# First "product" shot



## MarkV1184 (Aug 12, 2009)

I was playing around with some sheets at my house making it into a backdrop. I decided to shoot one of my lenses!

My setup:

Nikon D90
SB-600 Flash in commander Mode
Nikon 35mm f1.8 lens


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## doogan (Aug 12, 2009)

I think these are very good shots. If they were mine
I would do 2 things:

- Get rid of that white spot in the top photo, it's
on the extreme left.

- If you have Photoshop you could make the sheet
bright white; I think it would look much better.

Regards,
Bob
______________________________________
http://www.dreamworldimages.ca
Pet Photography Business
Child Photography


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## Don Kondra (Aug 12, 2009)

I'm wondering if after you saw the results you were sorry you didn't take a *little bit more time* and use a paper backdrop? 

Cheers, Don


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## kundalini (Aug 12, 2009)

^^  Agreed.  A seamless sweep would do a world of difference.  Poster Board from your local art supplies shop.

Your backgrounds (apart from the wrinkles) looks as if someone peed on it and the rest has a blue tinge to it.  (Shadows and WB)


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## Dominantly (Aug 12, 2009)

Yes, I did a quick check to see how it would look with a pass through the leveling tool on PS, and it fixed it real nice like.


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## MarkV1184 (Aug 12, 2009)

Don Kondra said:


> I'm wondering if after you saw the results you were sorry you didn't take a *little bit more time* and use a paper backdrop?
> 
> Cheers, Don



Lol! Thanks Don    I actually ran out this morning and got some white foam core boards to make a proper backdrop setup. This was my first attempt at a "product" shot and had fun with it, so I decided to make it a bit more official (by spending an extra $5).


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## MarkV1184 (Aug 12, 2009)

Dominantly said:


> Yes, I did a quick check to see how it would look with a pass through the leveling tool on PS, and it fixed it real nice like.



Awesome! do you mind showing me what you ended up with? I don't use photoshop much, but would love to learn a bit more about the post process with it.


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## Don Kondra (Aug 13, 2009)

MarkV1184 said:


> Lol! Thanks Don  I actually ran out this morning and got some white foam core boards to make a proper backdrop setup. This was my first attempt at a "product" shot and had fun with it, so I decided to make it a bit more official (by spending an extra $5).


 
The foam core could be used as reflectors but consider that with a paper backdrop there is no crease between the bottom and back... and no wrinkles, and a uniform color, dependant on lighting of course. 

Please post your next series.

And be careful, the whole lighting, backdrops, etc. can be addicting  

Cheers, Don


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## MarkV1184 (Aug 13, 2009)

As dumb as this may sound, should I be metering off the white backdrop or off the subject itself?


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## Dominantly (Aug 13, 2009)

When I get home, I will show you what two clicks in PS did for it.

If you have the program, simply go in to adjust levels, use the black eyedropper tool and pick your lense body (a near pitch black portion) and then select that, then grab the white dropper and select the background to fix it.
I meter off the subject. I usually select point meter and go from there. You dont want an ultra white background being factored into your subjects lighting.


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## Don Kondra (Aug 13, 2009)

MarkV1184 said:


> As dumb as this may sound, should I be metering off the white backdrop or off the subject itself?


 
I found I received better results metering off the subject....

Cheers, Don

PS. Quick edit with select tool and paint bucket in Elements 7


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## bigtwinky (Aug 13, 2009)

If its a product shot, as in something commissioned by a client for their catalogues or what not, you would want to have the brand name showing, nice and clear.

If its for stock photography, then no brand identifying marks should be visible...names, logos and such


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## Dominantly (Aug 13, 2009)

Don Kondra said:


> MarkV1184 said:
> 
> 
> > As dumb as this may sound, should I be metering off the white backdrop or off the subject itself?
> ...


So you meter the blown white (or any other color sweep) bakground?
What does this do for your darker tones, shadows, and overall contrast? What is the gain in this you see?


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## JayClark79 (Aug 17, 2009)

Dominantly said:


> Don Kondra said:
> 
> 
> > So you meter the blown white (or any other color sweep) bakground?
> ...


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## Don Kondra (Aug 17, 2009)

Dominantly said:


> Don Kondra said:
> 
> 
> > MarkV1184 said:
> ...


 
He was asking what he should be metering.  

Cheers, Don


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## v-dubber (Oct 24, 2009)

they look a little boringggg


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## cosmo08 (Oct 30, 2009)

Hi everyone. I'm glad to see you're getting into products photography. I want to be honest here, we're building a products photos database (free for everyone of course), and we really need help from photographers to upload photos of products they have lying around. Here, have a look: www.producthopper.com 

It would mean the world if anybody starts uploading photos of products, and perhaps one day we'll have something like the wikipedia of commercial objects photography?

Thanks so much!


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## idetail (Nov 6, 2009)

MarkV1184 said:


> I was playing around with some sheets at my house making it into a backdrop. I decided to shoot one of my lenses!
> 
> My setup:
> 
> ...


 
Thanks for sharing. it's great


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