Studio, lighting & shot suggestions

marvinzzzmarvinzzz Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
edited March 23, 2009 in Technique
Hey guys,
wondering if someone may have some suggestions as to how I can best replicate a shot in terms of studio lighting setup & camera settings. I'm basically trying to replicate the same shot as seen in the attached picture. The picture is taken from a website where you can change the colour of the tshirt online. With that said, I'm unsure what colour they originally shot - white? black? a colour? Is there anything we can say about the shots which may indicate the original colour of the tshirt that they shot to achieve the desired level of fabric detail?

example.jpg

As you may see, the light source is quite harsh which shows great detail of the fabric texture - this I guess was the main goal of their setup and is what I'm also trying to achieve. Would anyone have any experience of shooting something like this or have any general advice how this detail is best achieved?
Any thoughts welcomed!
Thank you, :clap
Marvin.

Comments

  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2009
    marvinzzz wrote:
    Hey guys,
    wondering if someone may have some suggestions as to how I can best replicate a shot in terms of studio lighting setup & camera settings. I'm basically trying to replicate the same shot as seen in the attached picture. The picture is taken from a website where you can change the colour of the tshirt online. With that said, I'm unsure what colour they originally shot - white? black? a colour? Is there anything we can say about the shots which may indicate the original colour of the tshirt that they shot to achieve the desired level of fabric detail?
    As you may see, the light source is quite harsh which shows great detail of the fabric texture - this I guess was the main goal of their setup and is what I'm also trying to achieve. Would anyone have any experience of shooting something like this or have any general advice how this detail is best achieved?
    Any thoughts welcomed!
    Thank you, clap.gif
    Marvin.
    It's an extremely simple setup, actually.

    One bare small light 90 degrees to the left of the camera (basically on subjects focal plane or slightly behind it) leveled with the subject, probably 4..6 ft away (judging by the falloff from left-to right).

    Since the subject is fully static, any light source can be used, including small incandescent or tungsten domestic lights (just make sure your camera is on the tripod).

    The bg is purely artificial and done in post.

    HTH
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • marvinzzzmarvinzzz Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited March 16, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    It's an extremely simple setup, actually.

    One bare small light 90 degrees to the left of the camera (basically on subjects focal plane or slightly behind it) leveled with the subject, probably 4..6 ft away (judging by the falloff from left-to right).

    Since the subject is fully static, any light source can be used, including small incandescent or tungsten domestic lights (just make sure your camera is on the tripod).

    The bg is purely artificial and done in post.

    HTH

    I see, that sounds easy enough! Thanks. Just a few other things. Does the light source use an umbrella or some other light softening equipment? Are there really no lights coming from above the subject in conjunction with the side lighting?

    I have a collection of all the colours at this link http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8871/examplec.jpg. It may be difficult, but would you be able to hazard a guess as to which was the original tshirt they used (or closest match) as they have done post-processing on all the others. I'm not so sure what's the 'best' colour to shoot it with as I will be colouring them in later as they have done. The point is I want to bring out the texture in the shot so the detail can be seen later. Failing that, perhaps you could share some general suggestions on suitable colours/tones for the job?
    Marv.
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2009
    marvinzzz wrote:
    I see, that sounds easy enough! Thanks. Just a few other things. Does the light source use an umbrella or some other light softening equipment? Are there really no lights coming from above the subject in conjunction with the side lighting?

    I have a collection of all the colours at this link http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8871/examplec.jpg. It may be difficult, but would you be able to hazard a guess as to which was the original tshirt they used (or closest match) as they have done post-processing on all the others. I'm not so sure what's the 'best' colour to shoot it with as I will be colouring them in later as they have done. The point is I want to bring out the texture in the shot so the detail can be seen later. Failing that, perhaps you could share some general suggestions on suitable colours/tones for the job?
    Marv.

    As you mentioned yourself, the light is very harsh, which usually means small light source size (hence my saying "one bare light"). However, it's also possible that a very narrow strip light (or simply a long daylight tube) is used.

    As to the color... I can change this very image in PS from being what it is to ANY color, and "neither you not anybody else from this planet" (BTTF, part I) will ever be able to tell which one is "real" and which is not:-)
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    As you mentioned yourself, the light is very harsh, which usually means small light source size (hence my saying "one bare light"). However, it's also possible that a very narrow strip light (or simply a long daylight tube) is used.

    As to the color... I can change this very image in PS from being what it is to ANY color, and "neither you not anybody else from this planet" (BTTF, part I) will ever be able to tell which one is "real" and which is not:-)

    Abby would know.............

    Sam
  • marvinzzzmarvinzzz Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited March 17, 2009
    I see, very good. Thanks for your elaboration. I will test it today and see what happens.
    Can I ask, did you manage to change the black shirt to white? I think the colours are quite easily manipulated in photoshop, but large differences between the original (whichever one you choose - black for example) and the desired colour are difficult. I had some troubles turning the black to white. Can you explain what method you used please?
    M.
  • ChatKatChatKat Registered Users Posts: 1,357 Major grins
    edited March 17, 2009
    marvinzzz wrote:
    I see, very good. Thanks for your elaboration. I will test it today and see what happens.
    Can I ask, did you manage to change the black shirt to white? I think the colours are quite easily manipulated in photoshop, but large differences between the original (whichever one you choose - black for example) and the desired colour are difficult. I had some troubles turning the black to white. Can you explain what method you used please?
    M.

    You can use the eyedropper tool and pick a color from your color chart and drop it onto the tshirt.
    Kathy Rappaport
    Flash Frozen Photography, Inc.
    http://flashfrozenphotography.com
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited March 17, 2009
    marvinzzz wrote:
    I see, very good. Thanks for your elaboration. I will test it today and see what happens.
    Can I ask, did you manage to change the black shirt to white? I think the colours are quite easily manipulated in photoshop, but large differences between the original (whichever one you choose - black for example) and the desired colour are difficult. I had some troubles turning the black to white. Can you explain what method you used please?
    M.
    Well, Marvin, while pretty much everything is possible in PS, turning white tshirt into black or vice versa would require a lot of time and efforts and will be close to actually repainting it by hand . The difference between black and white lies primarily in luminosity (L channel), while I was talking about changing colors (AB channels).
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • marvinzzzmarvinzzz Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited March 23, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    Well, Marvin, while pretty much everything is possible in PS, turning white tshirt into black or vice versa would require a lot of time and efforts and will be close to actually repainting it by hand . The difference between black and white lies primarily in luminosity (L channel), while I was talking about changing colors (AB channels).

    Hey Nikolai. Thanks for your advice. Would you have any examples or tutorials where they have turned white to black or visa versa? While I'v seen a lot of colour manipulations I haven't seen much about blacks & whites.

    Since my last post I have made 1 big soft box which uses 5 25W CFLs. Hopefully that should help things! Just need an athletic mannequin and we'r good to go!
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited March 23, 2009
    marvinzzz wrote:
    Hey Nikolai. Thanks for your advice. Would you have any examples or tutorials where they have turned white to black or visa versa? While I'v seen a lot of colour manipulations I haven't seen much about blacks & whites.
    As I said, this will require a lot of manual work. A good graphic artist can help you with that, but I honestly think it would be much easier just to take another shot of the proper shirt, especially now that you have the softbox in place..
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
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