Photoshop Editing

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Raw vs Photoshop Edited

Sometimes a photo might be good, but it needs a little help. In fact 9 times out of ten, your photo could use a Photoshop attention, even it's just to sharpen it a tad for clarity or slight color shift. n this case a recent photo was brought to life with the use of Photoshop in numerous ways.


The image was a bit dark all around and needed the levels to be raised. The hue, vibrance and saturation was also increased to bring out the color. And the dark background color was also brought up.

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White on White

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White on White

Shooting a translucent cologne bottle on a white background poses some challenging issues. While keeping the background a pristine white and keeping the bottle distinguishable. This image back lit with two black flags angle inward flank each side of the bottle.

Backlighting

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Back lighting vs top lighting

I did a test shoot to see how to get the appropriate lighting for a dark subject matter on a dark background. In the first test I shot the subject matter (blueberries in a black bowl with a single softbox set up behind and above the subject matter, bouncing a little light back into the foreground with a what card.

In second second test, I placed the softbox directly over the subject matter and flagged the background with a black card. Both shots were made with a Nikkor 55mm micro, f11, 1/160, ISO 200.

I think the back lit version is more subtle and appealing, next time I'd try to get a little more light on the surface of the bowl and blueberries in the foreground.

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Blue Moon Beer

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Photography of Blue Moon Beer

Shooting liquid beverages, especially beer can be particularly challenging, not only technically, but also aesthetically to the extent that you're able to make your photograph stand out from the rest of all the beer photography out there. This could be made easier or harder by the vision of an art director who sees the image in specific terms. Easier because you're jt becomes one of execution and figuring our how to capture the intended outcome, and harder because it requires an expected outcome. Here I have a fairly straight forward, head on shot with dramatically lit background to highlight the beer in the bottle and the glass of beer behind it.

And then there are things that can be done later in the post shoot environment, in applications like Adobe Photoshop to enhance it even completely modify the original photograph. But before we get there we still have to define the set light the subject. In this case I used a a small sheet of clear glass laid on top of a dark, brown colored tile to give it a glossy wet look.

In this shot I only used two lights, one softbox off to camera right which was partially blocked by a black flag towards the back to maintain a dark background behind the bottle and glass. The second light was set up below the the table and bounced off of a black card to created the glow and a deep yellow gel over the light to create the color.

A certain amount of work was done off camera in Photoshop, to enhance the image and even change the. background. 

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Provenance

Finding great props for your shoot.

Setting the stage for your shoot can start with finding the right background and props. Finding the right props can be a challenge and a mission on it's own. It can also be a expedition to places unknown and exploring a world of possibilities. 

I recently discovered two great and distinctively different places full of wonderful treasures and possibilities for photographic props, backgrounds and even subject matter.

One such place in Philadelphia is Provenance, a wonderland of salvaged and in many cases restored vintage objects of art, architectural elements, every day items, windows doors, instruments and antique wood. All within one large clean well organized warehouse.

Another place is Philadelphia Salvage, another large warehouse brimming with stuff, amazing stuff. Unlike Provenance, here you have explore your way around the dimly lit warehouse to find the perfect jewel of whatever it is you're looking for.

From gum ball machines to bicycles and motorcycles the place is stacked high full of goodies. You might even find an irresistible old typewriter you must have.

In any event it's always a joy to find great resources that can enrich your photographs and delight the sense. If you're in the area, you might want to include these places on your list of props and backgrounds for your next shoot.