Product photography questions, tips and tricks

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Adrian
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Any product photography related questions please post here. I don't really want to spam Garry's product photography workshop thread with my questions any more. And I do have another question before today's shoot.

Is it possible to create orange out of primary gel colours (red, blue, green). I am after a deep saturated orange colour for my background. I guess the answer is "no", but it's worth asking anyway.

EDIT: I think I also have a roll of CTO gel somewhere in my loft. Would combining CTO and red create a nice orange background colour?
 
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Best to use single gel sheets as mixing colours, especially strong ones reduces the light output of you flash/tungsten lighting dramatically. If you need an orange gel, best buy one IMO.
 
I will in future, it is too late to get it for tonight though.

I asked the question, because I'm sure I read somewhere that it is possible to create any colour possible just by using primary colour gels and tweaking the light output (ie stronger/weaker). Though I can't see how I could get a rich saturated orange colour with this technique.

No worries, I'll try to add colour to the background in PP, it won't be easy though because there will also be a liquid splash there.

Thanks Gaz
 
Just make sure you don't get too much spill from the main lights or make sure you have lots of space between subject and background and what ever colour is, it will be very rich.
 
I'm afraid I'm stuck with white/grey, although I'll try a red one too.
 
Everything you need to know about combining the primary colours is here.
It doesn't really matter if you don't end up with the exact colour you want because you can very easily change it in PP - Image > adjustments . selective color (the yanks can't spell colour) and select the closest colour before playing with the sliders

gazwas said:
Best to use single gel sheets as mixing colours, especially strong ones reduces the light output of you flash/tungsten lighting dramatically. If you need an orange gel, best buy one IMO.
Click to expand...
This is sort of true, but it really doesn't matter, because to get the deeply saturated colour that the OP wants, the power requirement is in fact very low
 
Hello again,

I am looking for a bit of help with one of the products I am trying to photograph.

I understand I am not allowed to post not my own pictures, so please excuse just posting the link. It it this product:

http://ie.rimmellondon.com/products/eyes/wonder’full-mascara-with-argan-oil

It is all glossy, it is twisted and it is causing me a bit of a headache.

However I position my lights and the products I end up with a big dark shadow in the middle of the product (reflection from the background and camera.

The product is a bit oval, which means the centre of it picks up reflection from the background it stands on (I want it black reflective - perspex), the camera in the centre and the area above the camera.

TQQELSe.jpg


I can sort of get rid of dark shadow caused by the area below and above the camera using white fill cards , but it does not look great though because the edges of fill cards are visible in the reflections. I cannot get rid of the camera lens reflection though and end up with a dark circle like shape in the middle of the product. Normally this would not be a problem to sort out in Photoshop after. However with this product there are dark letters in that area and it causes all sort of problems if trying to sort out in PP.

Any ideas would be great.
 
First off, the image you've linked to is so heavily PP'd that I'm not even sure that it even started life as a photo - and that may be the best approach for this subject, which isn't easy.

And it isn't easy because it's so small. Within reason, the larger a subject is, the easier it becomes to light it selectively.

Starting point: Set the product up and set up the camera position, as always.
Then place a softbox each side, and very slightly behind, angled forwards.. These 2 softboxes will create a diffused specular highlight on each edge.
Don't worry about lighting the top, this will automatically happen from the lights at the side
Now place a reflector of some sort (probably a piece of white card or paper, with a hole cut out for your camera lens, at the front. This will pick up about the right amount of light from the softboxes, just adjust the distance as necessary, to control the volume of light from this reflector.
See what you've got, then add cutout shapes to the white reflector, to add shape to the reflection.. This could be anything - bits of ND gel stuck on to it, shading drawn in pencil, spray paint - whatever suits your particular skill best. Start 'light' and add as necessary.

As for the reflection of your camera lens, this is extremely difficult to avoid if you're using a small camera, you'll just have to do it in PP. If you were using a monorail camera you would simply use side shift to avoid the problem completely. The best workaround would be to use a mirror, but it isn't the same thing as using side shift.

Hope this helps
 
Massive help. Thank you Garry.

I've done pretty much everything you mention up until placing a white card with a hole cut out.

Yesterday, I've used 2 stripboxes one left behind the subject, one right behind, to create outline. Then 2 bounce cards on each side in front. One fill card above the camera lens and one below

jdewi5B.png


but the reflection off camera lens was still there in the middle of my product.

I never thought about using a mirror (never even knew about such trick). I'll try the next time I'll be playing with this product. The tip about shading the bounce/fill card if needed is great too.

Here is link to another picture of the product. This time it looks like straight from camera (warning: it is pretty big picture):
https://beautygeeek.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/dsc_0265.jpg

Unfortunately I don't have a tilt shift lens or monorail camera, just a plain DSLR camera.

THank you Garry, much appreciated.
 
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Well, your approach shows that you're thinking it through. And the suggestions I've made will make more difference than you expect - I expect:)
Another tip to try would be to move the camera sideways (still pointing straight forward) which will shift the reflection of the camera , possibly to a spot where it's easier to get rid of in PP. The downside of this is that you'll only be using part of the frame, so will lose some image quality.

FWIW, I prefer the shot in the second link, or at least I prefer the approach to it.
 
Can I ask a n00b question in this thread? I'll ask anyway and apologise now if it should be in a separate thread.

I want to photograph DVD's; the box they come in and the discs themselves laid out flat. Ready to advertise them on gumtree.

I have a Canon 450D, 580EX flash with a stofen diffuser thingy and a coiled flash lead. 50mm lens, standard 18-50mm and a 70-300 zoom.

I have been trying by placing the DVDs on a table, on top of a white sheet, near a window but the side farthest from the window is very dark, thought some flash held that side may help?

Any tips on what to do, setup wise and how to set the flash power much appreciated.

Thanks.
 
DorsetDude said:
Can I ask a n00b question in this thread? I'll ask anyway and apologise now if it should be in a separate thread.

I want to photograph DVD's; the box they come in and the discs themselves laid out flat. Ready to advertise them on gumtree.

I have a Canon 450D, 580EX flash with a stofen diffuser thingy and a coiled flash lead. 50mm lens, standard 18-50mm and a 70-300 zoom.

I have been trying by placing the DVDs on a table, on top of a white sheet, near a window but the side farthest from the window is very dark, thought some flash held that side may help?

Any tips on what to do, setup wise and how to set the flash power much appreciated.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You could bounce your flash off one of the walls or ceiling to create a large uniform light source. Or just stick your camera on a tripod, set a correct exposure and fire away.

Just be careful with reflection. Remember that things like shiny plastic boxes and DVDs are highly reflective. Make sure that there are no distracting reflections on the surface.

PS. No problem with using this thread for any product photography related questions :)
 
Cheers Adrian.

I will try the bounce method. clueless n00b mode: What mode do I want to set the camera into to do the exposure calcs automatically? P?

Thanks
 
DorsetDude said:
Cheers Adrian.

I will try the bounce method. clueless n00b mode: What mode do I want to set the camera into to do the exposure calcs automatically? P?

Thanks
Click to expand...
You got me there, I'm not sure. I use manual mode all the time and never used any other mode with a flash.

It is easy in manual though, dial something like 1/160s for shutter, required aparture (f8 for example, or make it smaller if you need more depth of field (f11, f13, etc)). You can try your flash in ETTL first to see where it gets you, if this will not create the results you are after, put your flash in manual as well, let's say 1/2 power first. Fire a test shot and increase or decrease the power if needed.

Advantage of that approach is that if you need to photograph many similar products/things, your lighting and exposure will be consistant and you can just swap your product and fire away without worring about settings any more (best to use tripod for that though).
 
=ReBeL= said:
You got me there, I'm not sure. I use manual mode all the time and never used any other mode with a flash.

It is easy in manual though, dial something like 1/160s for shutter, required aparture (f8 for example, or make it smaller if you need more depth of field (f11, f13, etc)). You can try your flash in ETTL first to see where it gets you, if this will not create the results you are after, put your flash in manual as well, let's say 1/2 power first. Fire a test shot and increase or decrease the power if needed.

Advantage of that approach is that if you need to photograph many similar products/things, your lighting and exposure will be consistant and you can just swap your product and fire away without worring about settings any more (best to use tripod for that though).
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, dont think I can use a tripod as I will be holding the camera over the top of the DVD's looking downward (well that was my plan) and my tripod doesn't have extension arm or anything. Will give it a go.

Was planning on using a white sheet on top of the table then place the DVDs on that to give a "blank" background. Does that seem reasonable?
 
DorsetDude said:
Thanks for that, dont think I can use a tripod as I will be holding the camera over the top of the DVD's looking downward (well that was my plan) and my tripod doesn't have extension arm or anything. Will give it a go.

Was planning on using a white sheet on top of the table then place the DVDs on that to give a "blank" background. Does that seem reasonable?
Click to expand...
You will have to shoot at a bit of an angle otherwise you'll end up with a reflection of your camera in the middle of your product if you shhot straight on.

As for not using a tripod, if you try to shoot in similar way each time the manual settings should work fine each time, once set up correctly.
 
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