How do they do editings like these?

[creatip]

Hi, I'm new to this forum.

So I love to surf the web, and many consumer products pictures really got my attention.

A few example:











*the pictures are copyrights of their respective brands, of course

What are the editings/post-pro involved in those pictures? The light reflections are so smooth, almost like they are paintbrush paintings or something. I'm a photographer myself, so naturally I know that first step is to produce a good source picture first. But how to make the smooth lighting effects in photoshop?

I've tried some masked gaussian blurs, but can't seem to get it right.

Any help please? Links to tutorials will be fine too.

Thank you in advance.

 

[agentmoeller]

creatip,

welcome to the forum. I think, honestly, what you're looking at, is professional-level photography, with a little bit of photoshopping at the end for background, perhaps.

That's why the good ones make so much money.

Starting with a really good photo of something is your best bet.


Agent Moeller

 

[creatip]

creatip,

welcome to the forum. I think, honestly, what you're looking at, is professional-level photography, with a little bit of photoshopping at the end for background, perhaps.

That's why the good ones make so much money.

Starting with a really good photo of something is your best bet.


Agent Moeller

Hi, thank you for the response and the welcome

Yes, I do understand that a good source picture would mean that 50-75% of the works already done. But still, there are 'missing links' that I still can't figure out.

Take this picture for example:



The surface of 'A' is mirrored finish (highly glossy), while the surface of 'B' is brushed finish (doff/matte). I know for sure, because I own one of this type. The picture shows as though the 2 surfaces both have matte finish, just differ in the degrees of the matte. Mirrored finish shouldn't have such a soft lighting (smooth gradations and edges of the light).

Another example would be:



Because this is a consumer product, again I know for sure the surfaces are not as matte as they look in the picture. The surfaces should be highly glossy (meaning sharper lighting edges, and not so smooth of the gradations).

Actually I'm suspecting that perhaps they use a kind of plugin (like Topaz or something like that), but it's just my theory, of course.

*pictures are copyrights of their respective brands, of course.

 

[DannyOlivier]

When you get to this level of work, the final photos are usually a composite of 5 or more photos of the product in exactly the same place but with different lighting creating the desired affect of lighting or "finish" for each area of the product. All the images are then pieced together. Watches and jewellery are usually the products that this would happen most in as the refract light in a variety of different ways.

Here is a sped up version of a watch done, hopefully you can see the time and detail that would go into it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GblMRN039K0#t=228

 

[dv8_fx]

I don't do product photography but have observed my photographer at work whenever I need product shots required for my projects.

In doing product photography, an enclosed lighting system is required. This eliminates glare and ensures an even and balanced light around the entire product even in hard to reach spots.

Using the proper closed photography setup with soft wrap around lighting, flash is not used as this will either over illuminate and wash out the item or it will be under illuminated with lots of dark areas and uneven lighting from one side to the other. This may also create a glare or light reflection on the product surface.

With proper lighting, one can hilight the selling point of a product. In your pepsi image, the value is in the color of the liquid drink not the bottle , partially the brand label. Which is why in most liquor product shots, lighting is used to bring out the pure color of beverage or liquor as well as the curves or detail of the special bottle. In my friend's words - it adds a bit of sensuality to the product.

As for the watch, the value is in the intricate timepiece face and quality of workmanship in the metallic finish.

Photoshop is used to add vibrancy to the image. As well as a change of background and a few subtle effects. If the shot is properly setup, PS is seldomly used to manipulate the stock image.


These will give you insight into how the watch shoot was done...

http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/watch_photography.htm


And here's a few excellent tutorials on product photography. I think there's one there that touches on beverage/liquor product shoot.

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/57645-19-Video-Tutorials-for-Product-Photography

You will notice that the photographers in the tutorials uses an enclosed lighting system setup in one form or another - the same kind of setups my friend uses.

 

[creatip]

When you get to this level of work, the final photos are usually a composite of 5 or more photos of the product in exactly the same place but with different lighting creating the desired affect of lighting or "finish" for each area of the product. All the images are then pieced together. Watches and jewellery are usually the products that this would happen most in as the refract light in a variety of different ways.

Here is a sped up version of a watch done, hopefully you can see the time and detail that would go into it.

I don't do product photography but have observed my photographer at work whenever I need product shots required for my projects.

In doing product photography, an enclosed lighting system is required. This eliminates glare and ensures an even and balanced light around the entire product even in hard to reach spots.

Using the proper closed photography setup with soft wrap around lighting, flash is not used as this will either over illuminate and wash out the item or it will be under illuminated with lots of dark areas and uneven lighting from one side to the other. This may also create a glare or light reflection on the product surface.

With proper lighting, one can hilight the selling point of a product. In your pepsi image, the value is in the color of the liquid drink not the bottle , partially the brand label. Which is why in most liquor product shots, lighting is used to bring out the pure color of beverage or liquor as well as the curves or detail of the special bottle. In my friend's words - it adds a bit of sensuality to the product.

As for the watch, the value is in the intricate timepiece face and quality of workmanship in the metallic finish.

Photoshop is used to add vibrancy to the image. As well as a change of background and a few subtle effects. If the shot is properly setup, PS is seldomly used to manipulate the stock image.


These will give you insight into how the watch shoot was done...


And here's a few excellent tutorials on product photography. I think there's one there that touches on beverage/liquor product shoot.


You will notice that the photographers in the tutorials uses an enclosed lighting system setup in one form or another - the same kind of setups my friend uses.

Hi, just got back earlier from a weekend trip, and just got online.

Thank you guys so much for the advices and especially the links. I'd definitely look into those, and try to do them. Maybe I'll post the results here, if I could even get close to the goal....

 

[creatip]

When you get to this level of work, the final photos are usually a composite of 5 or more photos of the product in exactly the same place but with different lighting creating the desired affect of lighting or "finish" for each area of the product. All the images are then pieced together. Watches and jewellery are usually the products that this would happen most in as the refract light in a variety of different ways.

Here is a sped up version of a watch done, hopefully you can see the time and detail that would go into it.

Hi, I've watched the video from the link you've given again, this time with a little slow motion. The things he do in 2:18-2:30 is kind of what I'm going for. I've tried with slowest motion MPC could go, but still can't exactly get what he was doing. Was he doing some fill then dodge/burn? Or are there some blurring involved?

 

[DannyOlivier]

He cuts out the space that he wants to fill in. He paints it in a grey that he wants and then adds shadow by painting black with a gradient back in. What he does here is completely freestyle and is just cutting an area and painting colours back in and then feathering the edge slightly to bring some of the detail back through.

If you want to get a brushed metal look on anything a good technique is to cover a cut out area in in grey, add noise then motion blur in the desired direction of the brushed metal.