Keeping Product Images Fresh and Clean

This year has continued to bring creative ideas and lots of product photography. 

This project involving both lifestyle and product images required a lot of production and organization. Thanks to our crew: Catherine, Dale, Paula, Tiffany, Molly, Ben! 

We used huge spreadsheets with product descriptions and file naming conventions along with check boxes to keep us on track with the shoot schedule, retouching, clipping paths, renaming files, and release of final files. Client and crew all knew where each image was in the system at any time. Our organizational boards also posted visual examples and verbal descriptions of all of the lifestyle and product shots needed. As a result, everyone got everything shot and retouched on time! 

Our set builder Dale Frommelt, as always, did an outstanding job building our lifestyle sets. While the sets weren't that big, everything was painstakingly
sourced and assembled. Both sets had to have working water faucets and a way to catch the water when flowing. Add a water hose and a bucket
and, voilà, you have functional, "running" water. 

Production boards kept everyone on track.

Dale is always ready for anything.

Beautiful light.

The hose-bucket drain system worked great.

You can do a lot on a small set.

Since this project had a number of lifestyle shots using a hand model, we did a final check of our hand model's hands. 

A few minor adjustments and everything looked good to go.

Model hand check.

Nothing like natural light!

Putting the perfect portion of toothpaste on your toothbrush is harder than you'd think.

Getting the shot framed just right.

How to wash your hands with style.

If it don't show -- don't blow money on it! 

Check out the chrome on this limited edition, handcrafted, David Morris towel rack. 

Here we were only going to see the bottom of the towels so taping them to the wall worked like a charm.

Limited edition towel rack, "David Style."

Not everything is what it seems when you look at the shot from a different direction.

Since this project had a lot of product to shoot in a short time period, we needed more than one set going at the same time. 

Consistency can be an issue if you're not careful. We shot using two sets exactly alike; same lights, soft boxes, cameras and lenses, backgrounds, etc. 

Every variable we could eliminate we did. We were very pleased with how close we were able to match each set.

Two matching product sets.

Sometimes you have to do crazy things to get packaging and contents to cooperate. 

In this case, we cut through the back of the box to properly position 

the product inside and get it to stay in place. 

A fun shoot and great client! 

At the end of the day when you hear the client say, "outstanding photos" and "better than we expected," we consider the project a success. 

Here are some of the final lifestyle photo from the shoot.

  

Food DP project

We recently were asked to be the D.O.P. ( Director of Photography ) on a Jose Ole food project with our friends @BicMedia.

With our years of experience shooting food we bring a lot of know how on how the food industry likes their product lit and styled.  We bring that same experience and expertise to our motion projects.

Food motion in may ways are very similar to stills and yet very different.  In the end both need to communicate what your client wants the audience to know about their product or service.

New Product

Food stylist and assistant food stylist hard at work prepping product.

Working with the crew on shot angle

Yes, they let me touch the camera.

Hoping not to get my hands slapped by the food stylist.

A lot of hand waving going on here.

Working with the director and crew to get the perfect shot.

Click to see final video

Link to a fun behind the scenes video of our shoot.

Sweeeet Shoot

We recently had the opportunity to work on a sweeeet project shooting models of
a star, a heart, and a flower -- all made of candy.

Not only did we shoot these beauties for posters, but we were also asked to do
a stop-motion animation series. How cool is that?!

Here are some fun, behind the scenes shots of the sets and the final images.

We can't wait to see the project completed.

A big shout out goes to our friend Dale Frommelt @EGG props and models
for his outstanding work. Great job Dale!

Candy star set.

Dale Frommelt adjusting the star for the stop-motion animation.

Close-up of an animation stop.

Final star image.

Checking out the heart image with our client.

Dale marking the animation stops for the heart stop-motion animation.

Lights. Action. Start turning!

Candy heart final shot.

Discussing the motion sequence with our client.

Dale Frommelt moving one of the leaves to animate the flower.

Watching Dale do his thing.

Final flower image.

My Fish Story

From time to time, we do pro-bono or reduced cost projects for small start-up companies, especially if we like what they're doing or like their product. This was one of those projects.

Quixotic Farming is a Tilapia farm operation in Colorado and Missouri. If there was an "organic fish" designation for fish farming, they would have it. Quixotic Farming Tilapia is raised without growth hormones or antibiotics and the water in the tanks is filtered constantly. 

The result is very healthy and clean-tasting fish.

Part of the project was to photograph some of their whole fresh fish -- Fish Portraiture as it were.

These fish were so good looking, the women at the studio just had to name them:
Timmy, Tommy, Terence, Tilly and Tina.

Me, getting fresh with Tilly.

Tommy, can you turn your head to the right a just a little bit more?

Can you say "Gold"fish?  Tina, you're beautiful!

Say "hi" to Eric Ely, our client, fish purveyor, and a really nice guy.

Working with our awesome food stylist to show how flakey and moist the fish is. 

Checking out the final shot.

Sarah can't wait to sample a morsel of this delicious fish.

Fish Tacos -- muy delicioso.

Hawaiian Fish Patty -- aloha!