Product Photography - Creative Chocolate Images
Image 1
For this image, I decided to use highkey lighting as it matched the look I was going for. I had to switch out the softbox which was attached to the light I was using as the one that was there to begin with was quite small. Once I done this, I attached the sync cable to the back of the light and linked up the light meter. I set my aperture to f 5.6 as this created a more shallow depth of field, meaning that I was able to focus in on the chocolate centrepiece and blur out the background. As I was using studio lighting, I set my ISO to 100, and I set the shutter speed to 1/125s so I could hold my camera without getting shaky images. After testing and adjusting the settings of the studio lighting with the light meter, I attached the sync cable to the hotshoe adapter attached to my camera.
When building the set, I used one of the bases available and grated some chocolate onto it. From here, I stacked up some caramel chocolate and opened up the top piece so the caramel would spill down the other pieces of chocolate. Despite the chocolate melting in the heat of the lamps, the caramel wasn't melting so I used my locker key to pull it down the stack of chocolates. After looking at my first few images, it became apparent that the set was missing something so I went over to the cart of food props and got some fudge pieces to add in. I believe that this pulled my set together nicely, especially as the colour of the fudge matched the caramel.
As I was shooting, I was conscious to ensure that my image was taken so the main subject was to the right of the image. I did this as I was following the rule of thirds grid on my camera, which allowed me to create a more pleasing image.
In-between taking batches of photos, I went into the download room so I could look at my images to see if there was anything I needed to correct in my set before I picked out my final photo to edit. I used the review and star rating modes in Adobe Bridge to review my images.
Once I picked out an image that I was happy with, I opened it up in Adobe Camera Raw. I set my white balance to Auto as it brought out some cooler tones, which I felt made my image look more professional. I also increased the saturation slightly just to inject a little colour back into it. I chose to increase the texture and clarity too as this brought out more detail in my image, and I increased the contrast to bring out the shadows a little more.
Before completing my edit, I also went into optics > use profile corrections, as this function corrects any faults shown in the camera lens used, however I ended up disabling the function as it ended up adding too much warmth into my image. I believe that it wasn't required as I was using a brand new 18-55mm lens which presumably didn't have any faults in it.
Once I was happy with my image, I saved the edits that I had made and exported the image to my OneDrive and external hard drive.
My first final optimised image.
Image 2
As I was using the same studio space for this image, I didn't need to worry about changing out the softbox. I switched from a white to a slate grey effect background base as I wanted the background to contrast well with my subject.
I attached the light meter to the sync cable so I could test the lighting. I adjusted the studio light until it was set to f 5.6 - the same aperture that my camera was set to. I decided to use the same aperture as the first set as I still wanted to create a more shallow depth of field in my images, which allowed the main product to be in focus. I also kept my shutter speed at 1/125s and my ISO at 100.
When building the set, I started off by crumbling up some of the honeycomb that I had made. I also added a few crushed nuts that Jacqui kindly let me use, which added a bit more interest to the set. From there, I added in two large honeycomb pieces and neatly placed some honeycomb chocolate squares around it. Whilst building this set, I was thinking about creating an ‘S’ shape with my composition as this leads your eye around the image.
The ‘S’ shape I made with my composition.
The before and after optimisation comparison of my image.
Once I chose an image that I was happy with, I opened up the image in Adobe Camera Raw and made some minor adjustments to it. I set the white balance to Auto as this brought out some cooler tones in the image, and I increased the saturation too as this brought a little colour back so my image didn't become too washed out. I also decreased the highlights a touch and increased the shadows to make the composition appear bolder, and I increased the texture and clarity to bring out the finer details in the image. To finish up, I added a slight vignette to my image, which darkened the border slightly.
From here, I saved my edited image and exported it to my OneDrive and external hard drive.
My second final optimised image.
Overall, I’m really pleased with the progress I made today. I definitely believe that I’m getting quicker at setting up my studio space as I’m gradually becoming more familiar with using the studio lamps, softboxes and light meters. I'm also pleased that I’m able to edit my images with ease independently.
TIL...
how to add a vignette to my images on camera raw
how to change out the softbox
how to add profile corrections on camera raw
