Bottle Lighting and Element Shooting
This is an advanced tutorial taking you through my bottle lighting and showing you the element shooting approach in practice.
This is a real working situation, not a mocked up image or situation. I am test shooting for a potential new client and there is a requirement for me to show them how my lighting look and feel affects their products. If this goes well, I may land a new client. At worse, I have practised what I preach and will gain new knowledge and build on my experience from trying things out.
Briefly let me discuss my general approach to test shooting.
It is such an important part of my photography work, to be interested enough without getting paid, to experiment with a clients product and be challenged to step up and show someone what I can do. There are no guarantees that they the client will love the work. Nor do I know whether I will get to build momentum and gain that clients trust enough in order to move the conversation forwards to get to a working business relationship. However! That does not matter as I am a photographer who loves the job. I am skilled at it and enjoy the experience of crafting something both technical and creative.
Bottle lighting and element shooting. Bottle lighting is something I have done many times, always with a result in mind that will best work for the client. I must have a process that takes me from an empty studio, product in hand, to a finished image that communicates clearly the essence of that object. Ultimately, the customer wants to sell more products. Let’s repeat that again…The customer just wants to sell more products. This is what it is all about. It is not personal, it is their job. This is what they need to do. Sell more products and make a profit. To help them do this they market themselves using great product shots. My job is to take the product I am given, understand what it is I am being asked to do and deliver back meaningful images which build on the clients brand image and connects with their audience as they wish to.
I could shoot a bottle in 10 minutes… If I wanted to. But that is not me. My career has been based upon looking to achieve the best result I can. I achieve product photography that has people calling me up to say how amazing the work is. This ensures that I feel 100% confident that I have chosen the best route as an image creator. Want to know how I think? Read About Phil
This masterclass takes you on my journey through 2 days in the studio where I am actively looking and seeking out how the product can look at its best. How can I add maximum value to the products design? How can I show my gratitude to the client for giving me this opportunity? What can I give back to them that will help them achieve their goals?
Digital Shooting techniques give photographers amazing hacks and multiple routes and chances to producing the work. Element shooting has become a very natural way for me to work. It means I do not have to compromise on my final result. However I set up, however many lighting elements I shoot does not matter. Simplicity is a favourite word of mine. It is a great way to start any creative venture with simplicity in mind. However things have a habit of developing! What could have been a quick pack shot, turns into a lengthy multipart comp. The glue that binds all of the lighting elements together is the vision and understanding that the individual parts will make the one whole. I think this ability to understand the whole image comes from practice. If we shoot enough images with the element approach, eventually we naturally will know when something is right and can see how it all fits together.
During this test, I did not know how I was going to produce the shots. I just knew that I eventually would. Members of Shoot Products Like A Pro have access to Articles that work through the processes around understanding the object about to be photographed, knowing how to start off an image, what kind of light is to be used and where it can come from. The Course itself works on all the lighting and set up approaches that I legitimately use day to day when in the studio. There is nothing rocket science about this. But there is a process.
So! When you sit back and relax into this tutorial – try and see the process that I am going through. See how many times I stop and think and check on what I am about to do, or need to do. I trust in this process as it gets me the results I need.
This Masterclass shows you how you can light a bottle, and will help you understand what it takes to shoot products with the element approach. This is how I shoot as a professional.
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Should you need help in any way, please Contact me. I will love to answer any questions you have.
Enjoy the video!
Phil
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