Snow peas
Cygnus Studios
Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
We are back to shooting packaging images this week, but we also get a little more free time to do some "fun" shots.
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Ah, now you're making me wish I had some fresh peas!
I really like this.
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
Yeah, wonderful that!
This is superb!
Excellent control of DOF, with focal plane almost perfectly on the subject. (At this size, it's OK, but anything larger and you would want an extra 1/3rd-2/3rd stop, or tilt-shift.) Excellent exposure and processing. Framing and posing, top notch. Very nice lighting with good angle for key light, well-directed (grid or snoot?), and fill light on the primary subject. Makin' good use of that Nikkor 24-85mm, f2.8-f4, 24-85mm AF-D.
All good.
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Your technical analysis of an image never ceases to amaze me. You were in the business way too long
This shot is almost exactly the same as one of the client samples that were chosen (they always get plenty of variations).
This is something that usually I do not do (I did clear it with the client first just to spare any feelings that could possibly get hurt). I'm sure that you know that clients rarely like to see their images out in the public eye before their ads come out. Since I never know which variation(s) that they might choose, I tend to get far more creative with our shots to avoid any contract conflicts that might arise.
For the client shots, we switched to medium format which pulled the depth of field just a little crisper in my opinion. The difference would not be noticed by most people but I tend to believe that a DSLR has just a smidge more of a creamier look. Maybe it's just in my head.
Positing of the peas was not my idea or my doing, so I cannot take credit for that. The stylist was amazing. I hope to work with that crew again (hopefully many times).
Lighting was actually pretty simple. Well as simple as food photography can be.
A single 400w Broncolor Siros positioned at 10 o'clock (from camera position) 2 feet above and 54 inches away from table. Bare bulb on minimum power, diffused through a sheet of cracked glass acrylic next to table angled at 45 degrees to subject.
Two small 6x6 inch mirrors were used to bounce and shape the light back onto the subject. One at camera right close to lens to get that little bounce reflection on the bottom of the peas themselves and one just above camera (sprayed with Pam cooking spray to diffuse bounce) also slightly right to lighten up the shadows just a smidge in camera.
Since I've never been a photo editor I still do far more things in pre-production so that in my mind post-production can be done easier.
I would be interested in what focal plane you think would have made this better.
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The PC-E Micro-NIKKOR 85mm f/2.8D gives you some tilt and shift capabilities. It's a little different from a view camera but basically, and in this case, look at the scene from the top to realize the angle needed for the degree of tilt and shift, then mimic that angle with the controls on the PC-E lens, also adjusting so that the top side of the lens is closer to the subject than the bottom. You'll also need to rotate while tilting to achieve the proper angles, but the net effect is to bring the entire length of the pea-pod in focus. Then use the aperture to adjust the DOF.
If your camera supports live view, that helps quite a bit, and a large external video monitor can also be helpful in the lens setup.
This video may be helpful to understand the concepts:
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It's been quite a while since I've used a tilt shift lens. I never got the feel for it. I believe that I own a 45mm buried somewhere in the studio. I'll have to see if I can find it and try that again.
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It was brought to my attention that there is only a 120mm f/5.6 tilt shift for my Mamiya and none for the little Hasselblad that I hope to transition to at some point in the next year.
If for some odd reason that I do stick with the Nikon beyond 2017, I would still have the issue of recreating the effect for clients in medium format (which is what almost all of them want now).
I do know guys who have created a bellows system for medium format that creates the same basic effect, but not sure if any of them use it in real world applications.
This idea is going to require some research on my part to see what is possible and if I can use it effectively for work.
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Excellent shot and discussion. Thanks!
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