A Living Portrait

Trying to get the creative juices working again which I started with my eldest daughter. An impromptu portrait session which we had on a Saturday morning.

Looking at the photos I have taken, I've spotted something to make those creative juices working.

Our Bunso (Our Youngest)

Our youngest daughter is not as keen as her elder sister when it comes to having her photo taken. To my surprise, this morning she obliged without hesitation. I asked her to come down to our living room and have her sit on the sofa and read a book while I take some photos of her where there was great ambient light that I couldn't pass. Her big sister helped in holding a reflector for those nice catch lights.

Another beautiful, fast-growing kid like her sister. Taking good looks from their mom.

Something Is Brewing

Last night on my way home, I passed by a convenience store looking for something to drink with my expected dinner. While looking around the beverage area, I saw this bottle of beer I don't recall ever seeing before. It had an interesting label and I thought it would be a good opportunity to photograph it and make something nice. As I continued on my way, my mind was thinking of how to make this more interesting then an "Aha!" moment occurred.

When I got home, I did some research on how to do what I wanted to do while I ate dinner. Didn't exactly found what I was looking for but there were some very helpful stuff in the Internet. After filling up my tummy with food and my mind with ideas, I started to set up and as usual, I do a test shot which I posted last night which is also shown below.

Something's Brewing...

Something To Celebrate

In one of the last few days of Dec 2014, I was able to do one last product shot that I can say is one of my best creative product shots. Shown on the left is a teaser photo that I posted sometime January 2015 that can also be seen in this link.

When my wife bought and surprised me with this beer, I was very happy and I remember having this smile in my face I can't wipe off. This is because I have something to photograph and I have something to drink after -- Cheers!

Every time there's something new around is always a good opportunity to get some product shots. First, they're somewhat at their "best" look and if it's beer and liquor it's best while it has still contents.

Going back to the image, it took me several days to think about how to photograph this beer bottle. Since it was the holidays and the spirit of celebration was in the air, I was aiming to have something to get that feeling in the photo at the end.

The teaser image on it's own is good in my opinion and can be used as is. It's simple but I wasn't getting the celebratory feeling in this image so I had to slowly build on it.

Moisturize

While I was preparing the set for the Slim Bottle shot in my previous entry, I came across this bottle of lotion that looked new and thought it would be a nice subject for another product shoot.

Photographing this bottle was relatively easy if not for the shiny irregular cap that reflected everything in the room. I was having a hard time getting rid of those reflection in camera and just decided to clean it in post.

Moonlight Path by Bath & Body Works

This bottle of lotion was similarly lit by the other beer and wine bottles I've photographed except this is a bit flat and is not translucent so there is no light  passing through the bottle itself.

I have managed to have a repeatable setup on most bottle or cylindrical objects. In this case I had to do a small change on how to light it since it has a broader face that needs to be lit.

I used a water spill to indicate moisture instead of water beads like I use on beer bottles.

Looking forward for more similar products to work on in the near future.

Slim Bottle

I received a gift and once again it's a great opportunity to make something beautiful. I've got a tricky bottle situation - dark bottle and shiny lettering.

Times like these having several light sources to light the different parts of the product would have made this shot easier. Since I'm limited to only two lights, I had to do with what I have and do the rest in post.

I wanted a shot glass with this photo but the lack of if made me pick some leaves and use it as something to accompany the bottle. Until now I still don't know why I prefer to have those leaves in the image than without it. I guess it would be too simple with any "garnish" in the image.

Would you say those leaves are distraction or something that adds to the image?

Nazdrave! Cheers in Bulgaria.