Tag Archive for: guitar photography

Product photography with a glamorous edge

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Product photography doesn’t have to be boring

One of the first things I often hear when talking about product photography is that it’s boring.
And although I agree to some point, there is so much more that can be done with some creativity. So this blog is about product photography with a glamorous edge.

As an all-around studio, we shoot almost everything from weddings, products, pets, families, etc.
And I have to be honest there is one kind of product photography I also don’t really find challenging or gives me the right satisfaction.

White seamless, or black background for your product photography

Sometimes you just have to. Simply put, because those images are essential.
A client wants to be able to see the product from every side. And in my opinion, this is a very important series.

A few things I always teach people that are essential for every photoshoot, but especially for products.

why and how to use a lightmeterclick here for the video

Other essential gear, also in all your photography 

Light meter 


The first thing I have to explain is why the light meter is so incredibly important.
When we look at how colors work in the digital domain, it’s vital to understand that within the colorspace, each color has its own coordinates.
These are often referred to as x,y, and Y.
Hue, Saturation, and Luminance.
Now it’s important to understand that a color can have many luminances, saturations, and hues.
So it’s too easy to just say we need Y to be….

For the Luminance part, the use of a light meter is essential. You cannot do this any other way, that’s just as fast and accurate.

ColorChecker


The next step, without any doubt, is the ColorChecker.
I’ve been using the Calibrite (X-rite) system for years. And it works for both photography and video like a charm.
Make sure you first meter the light and then shoot the colorchecker as flat as possible. Also, make sure if you use accent lights, etc. they are all off. Just shoot the Colorchecker with the main light.

After this, it’s very easy to create the perfect white balance and profile for your camera/lens/setup.
For color-critical work, it’s vital to shoot the colorchecker (and re-meter) EVERYTIME you change something in the set. Also, when you change backdrops, props, etc. They all can influence the color.

Shoot tethered

I can’t repeat this enough. I’m a big advocate of shooting tethered.
In short, what is tethering? In essence, it just means you connect your camera to a display. So, the images come in right away while you shoot them. This way you can check them close-up.
I cannot stress enough how much this helps in your workflow and accuracy.

Personally, I love shooting into an iPad (now also on the desktop) app called Cascable. I can HIGHLY recommend everyone checking it out. It’s my go-to solution.
Of course, you also need something to connect your camera; you can choose wireless, but this is often way too slow for RAW and also not always as stable as needed.
I’ve been using IQwire for quite some time now. We just released our brand new Formula 10G red solution, which is insanely cool and fast. Of course,  still available in 5-10-15 meters. Where, for me personally, the 10 mtr version is the sweetspot.

“BS, I do it all without, you’re old-fashioned!”

You don’t want to know how often I hear this.
Also, you don’t want to know how many professionals mail me when they run into problems with clients because they can’t get the colors exactly right.
Using a light meter and ColorChecker is vital for correct colors. This has zero to do with old-fashioned or whatever; it’s the same as using a level or ruler when building a table/house.

“Can’t I use the histogram?”

Sorry, no, you cannot, and you should NEVER trust your histogram.
Think about it. When you look at the histogram, what does it tell you exactly?

Exactly, just the distribution of the tones in the image.
In other words, a black dog in a dark room will render a line all the way on the left side of the histogram. And maybe some spots somewhere at the right (for the eyes).
While a snowman in a snowstorm most probably just give you a spike on the right side of the histogram.
All very nice and 100% correct, but…. it doesn’t tell you if the color red is accurate.
So NEVER use the histogram. And realize it doesn’t give you any information about the RAW file.

 

In fact, a small tip, in between.
Go into your camera settings and find picture styles, now change the contrast to the lowest setting and brightness all the way up.
Although you’re shooting RAW (who doesn’t :D). It will give you a much better representation of the dynamic range of the RAW. Instead of showing the blinking skies as soon as there is a little bit of dynamic range in a scene.

What does happen?

Let’s say you have been working for years with the histogram and don’t use a light meter or ColorChecker. The problem is easy to explain.
A few years ago Annewiek bought a sweater and scarf from the same website.
They looked great together. But when the package arrived, it went back straight away. The sweater was a totally different color red and the scarf was more purple than red.
Checking with the site, they fitted together great, in real life? A disaster.
As a photographer, you might never hear this from your customer (if the company is large enough). But you are liable for a lot of waste in shipping and destroying capital/goods.
So, if you’re serious about photography? Don’t feel bad about using a light meter and a ColorChecker; they really speed up your workflow and make customers trust your work.

That being said

Let’s get to the fun part.
When shooting the real product shoot, I’m following all the rules.
But….
When it comes to the next part, it becomes more fun. Here comes the part about product photography with a glamorous edge.

Feeling/mood/fun… or I WANT THAT NOW!

When I know I want a product, I’m searching for it. And, mostly look at the white/black background images. To make sure it has all the details I need, looks nice, etc.
But when I’m just surfing the web, I would probably never find that product when it’s just white/black backgrounds.
So we need something else.

I always call these “the character shots.”
The reason is pretty simple: with this part of the product shoot, we are going to have fun.
And believe it or not, this is the most difficult part.
Products can’t be coached, take different poses, smile, etc… or can they?

Jay Maisel

When I first met Jay Maisel, one of the things that always stuck with me was his hammering on “gesture”.
It took me a while to figure this out. But in essence (what I think he meant) is very basic.
Find the angle/mood/zoom/lighting that gives something a character.

I’ve been using this as a challenge for guidance programs.
Shoot the same building or area for a full week, but… and that’s the hard part, EVERY image should show me a different character.
Without giving away too much… you can think about angles, backlighting, at night/during day, during the rain etc….

And this is exactly what we are going to do with our products today.

Digital Classroom: product photography with a glamorous edge

Normally, during the Digital Classroom, it’s all about model photography, retouching, etc.
But sometimes we have special episodes on street photography, workflow, and product photography.
This time we talk about products, in case you have not yet guessed it. At the end of the blog post, I’ll post the whole episode, but let’s go through it very quickly.

First setup, a guitar

In this episode, I started with a guitar I designed a few years ago. I absolutely love the results.
The problem is that the coating is very shiny. So, perfect to explain the angle of incidence is the angle of reflection.
But as mentioned before, when we are shooting products in a more fun way, we need to do something extra.

I started in the episode with a white background.
But by adding the red cloth, it already became much more interesting.
Shot with a Geekoto GT400 and the Geekoto Lantern.

Product photography with a glamorous edge

For me personally, this is still part of the product photography, but just adding some flair and context.
By using a wider aperture, I have already started to play with the Depth of Field, enhanced by the angles.
This is a great way to show the whole product or part, but still guide the viewer towards the area you want.

But let’s up the ante 😀 and let’s show product photography with a glamorous edge…

In the next shot, I’m not paying attention to color accuracy anymore. It’s all about feel and style.
In this case, always keep in mind that I’m shooting this during a live stream without any preparations.  I always just go with the flow.

A glamorous edge

For the next shot, I’m using a vintage amp as a prop to lean the guitar against.
I’ve chosen this amp because it’s not immediately recognizable as a Fender, Marshall, Carvin, etc.
The reason is that some people will immediately make connections between brands. And that can actually hurt the sales.
A metal head will probably be triggered by a Marshall logo. While a Jazz player will probably be more excited by a Fender amp. And of course, everything in between and opposite (guitar players are flexible with gear).

Of course, we needed some accents and smoke.
I’m using a mix of a larger smoke machine for the haze in the back and a smaller device for the “cold ice” effect on the bottom.

Geekoto GT200/250 as strobes
The Rogue Frank Doorhof Flashbender in striplight configuration as the main light
And the Rogue Magnetic system for the colors and grids

product photography with a glamorous edge

Isn’t this glamorous? With the smoke and red and blue lights?

In essence, everything is visible. Also, the guitar, even the fact it’s headless. But the color has changed in this shot.
This is the kind of shot that WILL trigger me when browsing, and probably I will most likely click on this one. Instead of a standard shot. Even if it’s just to check what this is. It triggers something. And don’t get me wrong.

This is the kind of shot you really HAVE to discuss with your client.
It can very easily be totally wrong for what the client wants. But in my experience, as soon as you start to “freak out” in the studio with sets and styling the client will start to interact and give you valuable advice to get the results you both love. Nobody knows the product and target group better than the client. But don’t be afraid to also steer your client into areas you know will work. It’s always a cooperation.

For the next product, we chose the….

Carvin Legacy Drive

As a huge Steve Vai fan, I had to get this one. It’s an awesome tube-driven pre-amp that will get you very close to that “sweet”/”soft” Vai solo tone but, also the gritty rhythm.
For this shot, I wanted to have some flares on the products. Show off the dials and keep the color close to the original.
In the video, you can see we are using some materials to actually lift up the pedal so it’s easier to fit into the set.

My K&F concept black mist filter works like a charm for shots like this.

The setup is actually not that different. We just moved the main light closer to the product.
And to make it even easier to move around, I place the Geekoto mainlight with the FlashBender on a Platypod to be able to place the FlashBender everywhere I want.
In the video, you will see me angle the FlashBender to combine the feathering effect and direct light to get the right mix on the pedal and the background.
After that, it was smoke and shoot till you get it.
And don’t feel bad about combining 1-2 shots into one killer final result.
In this case, I did not need it, but for the final setup, I did combine two images in one shot 😀

Product photography with a glamorous edge Product photography with a glamorous edge

And then the final product shot. For this one, we did something different. But with the same lighting setup. Although now I changed the FlashBender for the collapsable snoot from Rogue

Positive Grid Spark Mini VAI

Yep, there is that name again, Steve Vai. To keep it in the theme, I brought another product to the studio for our product photography with a glamorous edge.
Positive Grid has been making great software and so-called modeling amps (emulations) for years.
In fact, I use some of their software on my iPad and desktop.

The Spark series is very popular for travellers or just playing on the coach. It’s very flexible, can function as a recording tool, and has …. well it has a lot, too much to mention here.
And because it emulates to many different amps and pedals, I thought it would be fun to use a mirror, very glamorous right?
Seeing it’s not the original gear, but an image of that gear.

Of course, we wanted something nice, and a while ago we got this smaller mirror with a huge silver side.
I have not yet found a place for it in a shoot, but this was perfect.
So we placed the Spark on the mirror.  I’m using the same gels on the silver and trying to get just enough in the mirror. The snoot just focuses on the Spark.
The nice thing about the Rogue Snoot is that you can use it in 3 different positions. You can use it without the diffusion panel, which gives a rectangular look on a speedlight-based strobe, and a nice round effect with a hot center on a round flash tube. Or a perfect round with the panel. It’s insanely flexible and should be in anyone’s backpack or studio setup when you need focused light.

So let’s take a look at the final setup.

product photography with a glamorous edge Product photography with a glamorous edge

 

Some images I shot from a slightly higher angle to also, show some of the buttons, and some are slightly lower.
In these kinds of shots, you don’t have to show all the details, remember these are the “WTF is that, let’s click” images.

Conclusion: product photography with a glamorous edge

Great that you made it to the end. I was planning on making several posts about this, but decided to just do it in one.
I hope you guys also enjoy something else from us. Feel free to share the video, like, comment, and of course, subscribe.

We update this blog several times a week. So, keep checking back!. There is always new material, or older material you have not yet read, or forgot.
In other words, just visit 😀

And as promised, the full video.

 

What a beauty, a yellow Ibanez RG505r

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Modelphotography is loads of fun

But of course as a studio we also regularly shoot products.
And in essence you can use the same techniques you use for modelphotography on your products to spice it up.
And let’s be honest a product against a white background is very boring and been done way too often to make it a challenge. In our studio for example we use a Bresser product table or for the larger products white seamless, and although those images are great for a webshop it doesn’t really capture the attention of a viewer in a way they “WANT” that product.

But when we add some nice backgrounds, maybe a prop like a chair instead of a flat surface, add some accent lighting (and when color is not 100% vital add a color gel), maybe some smoke and before you know it you have a totally different product shot.

These images I shot during a small 1:1 workshop explaining our Geekoto system.
And when I have the chance I of course pick one of my guitars to act like a prop.

The one that started it all

In this  case (for the guitar lovers) the guitar that started it all, the whole metal/shred scene. The Ibanez RG550 in Desert Yellow, 1995.
Now the fun part, this is actually not a RG550 but a RG505r, it’s still the RG550 but only manufactured for the European market and has a different neck and black headstock, the R is for the fingerboard which is Rosewood, instead of the standard maple.

Ok so now why this information?
When we shoot a product or a business I always want to know what the product is, or what the company does, and most of all, which mood fits the product/company.
People often underestimate how much difference photos can make, a company can get a totally different “vibe” by using different angles or lighting. So we have to make sure we know exactly what we shoot.

We now know this is an important guitar in history.
We also know that they were know for the extreme colors.
Also the face there is a different neck and headstock in this sample.
And of course it’s a very versatile guitar mostly used for fast playing and rock/metal.

With this information I’m deciding what to do

For the first shot I’m using a nice “royal” looking chair.
This chair was the closest I had to something “royal”, also the blue works very nicely with the yellow.
I’m shooting from a lower angle to make sure I get that HERO pose here.
The headstock has to be in the shot, because it makes it clear it’s a RG505 and not a RG550. If you don’t know this detail it could very well mean your client will decline the whole series.
Because the pick guard and the yellow is very reflective we have a problem with reflections from the strobes.
This is where you always have to remember the “angle of incidence is the angle of reflection” so make sure you shoot under a different angle from the reflection. You can literally see this in the viewfinder. Also the yellow has to be nice and saturated.

We know that color has a luminance part and when we lower the luminance the color will become more saturated.
So to make sure I don’t have any reflections and my yellow is nice and extra saturated I’m angling the guitar slightly away from the main lightsource, it’s just a very slight angle but it does take away any glare and reflections plus it just makes the yellow a bit more saturated, combined with the blue from the chair it created a very nice and popping contrast.

Mainlight is a Geekoto GT200 with our Geekoto S26 softbox with grid
For a special effect I’m using a Geekoto GT200 with a blue gel from the side.
To get the lens flare nice and smooth I’m using the K&F concept black diffusion filters

Now this looks nice but…. I’m missing that “ROCK” feeling.
So lets pump up the power on the blue strobe to get more blue and flare in the frame.

Ok, now this is a lot nicer.
As you can also see that the angle under which you shoot makes a huge difference in “projected power”

But what if you want a lot more power in your shot.

So far I’ve been shooting almost straight on, so for the final shot I’m now shooting from a lower angle and from the side creating a totally different look. The shadows have a much larger part in the final look, and the blue gel has a much nicer effect.

Now in this final image you also see the reflection on the tremolo arm much better and thanks to the diffusion filter it gets a beautiful glow. Also as mentioned before the shadows have a much larger part in the final look. But by shooting under an angle you can also see that the blue light on the chair looks much more evenly.

So when you think you get the perfect shot, always try it from at least 2 different angles, you might be surprised how often you will use the extra images.

If you have any questions feel free to post them below this post, or on social media.

And before I forget

When you want the colors to be perfect it’s always necessary to use a colorchecker.
I’ve been using the Calibrite colorchecker passport for years and can highly recommend them.
When you shoot with gels make sure you take the colorchecker passport photo without the gels.
Shoot the colorchecker as flat as possible with your mainlight in the correct exposure (remember luminance is a vital part in your colorcoordinates) and you will get a perfect base every time you shoot. After that it’s of course the creative part to change colors, but the advantage is that when you need perfect colors, it’s there, but also that all presets you create will give the correct results, because they all start from the same base settings. This is something a lot of people forget when they claim they don’t need a colorchecker or lightmeter, it really saves loads of time on location, but even more when retouching.

 

A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

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A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

Most of the posts we do online are from model photography. But product photography is also one of the services we offer our clients. Most of the time, the model shots are however a lot more interesting to post. But sometimes we also show you some of the products we shoot, when it’s special.

Hobby vs business

I always say I’m a lucky guy, every day I can do what I love most, create images. But sometimes I’m double so lucky when I can combine two of my passions.

I’ve known RJ-amps for a few years now and he can do wonders with tube amps but also builds great guitar pedals. When I brought my amp in I got two brand new pedals to play with which will be released later this year. And of course…. and he knows that…. I couldn’t resist to take some images.

Now we also took some of the more boring white backgrounds but when we do product shoots I also always like to add some “special set” shots. With handbags for example. We build a small set fitting the brand and took some shots in there, with fancy lighting. In most cases, we do this for free (and fun) but clients often end up using those images also.

How I shot this product, the guitar pedals

For this series I decided to shoot it at home with a combination of a Lumecube with a snoot and two Nanlite led tubes on the side.
The challenge was to get the Lumecube in exactly the right place, but luckily we could use the K&F concept tripod I’m using for my iPhone video setup. This is an awesome tripod because it can act as a boom arm, making it ideal for shoots like this or using phones in video setups.

Here is the behind-the-scenes setup for both pedals.

A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

A little bit of set styling

The reason I shot this at home was mainly because it was the best location 😀
This is the area where I create my music and also host live streams when I do seminars for clubs or Digital Classroom episodes without live shoots.

I love the carpet here (somehow most guitarists seem to love them) so I wanted to use that as my “base”
Because it’s a pedal I chose this vintage-looking amp because it’s pretty neutral-looking and stands close to the floor. So there is no problem fitting it in the frame.

Of course, you also need a guitar. Here I chose a custom-built guitar for the nice wood look which I think works great with the color of the amp and the carpet. Also, the finish has a very high gloss which makes it harder to light. But the effect when done right makes it possible to use just a little bit of light to see some details.

For some “fill,” I used my favorite-looking microphone, a nice Marantz Ribbon mic.

Lighting

As mentioned I’m using the Lumecube with a snoot and two Nanlites tubes on the left and right.
I love using accents with red and blue because both are on the same axis in the colorspace they blend together really nicely and both are also the so-called “emotion” colors so for me personally it’s a combination I use a lot.

Placing the lights is vital if you want details in the guitar without getting too much glare. However, around the edges, I did want just a little bit of reflection making the guitar stand out. After finding the right spot you can fine-tune the spread by just turning the tube very slowly and keep looking through your camera.

Ok… let’s show the results.
I did use just a little bit of BorisFX for special effects.
Get a 15% discount on BorisFX by using our link.

A kind of different product photography, guitar pedals A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

 

PS: if you like this blog about product photography (from guitar pedals), let me know! Find me on social media.

How to photograph your guitar…Part I

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In today’s blogpost the results from set 1 from Wednesdays digital classroom broadcast where it was all about, photographing your guitar.
You can find the broadcast at our YouTube channel (youtube.com/frankdoorhof)

First set was my 1964 Egmond guitar
Egmond was a Dutch brand that was very popular in the ’60-70’s, even Brian May owned one at one point. These guitars have soul, but play like…. well you know what I mean.

And when you have the Line 6 there… well we have to take a shot of that one too of course.
This is actually a Pure Tube amp designed by Bogner (an authority on Tube amps) and you can say about Line6 what you want but they knocked it out of the ball park with this one, the amp is absolutely awesome and incredibly versatile.