[Trainwreck]

Thank you cameraclicker, but I wouldn’t really want to drink this!

It is actually a mix of soy sauce and water matched to the real stuff! I find that whiskey really doesn’t photograph that well! Must be working if it looks good enough to swill!

I have the good stuff stored in the ol’ tried and true Mason Jar! But more importantly? This stuff is $50 a dang bottle! No way I’m splashing that all over the studio! Not to worry though! I’ll be happy to buy you a drink (of the real stuff) someday!

Never tried your plastic sheeting. Interesting though. I’ll give it a shot next time I need a seamless set.

Einsteins in the studio CC. Can’t beat ‘em for short duration. I have some other stuff with even higher velocity drops/splash and these things nail it. Cost about as much if not less than branded speedlights. And they provide enough power for what I do.  The only other choice I have found (Broncolor) I’m not about to shell out for!  And they don’t provide as short a duration.

It would have been a complete PITA for me to shoot this with speedlights. I can’t zero in where I want my highlights on the glass, liquid, embossing, labels, cap, ice, etc. easily or quickly with them.

Here is 100% from the finished full res .jpg. and downsized again from there. Still looks pretty good even after all that resizing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125044926@N07/14176617438/

[Trainwreck]

Thank you I hate Fautography.

If this shot made you thirsty then it must be working!

For this shot I would have chosen one of two surfaces. I like either black plexiglass, or I also use a piece of picture frame glass that I paint (in this case) black on one side (the bottom).

Plexiglass-

Pros- Provides beautiful reflections. No “ghosting” (double reflections). This is very important.

Cons- Rather expensive, scratches easily, collects dust if your set is up for very long.

Glass-

Pros- Cheap. You can paint one side any color. If you need to change color its easy to scrape off the paint with a razor blade scraper and go with another color. Not as easily scratched. Easy to clean. Did I mention cheap?

Cons- Ghosting at some shooting angles. This is unacceptable. Easily broken. Hand easily hacked off when it does!

As I recall for this shot I chose painted glass. The background is a black fleece blanket on a BG stand probably around 7-8 feet away and out of the lighting zones. Cheap and absorbs light pretty well. However, I typically shoot in the studio at max sync speed. In my case 1/200th. This kills all ambient light and I don’t have to stumble around in the dark breaking glass and hacking off limbs! I can leave the lights on with no effect on the shot. So if there is enough room out of the lighting zones behind the scene the BG will go to black anyway regardless.

I have a square of smooth black tile that I really don’t like. I have been unable to find a solid black piece to date. Most I have seen have specks which looks like dust specks in a photo. A piece of textured slate, however, makes a good textured surface to shoot on and doesn’t come off as a bad (dirty) shot.

Good product photography (and I’m not saying this is) takes an insane amount of post production work, a goodly amount of which is just cleaning the product/surface/everything else. And that’s after making sure everything is thoroughly cleaned on-set before pulling the trigger. If you don’t believe that try putting an old gold ring with a gemstone in front of your macro lens and see what you come up with!

So if you feel like it IHF what product(s) are you wanting to shoot and what kind of problems are you experiencing? We might be able to kick around a few ideas if you’ve a mind to.

[Trainwreck]

Hi IHF,

For some reason I thought you might be an owner of this site. I don’t know why.

But you have made the front page? And hung around? You are my Hero!

Viewing your work I don’t see it at all and never would have guessed.

I can only speak for my self of course. I don’t sling a camera to put food on the table. For me it would become a job and take the fun out of it.

If/when it ever gets to where I’m not having fun? Its over.

I haven’t got time for the pain!

[Trainwreck]

Now you’re talkin’ Rise.

That was the point of my story. Not that glass is difficult to shoot.

If your business depends in any way on photography (web, art shows, magazines, or menus) then it pays in the long run get it done right the first time.

I know I’m not telling you anything being a food shooter, but if I sit down in a restaurant and the menu looks beautiful and shows their food at its best, then I will probably be back. It will probably even taste better. I have been unable to decide what to have because everything looked so good on the menu. If the menu looks bad when I first sit down, I’m not so inclined to even place an order.

An good business tactic that worked.

[Trainwreck]

Welcome.

Thank you cameraclicker.

I had skimmed that group of topics and didn’t get back in the history very far until just very recently.

I’m still kind of peeling the layers off the onion here! Trying to learn the interface at the same time.

[Trainwreck]

Just took a gander at your link, I hate Fauxtography.

Very, very impressive. You have a great and very artistic eye.

Beautiful use of color, DoF, and excellent processing. It always does my Heart good to see macro used for something other than insects!

Natural light (I see your window & room). It looks especially cool on Reflection in the Round. Are these glass or acrylic beads?

Consider me a fan, IHF! Those are some seriously delicate subjects you are working with. Very cool.

Um, if I may? Are you a site owner?

[Trainwreck]

Hi cconti!

It is with great regret that I feel it is my duty to inform you that in my opinion you cannot be considered a fauxtographer.

I apologize for being the one to dash your hopes and dreams. I have faith that you will eventually be able to attain the Coveted Label in the future.

I really like your stuff cconti. Very well done.

[Trainwreck]

Thank you I hate Fauxtography!

After I said what I said I realized what you are saying to me. I appreciate you giving me a heads up on that. I’m not used to this kind of forum yet and didn’t really think it through very well.

I am used to the free exchange of advice and critiques that are all given and received well and in the spirit of learning. Which is how I hope to conduct myself here. But your point is certainly taken. Thank you.

Doc, just when I had just about given up hope, you come along and give me a reason to live again!

I’m charging up those flash batteries, junking the stupid tripod, and selecting a single color paint brush as we speak!

Thank you for the Inspiration!

[Trainwreck]

Excellent addition cameraclicker.

B&H has nothing on c&c!

Truth be told your lighting post was what inspired me to put this up.

Thank you for that. I really enjoyed that post. Not to mention you are quite the swashbuckling, devil-may-care, derring-do looking type! Much better looking than that coffee can fellow you hang out with!

[Trainwreck]

Thank you Worst Case.

Your post speaks of a seasoned vet and how one handles a typically fast-paced shoot on the fly. What you have described is what I believe the new shooters need to learn to get consistently great shots when they are under the gun.

Thank you for replying Worst Case.

As an aside? I had a great friend and mentor who, unfortunately, no longer with us.

She would explain to me how she would pose a bride using (her words not mine) fat bride/skinny bride! She would sashay over, turn 45* degrees to one side, put her hands on her hips (because you always get the arms away from the side of the body), turn her head toward me, and throw her hips back while yelling: “Fat Bride”! Then the would toss her hips out toward the camera and yell: “Skinny Bride” and repeat the whole process until I picked myself up off the floor from laughing and pay attention to what she was really telling me!

[Trainwreck]

I doubt that this helps any Rise, but a while back I had a potential Client come to me wanting some of their hand blown glass art shot. As I’m sure you are aware glass is one of the more difficult subjects to shoot correctly and they had seen some work of the same nature I had done for another Client. They wanted jury submissions, retail website, and print media. No clue what would be required for anything (file types/sizes/jury requirements, nothing). They just wanted me to provide all their answers and fulfill those needs.

So cool! I told them I would be happy to shoot for them, handle all their legwork, and submit a finished package to them ready to fulfill all their requirements. I submitted itemized pricing for approval including time already spent liaising with their printer and website guru.

You would have thought that I had killed their dog on purpose in front of their children! They would get what they wanted done and they would get it done substantially cheaper than my rates.

Well, they couldn’t find another photographer (good or bad) that would even touch a glass assignment.

So in their infinite wisdom they decided to DIY it. These are glass artists, no knowledge whatsoever about photography. You can imagine the (if you’ll pardon me saying) trainwreck that ensued! They took the garbage to print, website, and jury submission.

After a time they noticed their sales slumping. Increased calls from potential customers on the retail end wondering what the hell color a certain item was because they couldn’t tell from the image. Returns because they couldn’t tell what the hell color it was to begin with. Increased denials from juried art shows due to sub-par image submissions in the wrong format and size, and the print aspect was just too horrendous to even consider!

Back they came wanting what they had originally wanted from me in the first place.

So cool! I told them I would be happy to shoot for them, handle all their legwork, and submit a finished package to them ready to fulfill all their requirements.

It would cost them exactly double the original quote and it would be done on my deadline, not theirs. And I have never missed a deadline (especially my own)!

And just to show there were no hard feelings I tossed in an 8×10 print of each piece I shot for jury gratis for them to hang in their studio.

What is the value of a good photograph/photographer?

Well, they found out the hard way!

Hang in there Rise.

[Trainwreck]

I’m sorry Rise.

When I see something like this I get physically sick to my stomach. I love photography and it puts my Heart on the Ground to see it cheapened and diluted by what you are describing. Sadly, I see it way too much.

The bane of the digital world.

[Trainwreck]

Hi nesgran,

I also know some folks who swear by assorted “gizmos”. The Joe Demb diffusion system for one. They get some very nice results too. It is really an on-flash bounce system. Fong-O-Spheres are another example. Some love them, some hate them, but I’ve seen good results from them.

Another thing I like, and I didn’t do it in this particular exercise, is using a flash bracket. Possibly in conjunction with an on-flash modifier. My main complaint about that its pretty unwieldy when you get that, a heavy camera body, and say, a heavy, fast zoom.

With this exercise the on-flash bounce card couldn’t be used because of the foam flag wrapped around the flash unit. But it’s a piece of cake to add a bit of catch in post. And in the event that there isn’t any catch light, I will most always add some. I consider that essential for most portrait angles.

I’d love to have 1/400 x-sync! As it stands I have to gang multiple speedlights and shoot high speed sync if I’m going to need that kind of capability.

And just to clarify for others who may read our comments nesgran, the flash needs to have full rotation and tilt capabilities for best all-around results.

[Trainwreck]

You are quite welcome bananaslugs.

Happy hunting!

[Trainwreck]

Hi Jace,

Might I suggest that you have some rather unfortunate crops going on and they seem to be very consistent across the bodies of work you have presented for review?

I see this a lot and seems to be a common thing. It is my opinion that newer shooters have not yet developed the important habit of watching the sides and corners of the frame. Same habit applies of carefully watching the backgrounds.

For your consideration? It is not a good thing to chop off hands, feet, elbows, fingers, nor is it good form to crop at a joint of any kind period. It either looks like a mistake or worse; that you don’t know what you are doing. Perhaps your next time out you might like to consider framing a bit wider. There are times when “shooting for crop” is a good thing. Especially when you are shooting candids on the fly.

As regards backgrounds, it is simple. The eye will be drawn to the brightest area of the shot. If your background is too bright, that is where the eye will go. If your main subject is not your background then the photo fails. One of the very few exceptions to this is a true high key image where the eye will be naturally drawn to the darkest part of the image. But you have no true high key images in your presentation.

This is why white vignettes fail. They typically serve only to lead the eye out of the frame completely. It is difficult for the eye to overcome the white vignette and focus on the subject. Conversely a subtle (keyword- subtle) dark vignette skillfully applied such that it is hardly noticeable serves to lead the eye into the frame and gives a more “targeted lighting” effect to the subject.

Any good composition will lead the eye into and around the photo and not have compositional elements that allow the eye to leave the frame. There is more to composition than the Rule of Thirds.

You have some decent lighting in some of your studio work. Watch your kickers because some of them are blowing out areas of your subject. In some of your location shots I detect some improper use of fill, as has been mentioned already. In some cases no use of fill when it was needed. Also mentioned.

To be honest Jace, the “still life” (wine glass and flame) doesn’t work at all. Good concept but not executed as well as it could be.

All in all I think you are on the right track and have some good stuff. However (and there is a big difference here), if I had hired you to shoot for me and this is what you presented you would not get called back.

[Author]

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