Drink Shot w/Lemon

Here is a shot that was from a job a while ago.

The client was an ad firm doing product launch work

for a Japanese drinks manufacturer.

 

The client wanted clean and simple.

I don't figure I could have gotten much cleaner or much simpler.

I tried to highlight the uniqueness of the frosted bottle and the

fact that it had a clean lemon flavor.

 

Please critique it and let me know what you think. If you don't like

it let me know why. Note that the shot probably appeared with

some type treatments on the ads or table tents. So the negative

space on the upper right is intentional.

 

I should note there is NO Photoshop work here other than one

very slight blemish retouched out on the lemon. If your

interested to know how it was shot... give me a constructive

critique and I'll post a bit later with some ideas for how to get this

kind of a shot set up. It's fairly simple if you have patience.

 

I am really interested in what other people shooting studio work

think. Any suggestions on improving it are appreciated.

 

In general I like it... the only thing I wish...

I wish that since I too the time to set it up and shoot it..

that I'd taken the extra time to do a 'sweaty bottle' version.

As you say a very clean shot. There is nothing wrong with what is there.

 

The one thing I may have tried and not sure if it would have workd is to try the lemon slightly behind the bottle. This may have given a yellow glow to some areas of the bottle. The clients may not have liked it as it would have altered there product but it may have added just that extra bit.

 

I would be interested in your lighting set up as this is a area that I have not done much with todate. My wife kindly purchased me 2 studio lights for christmas but so far not been able to get anything like this type of set up.

 

Great shot 8 / 8

 

chris

Maybe a little tighter on the framing job. This is a well lit photo.. Kinda like the idea of moving the lemon back a tad. Maybe a little sharper on the focus, but a good looking photo.

A simple and very effective shot.

 

It seems obvious to me that it might work very well with the lemon overlap BEHIND the bottle but no doubt you thought about that, probably the frosted glass would have diffused it too much.

 

I think that maybe the under-table lighting is a little on the strong side, but I'm not sure about that.

 

This shot is as good as any I've seen of it's genre.

Very attractive. However, when I look at the text on the bottle, my eyes move to the lemon. When I look at the lemon, I urgently need to look at the text on the bottle again. And on, and on, and ... a bit unnerving.

Indeed, I wonder how you set up the lights. Behind? Under?

 

Anyway as Garry said, this shot is as good as anything else I've seen in magazines. Tinkering with the lemon's position is pretty much in vain if you ask me, the thing works very well as is. Maybe some corp big heads would freak for you taking an inch out of the whole image's view space, I would have understood if they ordered you to put it behind the bottle but personnaly I like it this way.

 

Though it would have been a good thing to try, I don't believe I would have liked a sweaty version. Maybe it's because of the background and all but I would not be inclined to think the drink is actually cold.

Now you've gone and made me thirsty, darn it!

 

In all seriousness, I would not only call this image clean, but crisp.

 

As to critique, I don't know that I could. It's simple, crisp, graphicly strong with the yellow/black interplay... kinda reminds me of the Absolute ads. The only thing I could think of would be a glass, but then where would the text go...

 

Excellent. I would love to know the lighting setup as this is an area I'd be interested in learning more about and possibly persuing.

Hi,

Thanks for the comments from everyone,

 

During this set up I did shoot several shots with lemons positioned differently.. and they do cast a color on the bottle... the client didn't pick those as they wanted the bottle to be exactly what it was... they sure were picky about that... but whatever, it's their buck.

 

Some may have different ways of shooting this but here's what I did. I'll add that before this I'd never shot on a black background - and first try I managed quite well.

 

The big trick is not to get interupted while shooting and loose track of where you are in the exposure.It's easier than you might think to answer the phone, bump the table/tripod or pick your nose and then lose track... all which lead to screwy shots...

 

This is basically a two stage multiple exposure..

 

The first exposure is for the ambient light from the light box e.g. the glow in the bottle

 

The second exposure on the same frame is the flash that give you the highlight on the lemon and the light cast onto the bottle..

 

I used black velvet like you can get from any fabric store... it comes in different grades in most places.. thick and thinner... I bought the thinner kind and I don't think it makes a diff. to have it thicker... save the bucks buy the lesser grade.

 

Set it up like a backdrop and make sure it's smooth - if it has any wrinkles - smooth them out with a steamer or iron. Also - lint will show up in shots.. loose bits of white or most colors of thread... so take the time to make sure it spotless.. otherwise you've got to go back and do it in Photoshop.

 

I have the bottle set up on a light box, a hole cut through the velvet so that light will travel up the bottle... the hole is slightly smaller than the base of the bottle so that the light travels through the bottle and then refracts out of it...

not shooting up the sides... you'd end up with an unsightly white ring of light at the base of the bottle.

 

Switch just your light box on.. this no special light box... I bought it years ago at a swapmeet

the tubes aren't even daylight balanced.. whatever works. Switch it on and the take a meter reading with a handheld meter or with a prism head (for those of you that have 'em)..

obviously since the light is very low the exposure will be a longer one.

 

Once you've figured out the exposure for the light box part... this is the light you see 'glowing' through the bottle - go ahead set your camera to M or multiple exposure - because you will have to burn in the details of the second light set up on the same frame.

 

Click the shutter... careful not to knock your tripod or move the bottle and background..

it's easier to screw up than you'd think... as my trash can full of screwed up tranny's proves.

 

Gently switch off the light box.. remember don't move anything or it'll screw up the second burn in and you've got to start all over.

 

Keep the light box off - you camera/film are still on the same frame... now turn on your studio lights/flash on... meter this... and shoot it.

 

This should give you something similar to what I got... granted I did have a lot of screw ups... often times I get a phone call and lose track of where I was in the exposure.. sounds silly.. but it's easy to do.

 

Those are the basics of how I did it.

I'd really be interested to see how other people would shoot this.. and samples of what they acheived. Actually you can pull this off with very simple equipment.. in place of studio mono-heads you could probably get away with a flash. And light box could be of any make or size...

 

One important thing to note.. if you shoot clear glass it will loose some glow as the light will follow up the glass and not out from the glass.. where as here it get shot out because of the frosting.. it's really directing light depending on the surface of your subject..

 

Also for say a beer bottle or clear liquid.. like even perfume bottle... it's wise to place a small reflective card behind the bottle, cut to shape so that it bounces light back through the bottle... shoot two side by side one with and one without and you'll see what I mean...

 

As well you can use people for these kinds of shots.. though there are added difficulties... lemons stay in place with a bit of BlueTac or tape... people don't. But could yield some cool stuff.

 

Anyhow that's it...

Hope it helps someone...

Post the results on Photo.net or e-mail a sample.. believe me if I can do it and manage an ok shot... anyone can.

 

cheers,

Luc

 

Fantastic job, Lucas... Your approach really generated a beautiful, crisp and perfectly-lit product. I was mystified by the lighting on the bottle, as it did look lit from below (as indicated by the glow on the top surface of the fluid, with no shadow from the cap), but I hadn't considered the light-table mask concept, or the double-exposure. You have opposing light sources, but because of the way you did it, they actually complement each other nicely. Thank you so much taking the time to post your setup, this means so much more to those of us who are learning from others. I really enjoyed the work I did in a studio, and this is exactly the sort of inspiration I need to shoot some more. Thanks again.

Calvin,

 

Thanks for the compliments on this one.

Really man, let me assure you - anyone taking the time and patience can get it right.

 

I think I probably shot about 3 to 4 rolls of 120 film before I got one that for me was a 'perfect'

 

Ok check it out...

here's the funny thing... At the time when I got this I didn't have a studio. But I didn't want to turn down the work either. And here in HK the size of a apartment is like a postage stamp.

I had flash head but no stand... ha ha.. so I grabbed my rucksack full of old climbing gear and managed to rig the light from two hiking poles propped on door jams - all kinds of carabiners and runners - one tied off to the sofa as a counter balance!. I had to stand on the side of my camera to look down through the viewfinder because my place is literally that small! In fact I couldn't have even gone out of the apt. without taking down the whole set up! Insane!

 

So I gues what it all means is that I did some of my personal best work when I didn't have jack!

 

 

And I found that now that I have a studio with plenty of room I find all sorts reason to procrastinate. So I won't be building a cyclorama anytime soon - as I may never shoot anything!! ha ha..

 

Anyhow - keep in touch and let me know if you shoot something similar and what your experience was.

 

cheers,

Luc

 

Excellent! You've chosen soft objects with great lighting and colors... All others are said... This can be my recent favourite. Congrats Lucas!

Hi Lucas.

First off, thanks for the comment on my own work.

 

I love this shot. It's simple, clean, shows off the product amazingly well, but at the same time has a nice, dare I say, 'artsie' feel to it. Great stuff. I can imagine that a three foot by four foot print would look great in a large loft apartment. (Sorry, been spending some time figuring out how to decorate the place I'm in.) I'm a fan of great product shots. There aren't many, but this one ranks right up there.

 

Now, here's a way you might have been able to save some film.

 

If I were to do this shot I would have avoided the hassle of the double exposer and used a 'light painting' technique.

 

The physical setup stays the same, except you're going to have to shoot in a totally blacked out studio. Or in this case, apartment. Why? You're going to use the bulb setting instead of the multiple.

 

Using a flash meter, set your camera to properly expose for the flash.

 

Next, take a meter reading with just the lightbox and figure out how long the exposure needs to be with your camera properly set for the flash.

 

Now, make sure you can both set off the flash and turn on and off the light box without having to stumble around a dark room, or if you have to move around, practice a few times so you're not knocking your camera over or walking into your product setup.

 

Set your camera to bulb. Kill the lights in the studio (remember to do your metering in the darkened studio as well). Open the shutter, and lock it open. You'll want to use a cable release for this. Now, you can either turn on the light box and count, or use an enlarger timer, or what ever to control the time. Once it goes out, fire off your flash.

 

Release the cable and you should have your two part exposer in one shot. It's still a bit of dicking around, but, there's a lot less that can go wrong. If you're using a polaroid back, you'll also know right away if you've got the two wildly different exposures right. And it's easy to reproduce. With something like this you can also experiment a bit with filling the underside of the lemon a bit (if you so choose, I happen to like the shadow myself but as an example say,) by taking a flashlight or penlight with a cone of foil or paper to focus the light, and 'painting' the underside of the lemon with a mini spot light. Again you'll have to take a meter reading of the mini spot to figure out how long to paint the object with the light, but a little practice and you could do away with the flash entirely, open the lens, use just the mini spot light to light something like the lemon with a much shorter exposure time over all.

 

Just another way to light the same scene.

 

Keep them coming.

 

Dave Paduch

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the comments on the shot.

ha ha.. now I am feeling guilty as I got a really positive response on this shot... but lately I haven't had time to scan any newer shots to post - ha ha much less shoot something new.

 

But when I do... I will most def. try your set up.

It made complete sense when I read it.

ha ha.. as I was reading I thought "oh... yeah...

yeah... that's the ticket!"

 

So will try to shoot something new soon.

 

In my idea this is what Photo.net should be about... check something out.. comment... and get some real and useful feedback in terms of what to try next time or what might also work.... excellent.

 

Thanks again,

Luc

Clean, good light, neat. Everything's ok. So, the next step is.......? What's missing for a 10 / 10...? Maybe a little twist, a little fun, a good idea that would fit... And when you'll have a 10 / 10 ? Then the question should be: how about a 12 / 12 ?!!... :-)

I love clean photography, clean design etc... so this one really ranks up there with regard to aesthetics. Motivates me to work on the multiple exposure deal... never done it before.

 

 

This is great! I would like to hear about how you shot this. Articial light with white cards? Hot lights? Very nice contrast. Well done Lucas. df

I think the ratings explains this piece well enough.

Great shot.

Hmm... this is probably the 3rd time I'd visited this one. I look forward to see more of your still-life works.

Lucas, this is as fine a product shot as any I've ever seen. All that can be said has been said much better by the others who preceeded me. I've done just enough product/table top stuff to know exactly what you mean about all the things that can go wrong. My first thought was that the set had been lit both above/below but I, too, had never thought of double exposure. I am most impressed by your willingness to share ideas and information. Before the internet came along the most obvious thing to me about all the other photographers I knew was that VERY few would ever say diddly about working methods, etc. I was interested as well to hear what you had to say about the challenges of working in your teensy apartment. I have a very small studio and I understand the challenges of working in a tight space. The most impressive thing here is how you've triumphed over all the obstacles and proven--in spades--that the most important piece of equipment is found between the ears of the photographer.

Hi Gordon, thanks for the kind words.

Yeah space to work can be funny. For some reason when I have more space I do less work.. I dunno - maybe lazy?! I find that with small spaces I get the attitude something like - "Oh yeah who says I can't shoot this shot in the space the size of a postage stamp!?!?"

 

Of course - not that I don't almost destroy all my gear and sanity everytime I do it though! ;-)

 

As for photogs not sharing technique.. yeah this is what I found as well... Sod 'em. Anyone who won't share a technique has some serious insecurity problems. I find that most guys not willing to share are guys that don't get a whole lot of work anyhow - it's a personality thing. I still get amazed when I get something that turns out like I expect it to... so I am usually tripping over myself to share it with someone! ;-)

 

cheers

Such a nice, simple concept, and you've performed it quite well. I appreciate your description about how you've set this up. Many times, I take a look at some photos here and have a bit of trouble figuring out the setup. With your description, you've given me a lot to think about when I try some still lifes myself :)