glasses detail

Elaine

Just playing around with my flash and some more product type photography...wanted to capture the detail on my glasses. I thought it turned out pretty well (transition from background to tile could be better), but I'm not so versed in what these types of shots should look like. Feedback would be great, but I understand this isn't exactly compelling photography!

Snowgirl

Hi there. I'm not sure what this type of photo "should' look like - but personally I like it. The reflection from the tile is a neat concept and you've focused on the detail on the arm that makes the frame unique. Looks like a good job to me.

woellerd

I like it. I'm not an authority, but, you've controlled the highlights well and the narrow DOF draws your eye right to the detail, which is what you were after.

Elaine

Thank you! It's good to know it looks good to someone else!

James H

Elaine wrote:

Just playing around with my flash and some more product type photography...wanted to capture the detail on my glasses. I thought it turned out pretty well (transition from background to tile could be better), but I'm not so versed in what these types of shots should look like. Feedback would be great, but I understand this isn't exactly compelling photography!

Hi Elaine, I am by no means expert in product shots, but I have been playing around with similar shots recently, so I thought I'd share a few observations with you. First, it's not a bad image, so my suggestions below are intended to improve upon what's already there. I really like the limited focus and the light on the detail but, I'm a little distracted by the OOF parts, especially the OOF reflections.

A few things I see which could improve this shot...

1) control/focus the light a little better so you're focal point up front isn't dominated by OOF parts and reflections in the rear. The rear parts appear brighter than the foreground and pull my attention to them. You could try using a snoot/gobo to better direct the light exactly where you want it, or you could angle/feather the light into a reflector so that it falls off towards the rear, essentially giving you a low key background, which would also help hide your transition area. Since shiny metal will reflect your light source, you can actually point your light at a strategically placed reflector, instead of directly lighting the glasses, and obtain a very nice continuous highlight along the length of the glasses. Just keep playing with light/reflector position and different angles until it looks right. A continuous light source, as simple as a flashlight, can make setting up a reflector much easier. Once you find the angle, replace the continuous light with your flash. (assuming you're already using the flash off camera)

2) change your point of view and your composition to minimize the intersecting parts/reflections. As it is now, there are many lines and curves which are interrupted by other lines and curves. It looks a little chaotic. Try to find an angle which minimizes those and pay close attention to where those reflections end up. With eyeglasses, it's also usually preferred to minimize what shows through the lenses. Kind of makes it tough to find a good POV.

3) with very shallow DOF, watch your plane of focus and try changing camera angles slightly to control where that plane of focus runs through the composition. Here, I can clearly see the plane of critical focus on the tile. Notice how, when looking at just the tile and the reflections, the focus actually appears to be behind your intended focal point? We know it's not but, due to the difference in reflections, it appears so. The rear reflection is a little more in focus than the front reflection. By tilting the camera down slightly, and possibly using a slightly wider angle lens to maintain a similar POV, you can pull that plane of focus forward on the tile while still maintaining critical focus on your subject. Doing so would bring the forward reflection more into focus and take the rear reflection a little more out of focus, which looks more natural. This is where a tilt-shift lens would be very useful, and why most product photographers use them, but we can fudge it a little with a normal lens and sometimes that's enough.

Sorry for getting a little long winded, I just hope some of my comments make sense. I think this kind of photography can be quite challenging, even if the images are not exactly compelling to everyone. If you're interested in doing more with this type of work, I'd recommend picking up a copy of 'Light - Science and Magic (An Intro to Photographic Lighting)' as it has some wonderful examples on how to deal with some tricky subjects and situations. Reading the sections on shooting metal and glass were both 'ah, ha!' moments for me.

Elaine

James H wrote:

Hi Elaine, I am by no means expert in product shots, but I have been playing around with similar shots recently, so I thought I'd share a few observations with you. First, it's not a bad image, so my suggestions below are intended to improve upon what's already there. I really like the limited focus and the light on the detail but, I'm a little distracted by the OOF parts, especially the OOF reflections.

A few things I see which could improve this shot...

1) control/focus the light a little better so you're focal point up front isn't dominated by OOF parts and reflections in the rear. The rear parts appear brighter than the foreground and pull my attention to them. You could try using a snoot/gobo to better direct the light exactly where you want it, or you could angle/feather the light into a reflector so that it falls off towards the rear, essentially giving you a low key background, which would also help hide your transition area. Since shiny metal will reflect your light source, you can actually point your light at a strategically placed reflector, instead of directly lighting the glasses, and obtain a very nice continuous highlight along the length of the glasses. Just keep playing with light/reflector position and different angles until it looks right. A continuous light source, as simple as a flashlight, can make setting up a reflector much easier. Once you find the angle, replace the continuous light with your flash. (assuming you're already using the flash off camera)

2) change your point of view and your composition to minimize the intersecting parts/reflections. As it is now, there are many lines and curves which are interrupted by other lines and curves. It looks a little chaotic. Try to find an angle which minimizes those and pay close attention to where those reflections end up. With eyeglasses, it's also usually preferred to minimize what shows through the lenses. Kind of makes it tough to find a good POV.

3) with very shallow DOF, watch your plane of focus and try changing camera angles slightly to control where that plane of focus runs through the composition. Here, I can clearly see the plane of critical focus on the tile. Notice how, when looking at just the tile and the reflections, the focus actually appears to be behind your intended focal point? We know it's not but, due to the difference in reflections, it appears so. The rear reflection is a little more in focus than the front reflection. By tilting the camera down slightly, and possibly using a slightly wider angle lens to maintain a similar POV, you can pull that plane of focus forward on the tile while still maintaining critical focus on your subject. Doing so would bring the forward reflection more into focus and take the rear reflection a little more out of focus, which looks more natural. This is where a tilt-shift lens would be very useful, and why most product photographers use them, but we can fudge it a little with a normal lens and sometimes that's enough.

Sorry for getting a little long winded, I just hope some of my comments make sense. I think this kind of photography can be quite challenging, even if the images are not exactly compelling to everyone. If you're interested in doing more with this type of work, I'd recommend picking up a copy of 'Light - Science and Magic (An Intro to Photographic Lighting)' as it has some wonderful examples on how to deal with some tricky subjects and situations. Reading the sections on shooting metal and glass were both 'ah, ha!' moments for me.

James, this was great! Thank you! You pointed out a couple issues I had with it, and others I didn't know to look for. Very helpful comments!

BTW...my flash was off camera and pointed at the wall behind and to my right, but I didn't use any gobos. The glasses are sitting on a 12x12 piece of granite tile, which felt like it limited my shooting angles/perspectives. And...these are my current set of eyes and I didn't pull out my old ones in order to look through my viewfinder. In other words...I was just happy to acquire focus on the detail in the first place!

Thanks again for your detailed critique!

Dogdots

I know nothing about this type of photography, but I like this photo