their home. The tutorial is more for photoshop then lightning.

Looking forward to your non studio shots Matthew. I'll post some old stuff, and later on im gonna add some taken for this asigment.

Those older shots are great. I like the blue background of the shaver -- is that photoshop or natural?
(I might quibble a bit with cutting of the reflections in the tall shots, but the effect of the reflections in the food shots makes up for it.)

The tutorial does spend a lot of time on the post-production, but that seems fitting with the advertising intention of the results. Photography tutorials on non-photography sites often have a very different spin. Yes, I would absolutely use my flash; I have a high-powered external one that I can bounce off of the pure white semi-gloss paint that I used in my hallway specifically for that purpose. But, I'm a photographer, so I can be expected to be a little odd. I can imagine a lot of people there would be taking product shots with P&S cameras; the flash would be a bad thing. (why those same people would have Photoshop CS is also a mystery, so I'm not really sure what my point is.)

Speaking of bad product shots, this morning I spent about half an hour wading through the dark underbelly of eBay. Very scary. People-selling-the-socks-they're-wearing scary. The things I do for the assignments....

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Thanx Matthew.

All shots use "real" background and the reflections are real aswell.

Yes for compacts without any speedlights the tutorial will come in handy.

/Paul L.

[Pat]

One can only sigh with envy looking at Paul's photographs, I feel quite inadequate :/

[Schellamo]

Cool, I'll have to have a go at this one- Gotta work out what products to use first!
Great shots Paul- inspiring!

[smarti77]

I will add this assignment to the list of reasons I need to buy a decent flash....

Great examples Paul. Now I'm craving some chicken on a stick and dinner mints.

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Pat:no reason to feel that, even if one dont have alot of strobes and equipment, you can still get some results being a little creative.

Use a large window as main light, take large paper, foamcore sheet, or even a small mirror to bounce back some light.

here is an example of just using a window for lightning.


Shell:Glad to hear!

shane:hehe yes that chicken isnt to bad, i covered a event recently for the catering company making that food, you can just imagine the ammount of food they had.

/Paul L.

[Russt]

wow this assignment is off to a flying start...........good to see those pics again Paul, now I know I should have taken a pic of the "beef rendang" I made last night

[Banded Drake]

My vote is for Paul ( again ) . . I dont know how to match any of these shots . But i will give it a go in the next few days .

Great job on all of these .


......... Shawn

[Keith Alan]

Judging by the interest in this assignment, I thought I would get some helpful info up ASAP.
I started my lightbox project here: Strobist DIY Lightbox
(The Strobist is a great resource for all things that flash.)

My modifications: Paint the inside of the cardboard box white, or else there will be stray reflections of light brown.

Instead of flash, I use three light fixtures with 'balanced' or 'natural' bulbs. These have blueish glass and a more balanced color, but doing a custom white-balance is still recommended.

Adjustable desk lamps are the most convenient to use, allowing easier flexibility of placement and distance.
I get mine from second-hand stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Flea Markets, so investment is minimal.

The more time and money spent on quality background and substrate materials, the better.
Smooth and clean papers and fabrics for no reflections, or scrap plastics and glass for results like Paul L gets.

Tripod, small apertures, long exposures.

I built mine in under an hour, including waiting for the paint to dry.
A good size box would be from a case of wine, and such boxes are nice and strong.

Hope this helps.

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Thats is a great tutorial! Great find.

(just for the record none of my posted shots utilitzed a lightbox.)

/Paul L.

[smarti77]

Thanks Keith - Looks like a great (CHEAP) project.

[matthew]

Judging by the interest in this assignment, I thought I would get some helpful info up ASAP. ...
Hope this helps.

Thanks for that, since you're partly to blame (I mean, thank) for this assignment. That's a nice way to save a lot of money -- you should see what my local camera store is selling commercial version for. Your results certainly prove its effectiveness.

I also have a home light box, using a slightly more expensive enclosure. Mine cost $10, but it's won design awards. (at what price, beauty?) Generally, I've found it a hassle to use, though, and prefer stalking the streets. This assignment is a reason to bring it back out, so I'll give it another try later in the week.

In other news: I had my first paying job today, taking photos for a real estate agent. I was using four of those natural bulbs (100W each) and on-camera flash, with the occasional house light as well. My "auto" white balance, which is usually pretty good, came out too warm with a 5700K reading. It's easy to fix, since the ceilings are white, but the point is to get it right in the first place. After all, it's just a different genre of product photography, but with speed being vitally important. And, since it's a flat-fee service, any time I spend correcting flaws in post-production is time wasted.

Photos to come in my next post...

[matthew]

So, here's my non-studio product photography. I'm starting an occasional gig with a local ("my") real estate agent, who agreed to pay me to photograph some of his listings after he saw the photos I took of my old place. This is my first paid outing, and I've already learned a lot, and don't think that the photos are particularly great. (Fortunately, they still kick the stuffing out of the typical shots people use to sell property.) The interior shots were lit with four 100W 'natural' incandescent bulbs, three bare and one in a can, and an on-camera flash bounced off of a ceiling and/or wall. All shots used my shiny new WA lens, which has a focal length range of 22-44mm-e. It's a nice piece of glass, but tricky to use right. And, I didn't use a tripod. I probably should have, to better control the angles and tilt, but it would have slowed me down far too much and been too restrictive in such a small space.



I'm happy with the exterior shot; it has the most post-production work on it as well. I straightened the perspective, and faded the sign for the new condos that are about to be built next to the building.



This is my 'kitchen + den' shot; I gave the agent three different shots of the kitchen, and don't yet know which one(s) he'll use. This gives the best sense of the size of the place. One light is on the countertop (clipped to a toaster, actually) behind the wall at the centre of the photo. There were under-cabinet lights, but I didn't want to turn on the fluorescents. The other two clip lights are on a stand to throw light into the den area (look at the shadows from the stools), and the can is directing light into the corner of the ceiling.



'Living room + den'. I also supplied three different shots of the LR, as well as a separate one of the computer area. Again, the artificial light is being used to brighten the den. Three clip lights are attached to the back of the stools, and the can's lighting the ceiling corner.



'Living room'. In this shot, I'm practically standing on top of my three 100W clip lights, which are making my Slik Compact tripod look like a demented christmas tree. The can's being used to light the end of the wall behind the couch.

And that's how I spent my Sunday morning -- about an hour and a half total, with an hour spent indoors, and a few minutes getting the exterior shots done before the agents showed up. (They saw me already working as they pulled up, which is always good for the PR.) There was another hour and a half to select, tweak, and send off 18 photos. That's way too much time, and far too many photos -- I'll aim for 10-12 finished shots when I have a better idea of the kind of shots they need.

ANY comments, critiques, or feedback is greatly appreciated. I have also bought a book on the subject today, so I'll be reading about everything I did wrong tonight.

[Wedding Shooter]

Matt - I like your shots of the interior. Well done on your first paying job.

Paul - lovely work as usual. I have to shoot products almost every week at my other job. I might try to contribute to the assignment with a couple of shots.

Cheers,

Chris

[Wedding Shooter]

Ok - as promised. Keep in mind these were all taken with the intent of deep etching the background out. These products are the most popular colouring marker in Australia (we manufacture over 40 million of them every year!).











Cheers,

Chris

[Keith Alan]

Well, if Matthew is going to blame this Assignment on me (or thank me for it) I wanted to get this one into the official Assignment thread.

Firearms are difficult subjects, from the angle/pose to the reflective surfaces that have to be closely watched.
This is my best effort after many tries over the last year, and the lightbox made all the difference.

There are still errors, like the hot spot near the muzzle and the 'wide-angle syndrome' curvature.
Also, the brown tone behind the Star logo is a reflection of bare cardboard, which is when I learned to paint the inside of the box white.
So I'm posting this 'warts and all' because while I like the photo, the errors taught me important lessons.

This was the product of bracketing exposure for the background and the pistol, merged manually in PS7.
Also, the jpg is 800 pixels wide so please click on it to see the full-size image.

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Matthew some really great shots there, i think you did a great job considering the lights you had, the interior shots, the kitchen and the last shot could use a little more light. The living room is the best out of the three. Great job.

Chris:Thats alot of markers, colorful! nice job!.

Keith:Nice firearm, lightning works fine, it lacks sepparation from the bg though. maybe another bg color ?

/Paul L.

[Russt]

Nice job Matt on the real estate shots, they do flog what I have seen in the papers here!!

WS my kids have heaps of those markers now I know who to blame...........

Keith thanks for the link good to see your results too.........well done

its been flogging down rain all day here today........hence no work for me. so with time I my hands I had a play with a light tent.

this is in keeping with the product theme

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Nice shot Russ, looks great.

/Paul L.