Here's something a little out of the ordinary for me. I don't usually take still life shots, but to be honest I was grasping for ideas for this week's photo, and I figured it would prove to be a good challenge in lighting and subject positioning. I experimented a lot with different kinds of light, attempting to determine the kind of feel I was going for. Initially I thought I wanted more of a direct morning sunlight look with harsher shadows and richer highlights, but I found that the slightly diffused light created a nicer feel (in my opinion) and was closer to what I was looking for.
Quick technical breakdown - I have two strobes lighting the subject, one to the right and slightly behind the subject with a beauty dish set to 1/16 and the other in front and to the left with a bare bulb set to 1/32. I was also holding a gold reflector directly in front of the beauty dish to act both as a reflector to kick a little more light onto the subject and as a gobo to keep the light off the background bringing more emphasis to the subject.
I'd really like to get into taking more still life/product shots like this. If you read the title in the top left corner of the book, you can understand why. Stock photography is a growing industry, one that a lot of up and coming photographers, graphic designers, and videographers can take advantage of.
I hope to create a separate post discussing the different types of light I used during this shoot and the different effects they created. If and when I get around to it...
