Most likely, the result is not a “step-by-step strategy” - but a cheat sheet with examples, tips and conclusions. In general, don't blame me...
Instead of a foreword, here I only wrote about shooting techniques. All posted pictures without Photoshop are only conversion from RAW.
I personally like removing glass. It's difficult - but that's the beauty of it. First, a couple of basic tips - firstly, you need gloves. Microfiber is best - but regular ones, “working ones with pimples,” are also possible. Secondly, the glass needs to be washed. First with detergent, then with baking soda. Before shooting, look at the light and wipe with microfiber or, at worst, a flannel. There should be no stains, no specks of dust - otherwise even Photoshop will not save you. Handle finished clean glass only with gloves.
Now for the shooting idea.
The glass is transparent, so you can’t just photograph it. But fortunately, it can still reflect light. This is exactly what needs to be used. In other words, glass objects are photographed “through the light.” I chose a glass as a model, shooting setup
One light source is used - a monoblock with a softbox (easily replaced with a “daylight” window). So that it also serves as a background, the subject is raised on a sheet of glass. Next, I chose the angle so that the top of the glass was below the edge of the glass, and the bottom was above the bottom border of the softbox.
Result
I don't like. It's not expressive somehow. I wrote above - glass can reflect. So I use this property - I will place two black cardboards on the sides of the glass so that they do not fall into the frame, but are reflected in the frame. Result
Not bad in my opinion.
What if you shoot not on a white, but on a black background? Yes, easily. Scheme:
Softbox on the right. There is a black background perpendicular to it. In the photo, however, you can only see the end of the background right in front of the softbox. There is black velvet under the glass and a foam reflector to the left of the glass. Result
Yes, retouching is needed - specks of dust are visible, and it wouldn’t hurt to tweak the levels.
But there is one more trick - you can turn the product itself into a light source.
Let's put it this way - we place the flash under the object and we get such pornography
A good illustration on the topic that you need to wash better. This is the same glass as the one above =).
I don’t like it, except for the dirt, obviously everything glows. We correct the situation - I make a non-transparent stand out of cardboard, cut out a hole smaller than the bottom of the glass - there is a flight of creativity about the shape and size of the hole =). The scheme becomes like this
The result is black cardboard
And now the cardboard is white and I change the angle a little
But the most interesting thing is if you illuminate glasses on a thin long stem like this from below
Abstractionism =)
Closer to the people
That's what I wanted to say =).
I would be glad if someone found this interesting.
PS. More tips. The softbox can easily be replaced with a white sheet of, say, whatman paper. We shine on it... well, let it be a lamp. The main thing is to place it strictly on a sheet of paper, not glass, and achieve maximum uniform illumination of this very Whatman paper. Those. use a diffuser. Or so - thin foam ceiling tiles at an angle (like my softbox) and shine the light on it from behind. Well, the last examples - everything is simple there - you can shine with anything... or, in other words, I showed where to go =), and how to go; further - the flight of your imagination..
Many people think that photographing a subject is boring and uncomplicated. But this is far from true.
Product photography can be both complex and exciting, just as portrait photography, for example, may not be.
In this post I will tell you how we shot oil bottles for the catalogue. Perhaps this information will be useful to someone :)
Recently, a client, a charismatic Greek, approached our studio with a request to film his company’s products in a high-quality manner.
It was clear that the man was passionate about his business, which is why he ordered professional photography, instead of entrusting this task to managers, who usually do an excellent job with this task, filming the product on a point-and-shoot camera against the background of sheets.
We thought out the lighting design in advance, so when the client arrived, we quickly prepared the bottles and took the first test shot.
Imagine our surprise when the businessman, looking at the screen, said that he was satisfied with everything, and it was clear that it was not in vain that he contacted us :) We had to upset him, saying that this was just a test and the final picture was still very far away. ..
So, the light is set, the test shot is taken and it is already clear that everything is not working out the way we expected.
The fact is that the bottles turned out to be made of black, highly reflective glass, which reflects everything around.
The main problem was that the glass's glossy surface reflected the stage table, causing the bottle to appear partially frosted. This can be seen in the first picture above (which, by the way, the client approved).
:))))
The next problem was that due to the bending of the glass surface, the glare did not reach the bottom of the bottle, breaking off at the break of the shape. The solution turned out to be simple.
We installed the bottle on a glass “podium” and the softboxes at an angle
They brought her under her. Then we partially covered the surface of the boxes with black flags to obtain the desired width and shape of the highlights.
We adjusted the intensity of the reflections using a circular polarizing filter on the lens.
Next, we suggested that the client make the bottle not black, but “glowing from the inside.” The proposal was accepted and a source without a reflector was installed behind the object table for illumination.
When the required image was built, we decided to add shine to the label by illuminating it with a separate light source with a conical nozzle.
And in order to completely eliminate all sorts of ugly reflections on the surface of the glass, a small white panel was installed above the table, and a large one in front, with a hole for the lens.
So the picture has been received, the client is satisfied, but the final version is far from finished, since retouching is still to be done.
The fact is that the products were provided rather shabby, with defects on the labels and scratches.
To remove scratches, as usual, we use the Healing Brush and Clone Stamp, alternately. But it’s convenient to complete the letters and contours with a regular thin brush.
When the label is in perfect shape, we proceed to the lid and glass surface. We stamp where necessary and adjust the shape of the highlights with the Liquify tool. Then we remove the remains of the glass pedestal from under the bottom and adjust the tonality using curves. The picture is ready.
Of course, this is far from the maximum that can be done.
For example, it would be nice:
Choose bottles that are less shabby.
Remove the back label, which gives unsightly dark streaks and does not allow the glass to shine at its full potential. This can be seen in the picture.
Receive a vector label layout from the client to use in the final image.
As they say, there is no limit to perfection, but here you need to take into account the amount of payment.
If you receive a modest amount for your work, is it worth bothering with the order all day long?
Studio: "Visual Aesthetics"
Photographers: Dmitry Lukyanov, Pavel Zatsepin
P.S. We accept orders for photography and rent out our studio!
Article text updated: 09/23/2018
Five years ago, I bought a fast Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G reporter to replace the standard Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G KIT. In the winter of 2015, the cropped Nikon D5100 camera was replaced with a full-frame Nikon D610, and since then the zoom has been lying in the closet, waiting in the wings when the hands would come to put it up for sale. This hour, it seems, has already approached, and therefore it is necessary to make pre-sale preparations for the lens: fasten the stretched elastic band of the zoom ring. In today’s article I will describe a successful procedure for tightening an elastic band and not very successful attempts to remove a glass bottle on a white and black background.
- Shooting a bottle on a white background.
- Shot of a glass bottle on a black background.
- Replacing the rubber band on the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G lens.
1. How I photographed a bottle on a white background
I planned to repair the stretched zoom ring on my lens as follows:
- Remove the rubber band.
- Soak the ring in Galosh gasoline for 60 minutes.
- Clean the surface from white deposits with a toothbrush and soap.
- Put it back on and wait a day, periodically adjusting the fit of the ring on the lens body.
As a means for soaking, I have come across advice to use solvents and acetone, but most often (and safer for the rubber of the lens), they suggest using technical gasoline "Galosh".
I bought it at the Castorama construction supermarket, I think, for 82 rubles (1.2 USD). Before starting the lens repair, I decided to practice photographing a glass product against a white background.
We take a Nikon D610 camera and, using the L-Plate bracket, install it on a Sirui T-2204X carbon tripod with a Sirui G20-KX head. The lens for shooting is my standard fast zoom Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S. At the left rear on the Viltrox stand we attach an external flash Yongnuo YN-685N with a white umbrella for illumination. The pulsed light is controlled by a Yongnuo YN-622N-TX radio synchronizer, which is screwed onto the hot shoe of the carcass. We take pictures.
The picture turns out boring. To somehow cheer her up, we take a second Yongnuo YN-685N flash and illuminate the background behind the bottle from above at an angle. It turns out a little more lively.
I looked at photo tutorials on shooting glass - everywhere they write that for a transparent glass product they photograph it with black flags installed around the edges - they do not reflect light, a dark stripe is formed along the office. We try with one black sheet of cardboard, A4 size, installed on the right.
The outline seems to have darkened slightly, although not as much as the YouTube pros do. I place the second black flag from the left.
Here is my home photo studio for shooting gasoline “Galoshes” and the light setup diagram: on the left behind is a white umbrella for light, on top is a flash, which I held in my hands and illuminated the Whatman paper with it.
Here's another shot showing the entire studio and equipment:
- Camera Nikon D610.
- Nikon 24-70/2.8 lens.
- Radio synchronizer Yongnuo YN-622N-TX.
- Stands and white Viltrox umbrella.
- External flash Yongnuo YN-685N.
- A sheet of white Whatman paper, A0 format.
- Sheets of black cardboard in A4 format.
- Plastic glass sheet simulator.
- Sirui T-2204X carbon tripod with G20-KX head.
You also see a small bottle - this is “PARITY” lens cleaner. Spray a small amount of liquid onto a lint-free cloth and gently wipe the glass. I needed it because colored specks appeared on the front surface of the lenses, looking like dried drops of water. Lenspen cleaning pens cannot be removed. Although, perhaps I did not press hard - I was afraid of damaging the antireflective coating. Price – 150 rubles (2.4 USD).
2. Shooting glassware against a black background
To photograph transparent glassware on a black background, I had to set up a slightly more complicated diagram: 2 sheets of black Whatman paper were purchased at a craft store (180 rubles - 2.6 USD). They form the background. Behind it we place a frost frame, illuminated from behind by a Yongnuo YN-685N flash. The second source is located on the rack at the left rear.
Here we see the L-Plate bracket on the Nikon D610 camera, but it is not secured to the tripod using this device. The fact is that I decided to replace the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom with a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED AF-S VR II Zoom-Nikkor telephoto lens, and it has its own tripod foot. Shot with a Sony A6000 KIT 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 mirrorless camera.
The first pancake came out lumpy: the installed white flags do not draw a beautiful border.
Then I began to experiment: I shined the backlight not in the center (behind the black background), but into the white gap of the frost frame.
After several attempts, in which the angle of reflection of the white flags was set differently, the following imperfect result is obtained: the white border is not clearly defined and does not extend along the entire height of the bottle.
I would be grateful if experienced colleagues write in the comments what I did wrong. Need three flashes instead of two? Should white flags be large? Should the light be directed from the softbox and not from the white umbrella?
This photo was processed using the following algorithm:
- A preset with increased saturation, tonal and dynamic range, which I talked about in the photo tutorial Application by mask.
- Darkening the background around the bottle: Exposure layer mask in Photoshop.
- Darken the bottom of the background with another “Exposure” layer over the mask.
- Highlighting the Galosh gasoline label with a mask.
3. How I attached the elastic band of the zoom ring to a Nikon lens
I described the procedure step by step above. It’s not visible in the photo, but over the years of filming the ring had weakened so much that it was inconvenient to turn the lens.
I bought my zoom secondhand. The rubber band was still loose then. When asked why the seller didn’t fix it before selling it, he calmly replied: “It doesn’t bother me!” Hmm, I am the third owner of this glass and have actually been photographing with it for almost 3 years, not paying attention to the defect. Only now the ring has stretched so much that it has become inconvenient to film a report.
The rubber band came off easily. Galosha poured gasoline into the bottom of the bottle in which we buy drinking water (five liters). I recommend finding a smaller vessel for soaking the ring - I used up the entire volume, barely enough to completely cover the rubber band with gasoline.
After 60 minutes, I took out a rubber band and, using a toothbrush and soap solution, cleaned the material from the white residue that had appeared (apparently, this was salt that had been absorbed into the lens with the photographer’s sweat). I tried to put it on the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G, but I was horrified: the ring stretched several centimeters, I couldn’t believe it would shrink back.
However, nothing terrible happened. After an hour and a half, the rubber was already pressed against the lens body, although not yet tightly. After another couple of hours, I carefully examined it and corrected it in those places where the ring was sitting crookedly. After a day, the rubber band was completely dry and did not move at all. Beauty!
That's all. I will not remove the lens again, since it is no different in appearance from what is shown in photo No. 13. I read on the forums that if the operation had not helped, I should have repeated the procedure again.
The same method is used to restore peeled rubber bands on camera bodies. Just soak it not for 1 hour, but for 20-30 minutes, then try it on, then soak it again. They are glued with 3M single-sided tape.
Here is a video showing the process of restoring rubber bands on a Nikon D700 camera (video tutorial in Ukrainian).
Well, another video - shrinking the lens ring.
That's all. Thank you for your attention and for sharing the link to this article on social networks. Good luck, brothers!
P.S. You can order a new rubber band for the lens on the AliExpress portal. You need to search for the phrase “camera lens rubber ring”. A set of rubber bands for the camera body - “For Nikon D700 4 piece front/rear/ grip rubber set new repair parts OEM + tape.” Some lenses have poor cap mounts. The solution is Lens Cap Keeper.
We make splashes and splashes around the bottle; the first lesson will describe the process of creating an image of the bottle itself.
First, let's take a photo of the bottle; as a sample, I took a bottle of Talka vodka, with an opaque label.
If we take a photograph of a bottle on a black background, then we need to solve 3 problems:
In a transparent object, the final background should always be visible, i.e. We photograph the bottle on a black background, otherwise it will not look transparent.
The bottle should not blend with the black background; we beat off the outline with light, the light patterns will be indicated below.
If the label is not transparent, it must be illuminated from the front, but without touching the glass, otherwise the bottle will not look impressive, this also applies to the cork.
Now let's try to solve these three problems.
We will need a black background, the size of which covers the dimensions of the bottle; the background should not be glossy, otherwise we will get unnecessary reflections. To “bounce” the bottle from the background, we will need 2 softboxes no smaller than 20x50cm in size, or one large one, the size of which overlaps the black background behind the bottle by at least three times.
So let's shoot, there are three schemes for shooting a bottle.
Scheme one. The purpose of the two schemes below is to obtain a thin white outline on the glass.
The second scheme, with one softbox.
Scheme three, remove the label and plug.
I went with a method that was easier to shoot, but more difficult to process. I put the camera on a tripod, first removed the glass, then rearranged the light, and removed the label with the cork separately. Subsequently, I glued everything together in Photoshop and got a finished image of the bottle. There are many ways to remove the label and cork at once, but this will require skills, a lot of space, equipment, and finally skill and tricks that everyone has their own (at least the majority thinks so) and, as a rule, does not share them)), and considers this their professional secret. But for us now the process is not as important as the result; at the initial stage we need to get an image of the bottle, and we get it with the help of two frames and Photoshop. For those who can’t remove the bottle, there will be ready-made samples at the end of the article.
Photographing water.
To photograph water on a black background, the same light scheme is used, and pulsed light sources (flashes) with a pulse length of at least 1/2000 second, i.e. 0.0005 seconds, some Elinchrom RX300, RX600 models have these parameters with tension at minimum power, or as a rule, professionals use Broncolor generator systems of the Grafit, Scoro series, which allow freezing water at an impulse speed of up to 1/10000 of a second. With inexpensive flash illuminators, you will unfortunately end up with blurry shots. To avoid taking photographs, you can type splash water in the Google image service and download the splashes you like, but remember, each picture has its own author, and commercial use of images without the author’s permission is prohibited.
Today I want to talk about such a burning topic as glass photography. For many photographers, this is one of the most difficult moments; until recently, I myself avoided compositions with glass, I was afraid of glare and reflections, until I started... shooting. Yes, I just started removing a lot of glass to understand why it wasn’t working and how to deal with it. And the reason that pushed me to this was one single photograph. But more on all this under the cut.
To begin with, I want to give you some theoretical material that I have selected for you. From everything I read, I concluded that there is no universal answer to the question of how to remove glass. There are so many nuances here that you can only get a good shot through testing.
The main difficulty that a photographer will have to face is the large number of unwanted reflections and glare that appear on a smooth surface. However, sometimes you can turn such effects to your advantage by making them significant elements of photography. The reflection of another object or even the photographer himself in a glass object can enrich the meaning of the image. However, in most cases glare and reflections are something to avoid. To do this, you should stop using the flash, since it is its harsh and bright light that is the main cause of such phenomena.
If you are shooting glass, it is advisable to take photos in even lighting. This is especially important when you want to get an image of a complex glass product that contains a minimum of shadows. The result is a photograph that highlights the shape of the subject.
Interesting pictures can be taken using several light sources of varying strengths. For example, one of them can cast diffused light on the product, while the other can give a narrow beam of light passing through it.
To create suitable lighting, when photographing glass, softboxes are often used to obtain soft diffused light. But even if you don’t have professional lighting devices, you can get some pretty good options at home.
When you photograph glass, the photo sometimes turns out faded and uninteresting. The reason for this may be neglect of such a factor as the choice of background. If the main purpose of photography is to reproduce the shape of a product in its smallest detail, it is recommended to use a plain background, preferably black or white. Often successful photographs are obtained if glass is photographed against a background of fabric that has folds or a surface with a complex texture. Its refraction on the edges of the central object enriches the perception of the photograph, but care must be taken that the shape of the transparent glass object is not lost against such a complex background.
I'll show you a little photography tutorial, and even if you don't have professional lighting, the general principles may come in handy.
How to beautifully photograph glass objects.
The most common are two methods.
Shooting using the first method produces an image of glass with darkened contours on a white background. The second method will make the glass object dark with white outlines. Let's take a closer look at each shooting method. A light object with dark contours (light background). We will need a flash, a sheet of Whatman paper, a cardboard box and the subject itself. The box needs to remove three walls to create something like an arch.
This is done so that the glass does not reflect a smaller copy of the interior of the shooting room. We cover the far side of the “arch” with whatman paper, which will serve as a background. It is advisable to place the entire composition on a glossy surface without flaws (polished table, mirror or sheet of glass on a dark fabric), then the resulting reflection of the object will play in the frame. We direct the flash at the Whatman paper from the outside (into the light).
If the object does not need to be worked on the front part, then this lighting is sufficient. But if there is, for example, a label on a bottle that should be clearly visible, then you may need a reflector or lighting in the form of a soft box on the front side.
A dark object with light contours (dark background). Here, in addition to the flash and whatman paper, you will need a soft box and an attachment with flaps for the flash.
And again backlight. The soft box is placed “facing” the lens, but its central part is covered with a dark sheet of plywood or cardboard (this will be the background). The open light part of the soft box will illuminate the glass object well, creating the light outline we need. You can finish here, but there is not enough volume in the frame. Therefore, let’s take a white sheet and install it near the composition at an angle of 45 degrees to the optical axis of the lens. We direct the flash from the opposite side of the stage onto this sheet, covering the curtains on the nozzle so that the light from the flash does not “glare” on the surface of the object.
In general, you can experiment with glass objects for a long time, using backlights of different colors, interesting backgrounds, etc. Try it - and you will definitely succeed.
The same thing can be done in daylight by correctly setting the reflectors and choosing a light source.
What prompted me to experiment? And here is this photo of Helene Dujardin, whom I respect.
When I saw her, I had only one question in my head - how?! How to remove a glass so that you can hardly feel a glass, there is not a single glare, and it’s as if the glass doesn’t exist at all... I started trying, removing glass glasses, and at one fine moment the thought occurred to me, what if it’s used here? plastic glass? Not the usual plastic cups that are sold everywhere, but some other, more decent ones. And just on my next trip I came across almost what I needed. What I got:
It’s very similar, if we take other contents, then in general my thought was correct. But I didn’t give up trying to do something decent with real glass objects.
In the process of reasoning and exercises, I noted several points for myself. Firstly, it is best to shoot glass in backlight; I have never experienced any obvious glare in this situation. secondly, the success of a good shot depends very much on the shooting angle, here you need to walk around and try from different angles, from different distances. I also tried shooting using a polarizing filter.
In the next pairs of photographs, on the left is a frame without using a filter, on the right - with one.
As they say, find 10 differences))
Milk. In these photographs there is backlight, there are two reflectors on the right and left in front, and I also used one hand to highlight the front area with a sheet of paper.
But I decided to try another scheme. Here the light source is a window, on the right, left and front there is a white reflector.
The difference, as you can see, is insignificant. You can do without a filter.
Well, for the purity of the experiment, I tried to shoot with and without a filter against a dark background.
Daylight on the right, a black reflector on the left and a dark background behind and below.
Here the difference is more noticeable; with the filter the picture looks more beautiful and of higher quality.
In general, my conclusion is to try as many different shooting angles as possible, different backgrounds, the final result also depends on this.
And the next task for you will be glass. As always, I expect from you a creative approach, creativity, maybe even new thoughts and discoveries on this issue.
Post photos for the task in the comments of level 1!! for this post, no more than 640 pixels on the wide side. Only one photo will be accepted.
Since I will be away for some time, I am giving a lot of time, until June 10 inclusive. We will now summarize the results in a new way. After this time, I will collect all your works in one post and we will discuss them together and choose the best one.
And according to tradition, pictures for inspiration.
