Splitting Coca-Cola take 3

[icicle]

First Off thank you all of those who have help me on the last two takes of this project.
I'm going to be putting this on the back burner for awhile so I can think.
After I get paid I'm going to invest in some White Muslim cloth, trying to use a white pillow case and a white towel is not cutting it for me.
This is going to be the final shot for this right now, I may revisit this some time down the road, I just don't know when.

This shot was fully closed for my lens F/32 shutter 1/320 sec.'s ISO-400

[icicle]

Wow, I thought it was a tad off.
What's it missing?

[gahspidy]

I like the texture you got from the towel and pillow case, looks a bit like snow. i think you might want to rotate the image a bit counter clockise slightly. I think seeing the soda in the glasses illuminated so that it glows almost would be good here. Cutting a hole under each cloth under the glasses and shining a lightup underneath might give it the glow and sparkle. A bit more exposure in the upper area of the can as it seems to be getting dark up there.
i can imagine this is very difficult to pull of, but you are very close to nailing this to perfection.
It is very good as it is now. . .

[OldClicker]

I've been watching the splitting shots and it looks to me like this is going to be really difficult to nail. For me, the background has to disappear; everything has to be level; the coke can has to be bright red with no reflections; the pouring liquid has to have a nice, 'tasty', dark, caramel color; and the liquid in the glass has to be fizzing (maybe with ice). I wouldn't know how to do all of this.

Try a piece of white poster board for your back and bottom and set up a light box. Mine is just a cardboard box with holes in the two sides and white garbage bag material taped over the holes.

Here is a high key shot I did by accident with the above set up.



I've seen good articles on the web about how they photograph wine bottle for magazines. You could Google these and see if they give you any info. I think if you nail this shot you may want to look into a career in commercial display photography.

Hope this helps some and good luck.

TF

btw - Where do you get the strange looking Coke cans?

[icicle]

I think if you nail this shot you may want to look into a career in commercial display photography.

btw - Where do you get the strange looking Coke cans?

If Commercial Display photography is this difficult I hope it pays better than driving truck.

I really don't know if it's just a WinCo thing or not, but I buy the 24 pack.

[icicle]

here is a shot I did just for fun so I don't know how this works.

[LeeIs]

hey, it's the best one out of hte 3 you shot. definite improvement! I think there were great suggestion above so i'll just keep quiet.

[jetrim]

icicle,
I believe your shot has gotten to the point where all small imperfections can be overcome in post processing. Understand that doesn't necessarily mean it will be less time consuming than reshooting over and over until you achieve perfection! The following stab at this is the result of more than 2 hours, 9 layers, and a crapload of cloning, deforming, adjusting, blending, merging, burning, color shifting, histogram manipulating, straightening, etc, etc. I tried to save the history info, but can't get it into a text only format. Hope you like the result...

[icicle]

icicle,
I believe your shot has gotten to the point where all small imperfections can be overcome in post processing. Understand that doesn't necessarily mean it will be less time consuming than reshooting over and over until you achieve perfection! The following stab at this is the result of more than 2 hours, 9 layers, and a crapload of cloning, deforming, adjusting, blending, merging, burning, color shifting, histogram manipulating, straightening, etc, etc. I tried to save the history info, but can't get it into a text only format. Hope you like the result...

Jetrim, Thank you for taking the time to do this for me, And I do like it.

[gahspidy]

Actually, I think photography is playing a much lesser role in commercial and product advertising as CGI rendering is becoming highly used and sought after.

[Frog]

I've been watching this one, too. Have no experience with this kind of shot so only speaking as a viewer/consumer.
I don't think your bg is distracting and this is by far the best shot and Jetrim's edit helps.
What I would like to see is the CocaCola show better on the glasses and their handles even with the right one's turned in a bit more so the logo shows completely.

[Lamber]

I think seeing the coke in the glasses illuminated so that it glows almost would be good here. Cutting a hole under each side under the glasses and shining a lightup underneath might give it the glow and sparkle.

[caleb]

I am pretty bad at product shots although I've been putting all my free time the past two weeks into reading about/watching/doing them. I would try getting a cheap piece of glass/plexiglass/whatever and put vellum over it. Use it to create an infinity edge. Then light it from the bottom. Be careful not to blow it out. I think the white should be in the 245/245/245 range (blown out is when it hits 255). If you are using a flash for the product and something like work lamps/constant lighting for the table, you can set your shutter speed lower to over expose the background (to get it pure white) and then light the product with a strobe. I believe the strobe will freeze the motion of the coke falling as it should not be well lit by the light table.

#1 shows an approximate strobe set up/reflector/black poster to cut light and give glass definition. (also see: http://www.tabletopstudio.com/docume...hotography.htm go to "Photographing Waterford Crystal on light backgrounds")
#2 shows the infinity edge lighting.

[readingr]

I like how this is progressing, but make sure of your verticals as it gives a feeling of leaning to the right.

Have you thought of adding ice and lemon to the glass? It would just add that extra zing to it.

Roger R.