Final 10 Product images

Eric Gaffney's Level 3 C&G submission Part 2

These are my selected 10 for the second part of my task, being products used by and associated with the characters that I have included with my 10 portraits. These images have proved difficult as I have little enthusiasm for the product shots that I seen. They are very spendid, technically perfect, quite stunning with the lighting in many cases, and very good at displaying the products, but to me they are all in the same vain. Whichever magazine or web site etc that you see the product is generally hightlighted and very well lit, which as a professional photographer (and Client) you would want it this way.

I wanted to experiment a little to see if there was any alternative to this, and some of the images set out below have been an attempt to do this. In terms of influence I think that the surrealist photographers have had a part to play in this, especially Lee Miller and Man Ray, and I do remember the exhibition at the V&A last year that I visited with Lee Miller's and the surrealists images etc on display. Irving Penn has taken some stunning.

In terms of presentation I would like to have provided mounted prints, as I like the abilty to not only handle the image, but also to dispaly it on the wall. I do have a digital frame which I also use to display my images but they are quite small, but none the less a good way to view my images. Due to cost and time restraints I have chosen to present the images as below, with an explanation as to how I have come about them. Other sections of this blog comapre my images and reasons against my research. I have found whilst studying on this course that my initial perception has changed so much, especially with the research and visits to various locations and exhibitions. Visiting the Penn exhibition at the Portrait Gallery and Small Traders exhibiton at Hamilton's Gallery in London changed my perception and gave me further ideas for creating images.

Golf shirts

Canon 400D-f4.5-1/80th-ISO200-29mm lens (natural outdoor lighting from the side)

These are two of my golf shirts ( James would not let me have his) and my shoes. I have thought about this type of shot for a while and have tried many different ways to create it. In the end I bought some fishing line and hung the shirts from that. It proved quite tricky as it was outside, and in the evening, but I enjoyed the open air shooting in natural light. As there is alot of space on a golf course the I thought the floating theme would be different. I have chosen this image as I like the surreal effect created here.

Decorative Art Blown Glassware

Canon 400D-f29-1/60th-ISO100-37mm lens (Bowens 500w light 45 degrees to the right and skightly above)

This is  piece of Niki's Decorative Artwork, (see the portrait section part 1) and I have chosen to represent it as a part to show the form of the object. It is a piece of blown glassware in black and white. The typical way to photograph this piece is within a light box so as to eliminate the reflections, and is very successful. But my feeling was that this is a piece of decorative art and would be displayed in such a way that you would get the reflections from around the area it was being displayed in, Thus I have chosen, after much soul searching and different surroundings, I felt that this represented the wonderfulshape and contours of the piece. I have subsequently seen this displayed in an exhibition, but unfortunately could not photograph it there. This was photographed in my front room using borrowed 500W Bowens light from College, with a very low power level. I just like the shape created here, by another artist.

Nut and Runner

Canon 400D

nut=f2.8-1/50th-ISO100-105mm lens      runner=f5.6-1/250th-ISO100-105mm (in both cases these were taken outdoors).

I continued my floating theme with the image taken of the nut and runner. I did photsop these two together as the nut and runner were taken in the evening in my back garden, and the rocks in the background were taken on location at Dove Dale in the Peaks. I used the rocks to illustrate the runner and nut as this is the enviroment that they are used in, and at the time the equipment was borrowed, so have had to make the image. Thereis suffient room on the image for any marketing text etc. I like this image for it's unusual presentation of this product, being suspended in the air rather than laid out on a surface. The nut and runner were imaged under studio conditions, but to give clarity to the product the rock background had to imaged outdoors.

  RAM golf glove

Canon 5D-f8-160th-ISO100-80mm lens (Bowens 500w studio lighting with snoot)

(I was lucky enough to get the use of the college 5D for this shot)

This is a straight product shot, lit in the studio with the Bowens 500W light complete with snoot, behind the porduct and slightly above, with the camera located over the porduct on a light table. I really like this shot as it shows all the detail in the glove, and is well lit, despite my reluctance on this type of shot. The shadow also falls nicely and I think enhances the outline of the glove, displaying well the makers name, with room for marketing text etc.In fact I went on to take several more products with this type of lighting.The lighting is one directional with a snoot on the 1 light used which is set slightly above the surface of the light table being used, at a power level of 2 on the Bowens 500w light. I used my light meter (Sekonic 358) to establish the initial settings for the camera, but found that I had to reduce the settings by 1 stop to get the effect I was trying to achieve. I chose this image as I like the detail that has been brought out in the glove.

Andrea's Flute

Canon 400D-f22-1/3rd-ISO100-29mm lens (Bowens 500w light borrowed from College on my dining room table)

To go with with the portrait of Anthea I also took this image of her Pearl flute. I was trying to get something different to the usual images I had seen of flutes, as in the portrait itself. I also borrowed some of her flute music, and then Andrea gave me her cleaning cloth as well, so I incorporated both in the image. The lighting of this item was very tricky, and I eventually used 1 light (the Bowens 500w borrowed from college), at  very low power level with the camera set almost at the same level. I have also managed to get a reflection of the music on the flute itself. This was set up on my dining table at home, and I used a thether to from my camera to the laptop so that I could see a bigger image to judge the light levels better than on the back of the camera. I chose this image as I like the subtle lighting, and the detail of the product.

Please refer to my blog regarding comparison and my idea with my image to those advertised by the maker of Pearl flutes.

Golf balls and Gloves

Canon 5D-f8-1/60th-ISO100-47mm lens (Bowens 500w studio lighting with snoot)

(I was lucky enough to get the use of the college 5D for this shot)

I brought in several pieces of golfing paraphalia to go with my theme and to connect to the portraits that I took. This was set up and taken in the studio, and this image shows the marketing packaging that the golf glove comes in, with lots of text and image on it to make it attractive to the purchaser. Personally it makes no difference to me as I am only interested in the product doing the job for me. I have allowed the glove to show through the clear panel so that the detail can also be shown on the glove which is picked out by the lighting.The lighting is one directional with a snoot on the 1 light used which is set slightly above the surface of the light table being used, at a power level of 2 on the Bowens 500w light. I choose this image because it incorporates all the manufactures marketing details.

Complimentary Golf supplies

Canon 5D-f8-1/60th-ISO100-102mm Bowens 500w studio lighting with snoot)

(I was lucky enough to get the use of the college 5D for this shot)

This image again was taken in the studio with the same conditions as the image above. This is a set of complimentary golfing goodies issued at the start of the golfing day out.The logo is very prominent and a very good advertising feature (especially as you lose balls on the way round and others find them afterwards!). I have kept this set as a souvenir. I like the way that the light has picked out alot of the detail on the products, and the shadow shows rhe relief of some of the items. I choose this image due to it being the promotional product.

Golf Balls

Canon 5D-f8-1/60th-ISO100-70mm lens

(I was lucky enough to get the use of the college 5D for this shot)

Again this shot was in the studio with the same lighting as the previous image, but this image is of a different type to the previous ones. This is of a sleeve of balls, with one seperated and the shadow forming a"header" to the pack. I chose this image due to the outstanding design of the packaging, but I like the product for it's use.



Range of climbing nuts

Canon 5D-f/4-1/100th-ISO100-45mm

(I was lucky enough to get the use of the college 5D for this shot)

This image is of a set of "nuts" that climbers use to place into cracks into the rock so that they can use their carabina's in to pass the ropes through. I have used the shadows formed to enhance the shape of the various types of "nut". The lighting is the same as that for the golf images. I chose this image for the seperate deatils of the parts, the shape of the product and the shadow detail.

Plastering trowel

Canon 400D-f14-1/200th-ISO200-39mm (1 Bowens 500w light, power level 3,with light cube and white backing)

This image was set up and taken on my dining room table, lit with 2 Bowens 500w lights (power level 1.5 right and 2 left), borrowed from College, and lit through a light cube with a white background. I have left the background with the creases etc in as this is Graig's plastering trowel. It has his day's left over plaster on it and it fits better with the image overall as plastering is classed as rough trade (despite the plastering on the walls is smooth in  most cases).

Comment

I have really enjoyed exploring the different aspects of trying to create product shots. I have tried to experiment with different ways of imaging various items in different ways, straight lighting, some with success, some need further work. Lack of studio time was the main to  experiment with different lighting set ups, different ways and angles to light the subject. This also applies to the portrait sessions that I had. However a combination of studio time and borrowed lights I have achieved the above images.