# My furniture shoot...



## Don Kondra

Greetings,

Finally made some time to reshoot some of my work with a proper backdrop..... Alien Bees and "focus gray" paper backdrop.

Lacquered side table...







Air dried walnut coffee table...






Hall table, walnut plank top and maple base...






Cherry wood entrance bench and black leather seat....






I only had room to hang a 6' backdrop, the shop is choked with an order of custom sprayed work. In hindsight I should have waited till it was delivered. Then I could have hung a 9' backdrop, moved the pieces forward and not blown the background in a couple of the shots, sigh...

Let's call it a work in progress or a test of my strobe set up 

Cheers, Don


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## adamwilliamking

Hey Don

In my opinion you did a pretty good job of lighting the subject. 
I do however think that lighting your backdrop would have been a good way of getting rid of alot of the shadows that distract from the image. It would allow for you to more easily balance the exposure of the background like you were talking about in your post. 

Thanks for sharing.


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## Don Kondra

I understand what you are saying but...

When I was working with continuous lights I took great pains to eliminate the shadows completely.

In hingsight I now feel that produced boring pictures.  The focus Was on the object itself which is a good thing for product photography but the image had no life.

I'm now leaning towards using shadows to introduce some character.

As is everything in life, it's a work in progress :mrgreen:

Cheers, Don


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## manaheim

Agree with some comments, but looks like you're coming along in this regardless.

Beautiful furniture, btw.


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## craig

I remember your earlier work. These are much stronger and what I had envisioned for your beautiful furniture. 

I would throw a torpedo level on you camera to straighten things out. I would like to see the background neutral like in the first frame. The colour balance will be a challenge because you will need perfect colour in your wood. What was your toning process?

Love & Bass


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## Don Kondra

craig said:


> I remember your earlier work. These are much stronger and what I had envisioned for your beautiful furniture.


 
Thanks Craig,

This is what I would consider my first serious attempt now that I have acquired enough strobes, softboxes, etc. 

I was still constrained by only having room to set up a 6' backdrop, the shop was clogged with a custom spray finishing order to be delivered, sigh... 



> I would throw a torpedo level on you camera to straighten things out.


 
The black and white table is indeed off by ~ 1 1/2 degrees...



> I would like to see the background neutral like in the first frame. The colour balance will be a challenge because you will need perfect colour in your wood. What was your toning process?


 
I think the first shot works the best because of the size of the piece. The rest could have used a larger backdrop, more room to position the lights and get the pieces farther forward of the backdrop.

For now, the shots are OOC except for basic sharpening, etc. and a very messy clone of the sides where the backdrop wasn't wide enough 

I do plan to reshoot with a larger set up, I'll take this opportunity to play with a trial version of Adobe Elements 7 and clean up the shadows. Posting the shots "as is" hopefully is more helpful than perfectly photoshopped versions and "we" can see where the lighting can be improved. 

The auto white balance did an excellent job on the color of the wood but I did screw up the color of the cherry bench. That is the color the wood is when it is "new", after some time in the daylight it darkens. Can't remember now what exactly I did but I think I had tunnel vision on the shine on the front of the seat and didn't realize I'd changed the color of the wood too much.... 

Cheers, Don


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## HoustonFurniture

hi

Really awesome photography.


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## icassell

Don, I just have to stick in my 2 cents.  I'm not a product photographer, so I can't begin to critique that, but I LOVE your furniture design.  The cherry bench is awesome.  Is that seat brown or black?


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## Don Kondra

Thanks for the comments..

Ian, Good catch on the color 

The seat on the cherry entrance bench is indeed brown leather, this was the only one I did in brown and I kept it for myself.  Unconsciously I must be programed to say black, that is the most popular choice.... 

May as well add my last shoot to this post, a tall case clock in cherry.  The clients supplied the clock works and asked me to make a case. 

A real challenge with all the shiny brass and glass 






Cheers, Don


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## margadigi27

Wow those furniture are sweet! I really like that lacquered side table, so classy!!!:er:


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## mfurniture

nice furniture.Very nice wood work.


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## ZEPHYR

Shoot those same subject again using WHITE paper backdrop. Try it and put the pix side by side comparison... you will dig the white better. I would add one more fill light.


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## Don Kondra

ZEPHYR said:


> Shoot those same subject again using WHITE paper backdrop. Try it and put the pix side by side comparison... you will dig the white better. I would add one more fill light.


 
Thank you for your suggestion but I think you need to consider the eventual use of the image to determin what "background" is appropriate.

A white background with the "floating in space" look is best for web work where text may be added.

As a craft juror I prefer to see a colored background with or without shadows.

For a portfolio piece I prefer a colored background with shadows, it gives the piece some dimension.

As for the fill light, I assume you mean on the background ? 

The only way I found to shoot this piece without multiple bands of reflections on the weights was to bounce the strobes off the ceiling. Another light on the backdrop would have reduced the shadows but that was not the look I was after. 

Cheers, Don


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## Don Kondra

Thank you Chuck,

A seamless backdrop is one of the easiest ways to improve product shots 

Cheers, Don


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## EvaEtheldred

I am allowed to move the furniture. couches and chairs anywhere i need to get a good shot. What is suggested as far as moving furniture away from walls for lighting purposes. The floors are wooden. The furniture is victorian.


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## kundalini

Awesome craftmanship on the furniture Don.  I'm guessing you're a 'no hardware' kinda guy with joints and fasteners.  I used to dabble with smaller stuff like jewelry boxes.

I like the photos and see what you mean about the end use of the shot with regard to background and shadow.  There is some background blowout that is causing the wash of color, particularly with #2 & 3.  Otherwise, nice work.


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## Don Kondra

kundalini said:


> Awesome craftmanship on the furniture Don. I'm guessing you're a 'no hardware' kinda guy with joints and fasteners. I used to dabble with smaller stuff like jewelry boxes.


 
Thank you, I do lean towards traditional joinery...



> I like the photos and see what you mean about the end use of the shot with regard to background and shadow. There is some background blowout that is causing the wash of color, particularly with #2 & 3. Otherwise, nice work.


 
Yes, that is the result of the tight shooting set up. When I "saw" the results I decided to concentrate on lighting the object and clean up the background in post. 

This photo of my recently completed camera stuff storage cabinet is more along the lines of what I am aiming for as far as shadows. 

Note that the lighting is a little on the dark side to emphasize the curl in the panels. 







Traditionally lit detail..






This is a snap shot with ambient light and better represents the "true" color of the woods.






Cheers, Don


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## Don Kondra

EvaEtheldred said:


> I am allowed to move the furniture. couches and chairs anywhere i need to get a good shot. What is suggested as far as moving furniture away from walls for lighting purposes. The floors are wooden. The furniture is victorian.


 
You might want to start a new thread with your question, chances are you may receive more than just my opinion 

Off the top of my head I would have to say that if you are not going to use a seamless backdrop it may be best to just shoot the furniture in situ, ie., against the wall as it would normally appear. The "eye" is used to seeing the junction of the floor and wall. 

The most commonly used angle is a 3/4 profile. That is with the camera roughly forty five degrees to the cabinet showing the front and side.

With a dark wood and a dark floor it would be best to use a seamless backdrop. In this case I would move the furniture as far forward of the backdrop as you can while still having the backdrop fully in the frame.

Depending on the end use of the image I would start with the traditional three light set up, a main, a fill and one or two on the background. 

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Don


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## emmajones

what so ever nice back drops, did you mad your self?

*Emma Jones*
______________________________________
[FONT=&quot]Discount Furniture Sales Uk[/FONT]
Online Furniture Retailers UK


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## journey

Don Kondra said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Finally made some time to reshoot some of my work with a proper backdrop..... Alien Bees and "focus gray" paper backdrop.
> 
> Lacquered side table...
> ....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I only had room to hang a 6' backdrop, the shop is choked with an order of custom sprayed work. In hindsight I should have waited till it was delivered. Then I could have hung a 9' backdrop, moved the pieces forward and not blown the background in a couple of the shots, sigh...
> 
> Let's call it a work in progress or a test of my strobe set up
> 
> Cheers, Don


Wow, It is so exquisite, I like these furniture


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## Garball

Ok, it's time to separate the men from the boys.

You've dealt well with the basics of position - leveling - and camera alignment.

Now it time to add some sparkle and class to your images.

By the look of things you're using two lights at 45 degree angles. If I'm wrong let me know.

You need to move one of the lights around behind the piece and begin to render the texture and surface of the materials being photographed.

A third light, if you have it, would be ideal. It's more difficult without the third light but can be done with an aggressive reflector placed properly where the previous "light" was located.

The idea is to render the product in 3D instead to flattening it with twin 45's. Get it?

If you attempt this, the products will come to life and all else being equal, you presentation will sparkle. Suddenly the texture and finish will become visible and exciting to the viewer.

You don't need much power from the "Skim" light as it is very efficient compared to the others so don't over do it. Just need enough to create the 3d illusion.

g


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## Don Kondra

FYI, all shots with the exception of the last two images are with three lights and are straight out of camera. 

After appropriate processing they are intended for portfolio/grant proposals and/or submission for publication in woodworking magazines.

As such, they would not benefit from a treatment such as your example. 

To expand on what I mean, I do not want to confuse my potential clients with colored backgrounds and tilted angles.  They should "see" only the object. 

Craft jurors are going to be looking at form, texture and detail to determin technical competence.  Shadow placement may have an initial unconscious visual impact but they will soon focus on the object. 

Woodworking magazines generally lean towards the standard 3/4 profile studio shot, one magazine in particular prefers in situ shots.  

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Cheers, Don


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## Sw1tchFX

looks great, but you need to move the furniture away from the back of the seamless so then the only shadow, is underneath the product, not behind it.


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## Don Kondra

Yup ^^

The problem is it's a wall hung cabinet 

I did shoot it with blocks of wood underneath the cabinet but haven't got around to cloning them out yet.... 

Cheers, Don


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## SusanMart

I guess, I should get not a photography website, but something like this Furniture tempaltes)


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