Final Studio Assignment - Product Shoot 2

Indie Gibson style Solid Shape guitar

Below are the final images I have chosen for my product shoot with a Gibson Solid Shape guitar. From these images I will choose my final image. All images have had some level of editing in Photoshop. An issue I found with this shoot was that the guitar, (despite the fact that I had polished and tried to remove as much dust as possible) had an obvious amount of dust in a lot of the images. The amount of dust visible was varied with the positioning of the setup. I tried different light positions to solve this problem but still the dust remained obvious.... My solution - Photoshop it out!

f/7.1 1/160 ISO 100

f/6..3 1/160 ISO 100

f/7.1 1/160 ISO 100

f/6.3 1/160 ISO 100

Final Studio Assignment - Product Shoot 1

Palenque Butterfly Pendant

Below are the several images I have edited for this shoot that I will pick my final one image from. I have experimented with different effects to try and find an image that I feel meets my proposal. 

 All the images where shot with a sigma 50mm Macro lens (Nikon fit). I experimented with various apertures, shutter speeds and combinations of lights. All the images below where shot with small apertures and slow shutter speeds. I found this gave me a larger depth of field and I didn't get areas of the image that were out of focus. All images where shot using a tripod and a wireless remote to prevent any shake.

All images have had various post processing in photoshop.

f/36.0 4.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 15.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

Shutter Speed Assignment

The following series of images are a demonstration of the effects that can be produced if we reduce the shutter speed significantly. The images are of various subjects and a variety of shutter speeds were used.

f/32.0 10.0 ISO 100 
This image was shot using a wine glass and two LED lights - one blue and one white. The lights were spun inside the glass from a piece of string whilst the camera was set to a shutter speed of 10 seconds. 

f/22.0 30.0 ISO 100
This image was taken from beside one of the express ways in Runcorn, just after peak hour so there was a reasonably steady stream of traffic travelling in both directions, creating light streams from the headlights and the taillights. 

f/22.0 60.0 ISO 100

 The above image was shot with the help of a remote trigger. By placing the camera on the floor, positioning myself to the left of the lamppost which is centre right of the image then waiting 30 seconds and then quickly moving to the right side of the lamppost (trying to mirror the position on the left!), I was able to create a ghost like effect on either side of the lamppost. 


 

f/20.0 1/15 ISO 100 

 With this image of a wind turbine I wanted to create a sense of movement without the propellers being a complete blur, I therefore chose to use a shutter speed that was slow enough to capture some movement of the turbine without capturing a full rotation. 

f/22.0 1/8 ISO 100
This image was captured with a remote trigger. I positioned the camera on a tripod just far enough away that it wouldn't be caught by my swinging and when I gathered enough momentum I triggered the shutter release.


 

f/22.0 30.0 ISO 100
This image was created using a green LED light. I used a black guitar against a black background, once the shutter was tripped I quickly "painted"around the shape of the guitar.

f/16.0 30.0 ISO 100
This image of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool was taken on a fairly windy evening. The movement in the clouds has been captured by the slow shutter speed, creating a streaked effect across the sky.  


 

Depth Of Field Assignments

Assignment 1

Below is a series of images showing the results when the aperture is gradually reduced in size. The brandy bottle remains in focus throughout the sequence, but as the f stops go up (meaning the aperture becomes smaller) the background becomes more prominent. This is because the depth of field is increasing as the aperture becomes smaller. All the images in the sequence where taken with a 70-300mm lens, with a focal distance of 82mm, this helped to create a more shallow depth of field due to the narrow field of view. The shutter speed had to be increased as the aperture was made smaller to allow the image to be correctly exposed.

Assignment 2 - Foreground to Background

The following series of images demonstrate the effects of a large depth of field, with everything within the frame being in focus.This effect was achieved by using a smaller aperture and positioning the camera further away from the subject.

f/10.0 0.8 ISO 200

f/10.0 0.8 ISO 200

f/22.0 1/13 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/13 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/20 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/8 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/8 ISO 100

Assignment 3 - Foreground V's Background

The following series of images is intended to display the effects of  using a shallow depth of field to demonstrate a visual hierarchy. The images were shot using a 35mm fixed focal lens which allowed me to use a wide open aperture for all of the following images.

f/2.0 1/160 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/160 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/500 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/1250 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/1250 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/1250 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/800 ISO 100

Assignment 4 - Shallow

The next two series of images displayed are examples of selective focusing whilst using a shallow depth of field. This allowed me to isolate individual subjects whilst the remainder of the image was out of focus. To achieve this result the aperture was left wide open (a 35mm fixed focal lens gave me a more shallow depth of field because of the larger maximum aperture) and I remained approx 0.3m from the subject.

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

Further areas of research for final studio assignments

1.       Roger Hicks and Francis Schultz (2002). Still Life and Special Effects Photography. Brighton: RotoVision. p30-31.

2.       Ron Egatz. (2009). Marc Quigley, From Sanding to the Ultimate Product Photography. Available: http://blog.pocketwizard.com/?p=783. Last accessed 10th October 2011.

1.       Hilary. (2011). Photographing Jewellery and other small 3D items. Available: http://blog.folksy.com/2011/05/23/photographing-jewellery-and-other-small-3d-items#more-18757. Last accessed 10th October 2011.

2.       Francesco Zerilli. (Unknown year of publication). Jewellery Photography Best-Practice and the Importance for Jewellery Business. Available: http://jewelryphotography.com. Last accessed 10th October 2011.

Indie Guitars - Current promotional photgraphs from website

 Below are two screen shots of the Indie Guitar Company website. These images demonstrate various guitar images taken at different angles. The main trend in these photographs is for the image to focus on/around the guitar body (as opposed to the guitar neck and head) where features are more remarkable. 

I like the glossy feel of these images and the emphasis that is placed on the colour of the guitars by shooting it against a black background.

http://www.indieguitars.ca

http://www.indieguitars.ca

Research for Final Studio Assignment - Product Portfolio (2)

For the second of my product shoots it is my intention to shoot an indie guitar with Gibson solid guitar shape.  Below are some of the images I have found during my research that inspire me. 

http://blog.pocketwizard.com

http://www.rbmusicinfo.com

http://www.layoutsparks.com

http://abstract.desktopnexus.com

Research for Final Studio Assignment - Product Portfolio (1)

For the first of my product shoots I am going to be photographing a green butterfly pendant with a silver chain by the company Palenque. It is my intention to capture this image with a natural feel using props such as stone, leaves and small branches. Below are some of the images I have used for inspiration/research. 

It was quite difficult for me to find images that included the variety of natural props that I intend to use to create my image. I was drawn to these images because of the use of natural elements and how that use has created interesting textures and vibrant colours.

http://www.soophotography.com

http://www.whiteflash.com

http://www.soophotography.com

http://www.akelstudio.com

http://www.priceinspector.co.uk

Research for Final Studio Assignment - Portrait Photography

For my final studio assignment portrait shoot I have decided to use a an indie guitar with a Gibson solid guitar shape, with a male model. Below are some pictures from the Internet that I have used for research/inspiration. 

The reason I am drawn to the images below is because it is my intention to keep focus on the guitar as opposed to the model. With these images that has been achieved in a variety of different positions/poses. The preference for this type of shot appears to be high key, although the last image in the series is quite low key. I do not yet have a preference for which style I prefer as I like the brightness and clarity of the high key images, but I am also drawn to the atmospheric feel of the low key shot.

http://www.visualphotos.com

http://www.saw.org

http://yaymicro.com

http://depositphotos.com

http://depositphotos.com