Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Textiles - Hankies

We have these hankies, these air from granny arts, and they're really nice. They're really, really nice textiles, and I would say, I'm going to give you free rein to style, those the way you like, we bring the table back, and then I will I ask you how you're doing as we go, and I'll answer some questions while that's happening, but we pick up where we left off. I just want to know how different is your workflow, now that you're shooting digital, as opposed to when you're shooting film? Well, I think, you know, he says you make that different main thing that's different right off the bat is that you have to be a much more effective editor because back, and when you weigh was shooting film, you drop off film tio to a director, a director of photography, they choose the pictures and that's it. I mean, as far as the workflow with polaroid goes, we would set up set up the lighting and what we would want, take a polaroid, make sure the exposures were correct. Check and see where the lighting...

wass, you know, and similar to what we're doing here with our test shot and then recompose and shoot with film it's a much more laborious process, it takes a lot longer, but, um we made up for it now that we have to do so much more editing in post production on our own so and that's the other part is that if you're working for a a client that has their own lab or sends out the photos themselves, you're not sending prince to a client you're sending negatives and they're going to do the processing where now we do the processing so it's very different cause we don't send raw files to clients, right? Certainly so which you know, it is a fun that very fundamental change how how we worked because you know, we don't show people are unprocessed images anymore but back then it was much, much, much more according to get it right in camera so there wasn't as much post production that could be done got yourself cool, more flexibility so has everyone doing out here? We okay? What did you think of that last one? Yeah, you think you think that the way I described it in the way they made it happen was they kind of went together cool and that's I mean that's a great goal when you when you get an idea and you have, uh, somebody presented to you in a photographic setting and you're able to actually make that happen, does that that's a good feeling of achievement in photography for sure so any more questions how we looking over their way a couple so let's see um rah rah says do you keep ownership of product photos that's a good question that is a ah touchy subject that sometimes you have to fight really hard to keep your ownership of photographs I think I would encourage you whenever possible too maintain a copyright on your photographs and license them to be used rather than sell them out right because selling them out right is very expensive for the client to take particularly as you get more successful in your own career more well known that becomes more and more expensive for the client and a lot of people are not educated in the idea that you I don't own the pictures after the photographer takes them that that's still the photographer's intellectual property and he will lead least them a license them to you for a certain amount of usage and that should be budgeted into the pricing when you're considering whether or not you're shooting you know for a particular client okay great so where are we what we what we chosen so far in italian but we chose this because you said it was granny's thank you ok and so we thought well, maybe more of an antique e type of looks so using the title of the company teo kind of that's it that's correct well I mean maybe it's almost vintage style but you know what's thea what are we doing here with settings and everything? We're working in natural light here, obviously and natural like we were testing we're testing saying what we need to do basically think bug off we're we're eventually going tio what hard here? So you cropping into that or you getting the frame I cropped into it? Yeah, I mean, I'm a little impatient I couldn't wait for the picture so okay very much for the strobe. They're so right. Yeah, I know the control tell me what you want. Oh writer you want to sew up wanted brighter. Can you do that for me, please? Yeah licensing question. So if you're shooting product, are you shooting day rate or use rate? Both the day rate is my time and the usage is my artistic vision in the most pretentious way could possibly say that and you let's talk a little bit if you don't mind about the stand in the creative live tab they've been having a lot of discussions about the camera stands understand? Yep, and they've been finding some version for fifty four hundred and they say what else can we expect as faras moving a tripod around you said on day one that you hand hold your stuff a lot and then use a tripod for the final photo is that the best advice went on a budget I think so, because I mean, a camera stand is a really expensive proposition and unless you're going to use it every day and it's going to make you money every day, it's probably not something you want to invest in unless you have unlimited funds, so you know, fun finding your shot with, you know, with a handheld test shot and then finding that angle and enviable to tweak it while on a tripod, I think it gives you a lot more flexibility to find your find your shot it's a workflow I'm comfortable with, I don't know that everybody works that way, but it's definitely something I like ok, we're getting there, you gave a little more room, okay, great, we comfortable with this with this frame on the outside here is that something you're okay with or do you want to eliminate that? I would have to show more of it if we're going to show it if you're going to show it show more are eliminated altogether, which would mean maybe not using that using this okay or maybe stuck in them clothes and then you could do I think you have a couple of options you khun you, khun fan them out differently, maybe a little bit more randomly and spread them out a little bit more and used the frame as your reference point or take a couple of way get a little tighter or change your angle suddenly to kind of pan over them okay to get a little bit more of their detail do you want to have a pyre and pull out a little and then we change the wood to a fortieth of a second at four and a half at four hundred so we're definitely still in a pretty good range for daylight at four hundred s o with that camera in particular is going tto handle out pretty well okay is this let's ok let's try any power to style paolo calling from holland I was like no way way I hear I hear the internet again ok that doesn't work for me it doesn't work for me there ok so I think that we need to do something a little bit I like closer to what you had in the beginning something a little order ordered an organized I think when you think about handkerchiefs too for some reason in my head handkerchiefs and ties photography always seems to be really neat and orderly in some way it's kind of harder to do things in a in a loosen open fashion with those types of things leased from my personal preference I can hear the internet right now I can hear them you know what they're saying and I know what you mean you were on you were there refugee psychic abilities see I told you okay, well I want to hear it do it this is what makes all the drama so tell me what's your disagreement thiss agreement iss I think this looks like a handkerchief that looked like a napkin okay so I was just going to say well maybe we could shoot them this way okay well why don't we do both in that way everyone's happy I was a preschool teacher at one point it was a family what's fine on artistic and our artistic differences more of an angle thing I think maybe so that might be difficult this sounds like a lot of photo shoots I've been on like that been changing so so once you get him decide on which way you're going to stack them up what you were staying with this camera angle or were you thinking in terms of maybe like a macro shot of like stack or something like that? Is that a possibility or yeah that's what we were thinking that's the that's the direction we were knowing somehow I think I've been mind rid okay, so if you want to goto our um uh macro lens we have to at your disposal if you're finding it hard to focus at that length which I think you're probably right on the edge with that little these back okay, but like you said yeah we're so young macro sir so tell me a story okay, how about this I wanted a little, you know, a little bit more about you said that you have pinterest, you know, you'll do some pin. Yeah, a collaborative tool with art direction. Yeah, and and with a lot and with food stuff, where you're go to inspirations for product photography outside of pinterest magazine well, you know, I do, you know, when you look through magazines, and I do this a lot when I look at the ads, and I see what the trends are, and I see how things are being photographed. So I subscribe to a lot of different magazines, both food magazines and other magazines, but there are always lots of good product photos in magazines, and there it's a good way to the source information on what you might want to be doing. Also, pinterest is a good one. And even when I started to research for this one going toe, etc, and looking at the way people are already photographing things for that format was really interesting, because there was such a wide range of talent there, there was some stuff that was really highly produced and looked really professional, and then there was stuff that was more amateur and needed a little bit of work, so I think that there was definitely there that's, definitely a good spot also look att things on both ends of the spectrum and see the progression of how things go from being a little bit more amateur to a lot more professional so magazines internet just google and image sometimes if I have an idea in my head, I'll just google the word and put google images and see what comes up and that often yield some pretty cool results and youtube to yeah so the number two search engine in the world from what I'm understanding what's that youtube oh really search engine yeah, I comes a surprise to me I didn't know that yeah um first shot with one hundred ok, I like the light right off the bat I think that the light you're getting is nice. I like this I like the tight detail shot I think it puts a lot in frame. What I might try to do is put something at the top of the stack that doesn't reflect as much light, so it's not as hot on the top, but again let me check the camera because that monitor and maybe a little bit it's just something darker I would try something a little darker on the top that might be it might be a good way to go so andrew on the days of photo shoots for like when you're doing volume product, do you write your own schedules you have you write your own schedule yeah, because I liketo have I like to be able to keep things moving and if you feel like if I don't have ah timetable toe worker from we may run out of time before this day is over so I try to schedule a certain amount for each shot and I usually overestimate and if I say ok, we've got five shots and I want to do one shot an hour weii maybe done shorter but at least I'm budgeted with plenty of time in case something goes wrong or need you needs a lot more attention yeah, okay and when I was doing this we have that we had our prep team and then we had our stylist styling on one set and then we're shooting on another is that similar to how you'd work in your studio now I tried everything try try to keep everything in one in one way I mean, there are times when I've done that though actually when I've shot books I've had multiple table's going and then I would have one table being set and styled while I'm working on one another one so that yeah that's something that is not not in my studio but when I'm in a bigger space my studio's not really big enough to work okay all right I like that homeboy ok, tell me what you love about it because I'll tell you, then I'll tell you what I love about it until you go ahead. Go first. Well, I think what's really nice about this product, the colors and the material and I think that's what you want to hide so I think the orange on top works way better than that. Really, like keller. I also think that the texture of the table top that you chose makes a big difference. And the fact that it is, you know, you did kind of source inspiration from the name of the company. I think that were there in no, but what I would do just subtly different is where can you point on there and tell me where the focal point is, bob? Where I mean is you're I know where I focused. Ok. Well, with I would say you focus, like, right around here, but you see how this is coming away. So I think maybe a little bit more athletes here, a little less shutter speed. Or maybe even if you have to bump up your s o to get there, I think a little more focus on that whole front stack might have changed the focal point stop it, would you make the whole thing, chris? Rather than because I kind of like I don't mind it, I think it's an option, but I think it should be a tiny bit sharper or just move the focal point here and let this just drift away yeah, instead of putting it squarely in the middle way do here I had another suggestion if you didn't change your settings yet but if you think the only thing that changes we move the focus to the corner of that strikes one is what I was going that's what italian I were saying is that the new one yet that should be the latest that's the latest one okay, I like that better because now at least my focus, my focus is at the front and it kind of drifts back this way and that's I think that's a little bit nicer you can really see the texture with the macro to get in close and you could see the fineness of the textile, which is one of those nice things in textile photography is to be able to capture and the fact that you're kind of doing like a it's almost like a drifting light it's kind of coming this way and across rather than a direct light if you're swinging around to the other side would flatten it out probably wouldn't see that texture at all but that's a really nice option and I think that maybe one more shot with the same focal point a little bit more depth of field and see what that might yield and maybe maybe you know down to eight move on. Teo, don't you change these point shoot? Okay, a second part of this segment will be everyone will teach bob how to use a canon camera for so we're down to a thirteenth of us trust me always there with a nikon we'd be having the same problems and you're right a quick question. How big is your studio? Uh, probably the whole thing about seven hundred square feet. So by new york standards that's huge. Huge. Is that a shot? It'll distract yes, wondering about that dimple in the orange. You mean right up here there? Yes. You just okay? I like I like the adoptive field on this. I like it a little bit better. I still we're still getting that drift off it's still fading out a little bit, but that whole front edge being sharp and crispin getting really nice detail in the texture is nice. Just a tiny bit more toward this way or this way point is coming this way in the back has just just about so you want to be a little bit more frontal, get up there and wait eventually well, it would make an appearance, yeah okay let's see what like that you mean yeah and the light's gonna know it's there but now they're getting to much I see now all of a sudden I'm really distracted by yeah, that big hole here which I don't like but it's okay that you know it's okay to play experiment absolutely and textiles ridiculously difficult to style and shoot any apparel a lot of work is done. Um bag that first day um so I was thinking well it's a handkerchief so do we put it out flat but then it's just a flat piece of material, right? Yeah there's some there's something dynamic about the way these unfolded and nice and I really don't know necessarily that your original concern was it is but what I would do here now since you've already got this shot folding the way he had them as triangles and photograph in that way see if it comes out any differently. So why not? Because again, once you have your shot, what do you do next? Just keep going, right? You just keep going until either the daylight runs out or you know they throw you out of the studio one of the other. So do we want to do a couple of questions while they're getting that setup? Yeah, eso es and they wanted to know what color would you suggest they paint their studio white, white as brightest pasta right way yeah, because you know it once you're start with a really bright environment you could always bring that down by modifying and knocking the light down it's really hard to get it back so it's better to start bright my studio is painted all white and I have a box windows that are kind of set andi I paint the inside of them white as well. So I have sort of like a little light box already in the window that just gets extended with cards or or the flats or whatever. So white nice. Now if I was your art director and I was got on the phone right now and I said andrew how's it going what's this looking like what would what would you do? So we got it. Can I see it? Can you send me something? Absolutely not. Please, I might I might actually jump in with my dad, but I do that. What went on? All right, sure. Um it was in the tray it's over on the table. It's right there, let's give it a shot giving in too easy. Okay, so we got that, okay, I'm gonna take a shot with my camera, my was we have the art director on the phone and he's really want to know what's going on and I can't really pull him out of the camera right now, because, you know, we're in the middle of a shot. But, you know, I'm going to give him an example here so that we can oh, sure, we should go back to the other way. Oh, so we've had a change of heart way. Have, oh, it's, big of you. Others wear this around. The studio saw this way in a way they were arranged. How do you like that, how's? That camera work. That's. Good. I don't know what you guys laughing at, but, um, maybe I don't know, it's, just you guys. They're interested in this. I mean, talking, talking, oh, making me talk about shooting from the hip, right? Uh, you knew I was gonna go there so cheesy. I know.