I posted this over in the C&C section but it was suggested I might get more feedback here. So the subject matter probably isn't the most interesting but I mainly wanted to play around a bit tonight with multiple OCF and experiment a bit with the style of stock photos/catalog type photos with some things I have sitting in the fridge. I'm mainly looking for some feedback about the lighting, WB, and overall look of the photos (good AND bad). Thanks very much in advance!
I think your overall exposures look spot on perfect on all of them. The white balance, too.
On the peppers, I'd like to see the front-most stem in focus, but that's a personal choice that others may not agree with.
Your lighting did a good job of revealing the shape; for example, the use of highlight and shadow on the garlic is a classic exercise in revealing roundness.The highlights are blown in a few areas on the garlic head and the clove, though, losing all detail.
Also, on that one and the broccoli, the background has some muddy spots. It looks like you used photo editing software to whiten things, but missed a few spots.
Here's a link to a promotional video for a lighted background, which isn't especially relevant to your task, but at the end (starting at 14:12) the presenter shows a neat trick for creating very clean white backgrounds without negatively impacting the subject.
Thanks very much for taking the time to provide feedback Brian. This was the first time I tried using Multiple off camera flash as well as my first time using the shoot through umbrellas. The only other times I've used OCF has been with a little DIY modifier I made for Macro which is a different animal. So this was mainly an experiment to see if I could apply the things I had learned from research.
My setup was just a piece of white cloth on an end table, 2 SB-28's shooting through 33" umbrellas. After the first test shot, it became clear that at this magnification, the fibers in the cloth were far too visible so I put a sheet of printer paper down and that helped clean the background up. I did, as you said, need to clean it up a bit further in post to try and give it a more even and clean look.
Great link BTW. All I have at the time is PS Elements so I'll have to see if I have anything similar. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback. BTW, any ideas on how to better compose these types of product shots outside of introducing them into some sort of 'lifestyle' themed photograph?
mjhoward wrote:
...All I have at the time is PS Elements so I'll have to see if I have anything similar.
I also use Elements. I've been using it since version 5 or 6, and I'm on v.9 now. I may upgrade to 10, or I may wait for 11; not sure yet, since 9 does so much so well.
mjhoward wrote:
...any ideas on how to better compose these types of product shots outside of introducing them into some sort of 'lifestyle' themed photograph?
That's a huge topic, because there are so many artistic choices that go into it. I like the simple shots like you did, where a single element is the subject, but there are also many ways to display food; on plates like your top shot, skewered and in flames, floating in a tank of bubbly water, etc.
If you like doing food photography, there's a good book out written by a food photographer teamed with a food stylist:
The book goes into types of photo gear, lighting, special tools for food prep, even special ways to cook (and sometimes pretend to cook) foods for best appearance.
I took a photography class at my local college a couple of summers ago, and this book -- which was not an assigned text -- was one of the things that helped me to get an A in the class. (I let my teacher think it was just her brilliant teaching that did it. )
Our fellow Fred Miranda forumite Alex Koloskov has a nice blog that goes into a lot of this kind of stuff. It's good reading:
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