Product composition - three legged stool

Don Kondra

Greetings,

This is a recent acquisition of mine, a curly maple stool made by Michael Hosaluk.

Here lies my conundrum

Frequently I am asked to provide one shot of a piece and what usually works best is a 3/4 profile.

As a woodworker I feel this profile doesn't necessarily show off the woods beauty to best advantage. And in this case the composition is complicated by the fact there are three rungs on the stool.

With any other view converging lines come into play, ie., the bottom rungs may criss cross each other. Something that may work but I try to avoid if possible.



This higher angle does show the character of the wood of the seat better but I feel the image isn't quite as attractive or successful.



I feel I've allowed myself to be handicapped by the technical aspects of the shape of the piece and need to explore other angles.

FYI - the lighting on these is preliminary, I haven't added a boom/bg yet.

Thoughts ?

Cheers, Don

puzzledpaul

As a somewhat lapsed woodworker (3D / multi-layer puzzles) I can appreciate the problems of getting all relevant info / details across in a single pic.

People selling tripods (on fleabay) have similar issues, too.

Might it be worth considering a pic (or pics) within the main pic - where the smaller image(s) just show a part of the most highly figured part(s) - to give the viewer a 'flavour' of the whole?

(and if they show sufficent interest, you'd then be able to show them a larger pic of said area?)

I'd vote for the first pic too, btw.

Just shows the problem of getting across the sheer beauty of a well-made and finished piece of woodwork via a pic when other aspects like feel / smell etc play such a large part

pp

NealAddy

Honestly I think that first shot is very nice. It shows off the curl in the wood and gives the viewer a good perspective of the overall form. For presentation you might consider placing something on the stool. Perhaps a woodworker's chisel or plane would tie in without being distracting.

Nice acquisition, by the way. As a woodturner and fan of Michael's work this piece is a pleasure to view. Elegant simplicity.

FlyNavy

#1 is my pick.

Don Kondra

Thanks Paul,

I'm not a fan of montages but will have to consider something along those lines. Maybe two close ups and a full view in order to balance the image...

Thanks Neal,

I feel placing something on the work is distracting. It may make for a interesting "still life" but for a product shot the stool then becomes a store fixture.

Thanks John,

I agree that the second shot does show the top much better but I think the perspective makes the stool look slightly squat instead of elegant.

Somewhere in the middle perhaps

Say take the first shot and raise the camera just enough not to clip the back leg, he, he..

Cheers, Don

DeVerm

Okay, a wild suggestion: wide & close?

ciao!
Nick.

Don Kondra

Maybe something to consider Nick.

Quick snaps at 7mm..





Cheers, Don

Art Scott

do you have a tilt shift or can you rent one......or view camera :~}} ....I am bucking all others here .... I prefer the 2nd image because the legs still show nice curling and I can see the top better.....

puzzledpaul

After looking at the original 2 pics again, imo there's a better impression of depth / modelling achieved by the way the object's been lit.
Whilst it could be argued there's less colour info in pic 1 (esp. top @ 8 o'clock) - to me, that bit's just asking to have a hand run over it to check its surface texture / surface finish

pp

DeVerm

My first thought with the wide shots was "refreshing!" Yes, a wide tilt-shift would be great; I can see customers pick wide & close shots over the regular.

ciao!
Nick.

Don Kondra

Apparantly tilt shift is only available in a OM model for Olympus, sigh...

Cheers, Don

redleash

I'm with Art--I prefer the second shot a lot more. It really shows off the wood grain and doesn't cut off any part of the leg. Probably just a result of the lighting you used but I also think the shadows work better in #2; I think b/c they are smaller and symmetrical I find them less distracting than the foreground shadows in #1. To me, #2 looks very much what I would expect to see in a product catalog. If I were shopping for a stool like this, I get enough of a sense of the size and shape from the second shot; I'm sure the dimensions would also be provided in the text. What I really want to see is the quality of the craftsmanship and the look of the wood and #2 gives me that.

Lauren

ian408

I like the second better as well. The piece looks beautiful and I love the joinery.

Maybe a darker background would help define the piece?

Don Kondra

Thank you Lauren and Ian,

Funny thing is I've never considered shooting furniture on black, hmmm...

Cheers, Don

ian408

I don't think black is the background you want but something more complimentary. Maybe a grey (or move the piece away from the background)?

Don Kondra

The pieces were shot on a light gray seamless paper and were about five feet from the back....

Lighting was quick and dirty with two Alien Bee B1600 with softboxes, I was more concerned about working on the composition and plan to reshoot adding a boom light.

Cheers, Don