Product shots - what to look for in images?

[lokki]

I've got a handful of small, clear plastic bottles with screened

printing. The contents will be a translucent, but dark liquid (think

water with purple food coloring).

 

I'm using two 3200K hot lights, without a soft box or diffuser. The

table is covered in black construction paper, with black silk as the

backdrop. To round things off, there is a white reflector card behind

the bottle, two black strips angled for the edges, and a thin

translucent vellum strip to diffuse and shade the light hitting the

white cap.

 

I'm not so worried about the reflection of the lamps, but what should

I be looking for in an image like this for product/catalog work? I've

tried searching, but I know so little about this kind of shot that I'm

having trouble coming up with the right vocabulary. Any links or terms

that would be helpful? Of course, suggestions and hints are always

welcome!

 

Thanks,

 

-Scott

[brooks short]

Scott,

 

It depends on what is important to your client about these bottles.

 

Is it the shape of the bottles? Are they round or faceted? Do they have a shoulder or are they cylinders? Are they fine glass bottles and therefore an important part of the packaging as perfume bottles would be? Can you use soft diffused specular highlights to describe the surfaces and shapes of these bottles?

 

Is it the color of the liquid in the bottles that is important? Can the liquid be diluted to photograph as a brighter purple?

 

Is it about how much of the purple liquid the bottles contain ie: are they supposed to be full, partially full?

 

Do they need to read the printing on the bottles? Is the printing readable or is the printing poorly done requiring new, perfect bottles?

 

Are these bottles being stripped out of their background? Is black an appropriate choice of background or would white be better? Or perhaps a graded background would be better because the bottles will not be stripped out but will live in a square or rectangular crop?

 

These ae some of the questions I would ask the client before starting this job.

[lokki]

Hi Brooks - great questions!

 

The bottles are very inexpensive, standard sized cylindrical plastic, with welded seams. The color of the liquid is reasonably important, as is the 'white' screened print. The reflector card (white cardstock) shows this off pretty nicely, with a gradient due to shadow - a problem of having only two lights and virtually no experience.

 

I'd say that most of the details of the bottles are less important, since the images will be going on a web catalog, at most up to 600px on the longest side.

 

I've asked the client about black or white matte, and haven't gotten a response yet. I will be masking the bottles. The key request was for consistent color and lighting, not necessarily exact shade or hue of the liquid. I am only charging for my time in Photoshop, as the client and I have agreed that the photography part is a learning exercise.

 

Cheers!

[brooks short]

Scott,

 

I'd use a softbox or scrim with one light overhead and slightly to the rear. A second softbox or scrim on one side and a fill card on the other side. I'd shoot these bottles on white and have the overhead light be brighter than the side light so it bounces off the background behind the bottle to light through the liquid and achieve a whiter background.

[lokki]

Unfortunately, any additional equipment is right out at the moment. However, I will try the single side light, with a strong overhead. Hadn't thought about moving the reflector card to one side, as I figured there'd be too much light loss... however, distance shouldn't be a problem.

 

What do you suggest for the reflector material? Plain white card stock, or something with more gloss?

 

Also, what should I really be paying attention to in the final exposure? I'm going to aim for uniform brightness in the liquid, and hard edges on the bottle.

 

One more thing - I'm using a 70-180 macro zoom, and adjusting zoom for each bottle to fill the frame as much as possible. Would it be more typical/appropriate to leave the frame for every shot, and only adjust for exposure (then crop at the end)?

 

I really appreciate the help, Brooks!

[johnmarkpainter]

Scott,

 

Just to step in.....try to make scrims. White shower curtains do quite well for about $10

(don't catch them on fire!!)

[lokki]

Thanks John. I'm currently using a variety of translucent white fabrics, some vellum (translucent parchment), and construction paper. In other words, I'm broke :)

 

The shower curtain idea sounds good, but I don't really have any frames. I've been doing a tinker-toy approach with some wooden dowels and small plastic fittings, as well as some resurrected mic and speaker stands.

 

The problem I find is that I still see the folds of the fabric, or the stands, or seams. Trying for uniform lighting with the ghetto gear I'm using is definately an exercise in patience. The two hot lights I have cost me $40 for the pair (used), with thin stands and a diffuser that promptly melted (literally within 2 minutes, it was developing a hole).

 

A major obstacle at this point is the white screening. In order to show the color of the liquid, I've had to light a reflector card behind the bottle. Without oblique lighting, the screen pretty much vanishes. Putting light on the text causes much higher contrast in the liquid, so it no longer looks uniform. In the extreme case, I'll just 'shop the two images together, but I'd rather learn how to do it the right way.

 

Maybe once this gig is done, I can afford some light modifiers...

[mark_l3]

"the photography part is a learning exercise"

 

I would say that, for them anyways, "the photography part is an exercise in how can we get it done as cheap as possible".

 

sounds like the one I have heard before, "it will be a great portfolio piece for you", code word for, "we aren't going to pay a lot for this"......

[lokki]

Thanks for that, Mark. However, I do charge full rates for post work, as well as for shoots for which I have experience. The client in this case is someone I know, and they offered a flat fee to the general public on a forum which I help run; I accepted with eyes wide open, and we have a very sound contract. I otherwise would not have bothered with learning this type of photography, and I wouldn't have used a typical client as a guinea pig.

 

I'm getting full pay for production/Photoshop work, and throwing in the photography for free. In exchange, I am allowed considerable leeway in execution, time, and specifics - it's an excuse to learn something new. We both win ;)

 

However, back to the original question... I'm still poring over the images to try and pick out what's important and what's not. I've got pretty good consistency in the lighting all the way down the bottles, as well as the transparency. There is very little post work needed for color and balance.

 

So, what should I be looking for in other stock/product shots to try and emulate in my own?