Final product shot for GIT 490.
Taking into account the lessons I learned from my previous shoots, I wanted to have my final product shot be very simple and elegant. I chose to work with a parfum bottle and some hydrangas. Getting the flowers to hold up the bottle took a bit of fussing by putting wooden sticks and florist foam at the bottom of the jar holding everything. I used a white soft box as well as two other over head lights to help diffuse the light around the flowers and bottle evenly. This was a smart call because the reflections benefited from that as well.
Some challenges that I came across was getting flowers to stay still and hold the bottle up. At the same time, once the bottle was in place, I needed to hide the sticks holding up the bottle. Lastly, trying to get the right lighting and reflections was a bit of a challenge but they both came out to be even in the end.
Shopping around sprouts for something interesting to drop into liquid is no easy feat. I came across a bin of large artichokes and thought that the leaves of them all splayed out would make for an interesting shot. Coming into class, I set up a stand and grabbed the blue tile countertop piece and set up a 10 gallon tank on top. I had a classmate assist me in dropping the artichoke into the tank while I focused the camera to be pointed downward. We coordinated how he would drop the artichoke and I would start to shoot and we figured out that when the artichoke first hit the water and surfaced was the best shot to try and capture.
Some challenges that occurred was mostly in the logistics of getting the shot. We had to move the set to get the proper angle, fixing the camera settings to make sure that it would not only capture the shot but that everything would be in focus. Filling the tank was also a challengethat required a few trips and making sure that the splash didn’t get everywhere. In the end, once all the small details of timing and settings were figured out, the shot took about 5-7 tries to get the best shot but was worth all the effort.
Of all the shoots that we have done in this class, none have been as challenging as this one. The composition took a little while to set up I chose to use a black acrylic piece for my table to better show off the gold of the bottle. I moved the key light overhead so I could get light in that way and an assisting light off to the back right side to counterbalance the reflections from the one light. To get the coloring, shadows, and reflections I wanted took a bit of finessing. My key light kept being powered up a few stops as new tweaks were made. Some classmates assisted me with getting the reflections and light right on the PARFUME name and the rest of the bottle through the use of gobos and white cards.
It took about 79 shots to get the final one. Some challenges were getting the composition correct, the lights in the right place and power and then the reflections themselves. It was very helpful to have two assistants to handle the gobos and provide advice when needed. The perfume bottle has lettering on the front and trying to get that all lit up correctly was extremely difficult so the final image was the best we could do to get the bottle light correctly.
After assisting another classmate, I was inspired by their shoot and decided to go and get some cupcakes from The Coffee Shop up the street. I’ve always admired how pretty and diverse they looked so I figured they would make great subjects for this shoot. I also brought in a few props from home, namely a tray, some tea cups and saucers, placemats, and utensils. I wasn’t feeling the angle so I moved the camera to be pointed directly downward at the cupcake. I liked the contrast of the yellow cupcake against the blue plate and chose that to be my focus.
Some of the challenges that occurred were getting the lighting right so the highlights wouldn’t be overblown. There was also a huge debate about whether or not the cupcake was a cupcake instead of just frosting or a flower. I did add crumbs from another cupcake and a fork for the final shot but have chosen to put the shot of the cup cake without the crumbs because I feel it looks cleaner and more refined.
Clear Black Reflective Glass
Again, using the bone thin white china tea cups, I wanted to create a dramatic contrast between the white tea cup and the black glass. This shot was set up using a black paper backdrop, black glass set up on two stands, and a soft-box behind the glass, lilted downward to create the reflection. I didn’t like the lighting so after a bit of fixing, I was able to get the lights and darks the way I desired.
It was challenging to get the composition right but after that was figured out, everything fell into place.
White Acrylic
Using bone thin white china tea cups, this provided a unique opportunity to play with the contrast and lighting of the tea cups. When it came to the white acrylic shot, the tea cups went through a bit of finessing through how they were placed and the shot be framed.
It was most challenging to create contrast, with even highlights and shadows with the cups. They have a very shiny, textured surface so we added the a black and white card into the mix to gain a bit more control over those elements.
