Hello all. I just recently (around December) started giving product photography a shot (pun intended) . I am wondering if any kind souls out there might have some feedback on this product shot as far as lighting & exposure go. I am getting ready to prepare a magazine advert using this image, however I would love some feedback first, as I am sure there are some things I could improve upon or never even though of. Lastly incase anyone is curios the product is about 2/3 the size of a fist.

There were a couple guidelines I was given for the product shot.
1.) Product must be in the exact position it was photographed in, and with a white background.

2.) They wanted the reflection / shadow under the product. I shot it with a light under the product as I am shooting with a Bogen light table, however they we not fond of that look and wanted it to appear as if it is sitting on something, not floating.

3.) The label pad (VFORCE3) is metallic. They wanted the "3" to show a reflective quality and to literally reflect some light.

Thanks for looking,
S6ix

There were a couple guidelines I was given for the product shot.
1.) Product must be in the exact position it was photographed in, and with a white background.

Not hard, just do as told on that. Match it as best you can to the original there.

2.) They wanted the reflection / shadow under the product. I shot it with a light under the product as I am shooting with a Bogen light table, however they we not fond of that look and wanted it to appear as if it is sitting on something, not floating.

Thats going to do with angle of the lights, positioning etc. Shouldn't be hard to work.

3.) The label pad (VFORCE3) is metallic. They wanted the "3" to show a reflective quality and to literally reflect some light.

I would shoot one without worrying about the reflecting, and then shoot a second shot with the numbers shining. Combine the two in photoshop so that you get the shine of the numbers without the blown highlights/bad lighting of the rest of it.

Oops... I wasn't very clear. That above picture was taken by me using the guidelines supplied by the "clients" (aka My Bosses). So I am looking for feedback on how I can improve upon my above shot, before I commit to putting it in a magazine advert.

Taylor, thanks for the suggestion regarding the two shots (and combining them) to get the perfect reflective quality without blowing out the rest of the label pad. I am going to spend some time with that tomorrow and see how it goes.

Cheers,
S6ix

Gee, I guess it's perfect.

I think you hit your guidelines pretty well. I may have bumped up your aperture as high as you could to get the back edge in focus too. Shoot a little looser (more white around it) to make sure you get the entire shadow and to give the layout artist more options. A small white or silver card will kick a little shine into the label.

System6ix wrote:
Gee, I guess it's perfect.

It is! I do agree with the DOF comment above though...

Thanks fizzy & richiebaz for your comments. I am actually a little embarrassed to admit that I was shooting with a Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm, so there's no excuse for the shallow DOF. Also thanks for pointing out the shadow being cut-off as I will be the "layout artist" creating the magazine ad from this image as that's my "real" job... lol.

Thanks again and cheers,
S6ix

Another option for getting the best DoF is to stack several exposures using stacking software, that permits using optimum aperture and still delivering a product that is sharp front to back.

By decreasing the light under the table relative to the background and subject lighting the shadows will be more definitive and give the product the grounding they are looking for.

Often companies have a "graphic" standard they can provide, along with photo examples as a guide.