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Lesson Info
9. In the Field: Shooting Product Photos
Lessons
My Story
08:45 2Workshop Overview
01:40 3My Gear
10:22 4Pitching A Client
13:05 5Pre-Pro Planning
11:32 6Scouting A Location
06:53 7In the Field: Shooting Story Shots
04:40 8Tips for Talking to Models
05:51Lesson Info
In the Field: Shooting Product Photos
Sick looks scrappy. Action. So in a lot of my shoots I am using that run and gun style and there is a method to the madness and I call it bracketing. So you may have heard of the term bracketing used to explain when someone's shooting a scene they take a underexposed, equally exposed and a overexposed photo, putting them all together to get a big dynamic range. That's not what we're talking about today. A while back, I was working for a client and they said the term bracketing the product and I've always done this. I never had a name for it. But basically what they meant is like if this is the product they want a close shot and a mid-range shot. And I even go the step further to get a bigger, wider shot when I use bracketing to define bracketing a product or bracketing a scene. There's three types of shots I try to keep in mind when I'm thinking about bracketing. And that's gonna be a detail shot, a mid-range shot and a casing shot. So with detail shots, we're getting close into the pr...
oduct or the scene. If I'm on a beach maybe I'm shooting the sand or the footprints. If I'm shooting a product, maybe it's the logo on the side of the strap or the logo on the jacket. If I wanna be bracketing at mid-level I'm gonna take a step back from the detail shot and get a little more in frame. So instead of the small logo on the jacket maybe it's just a product shot of the jacket. If it's the backpack maybe I'm getting a shot further back from the backpack. And instead of the footprints in the sand maybe it's focused on the rock formations around here. So if I'm bracketing a product at detail for this shoot you know, I'll get close in on the jacket, the logo, hands in the pockets, stuff like that. If I'm gonna be bracketing details of the beach I might focus on the anemones in the tide pools or the footprints in the sand. So if I'm gonna be bracketing this shoot I'm gonna be focusing fully on the client's product. If I'm gonna get in bracketing at detail range I'm gonna be focusing on details of the jacket. So maybe the logo or the hands in the pockets. Just get in close on the jacket and capture that. And if I'm bracketing at mid-range I'm gonna take a step back from the detail shots. So maybe I'm getting a full body shot of the person wearing the product, or maybe just waist-up just stepping back from the detail, really. And if I'm gonna be bracketing a casing shot I think a bit more like casing a scene when you're watching a movie and it scene changes, it kind of showcases the scene. And that's what I define as casing. And maybe the person is just wearing the product interacting and experiencing their environment but it's not necessarily a product focused shot. That's kind of what I think of casing as. Bringing in the scene and integrating the client product in that. So I do kind of have that run and gun style, but at the end of the day, like I said, this is the method to the madness. If you're thinking about the product, about the scene and you're getting in detail coming back at mid-range and then getting those big casing shots you're documenting the entire scene. This is just a great way to stay organized and achieve a variety of shots efficiently on your shoot. So one concept I try to keep in mind on my shoots is this idea of going beyond just a product shot and going beyond just a portrait. It's really easy and it's necessary to get simple product shots but take it that next step. Add that lifestyle aspect into it. Instead of just placing your subject in front of you with the product, you could maybe integrate the product into a fun, exciting scene. That's beyond just a simple product shot. So yesterday we were at that river running right through the beach and I already drew out the idea of someone jumping over with the product on. The jump was a bit too much of a send but I made the audible of, hey, let's get a product shot of someone throwing the backpack over. Also last night, I drew out that other idea of them running from the water too. It's a cool idea, but you know, throw product on, throw the backpacks on and then you have another product shot for the client. Instead of just simply photographing it getting a solid shot of it. You're taking that extra step and just creating a lifestyle aspect going beyond just a product shot. (chilled music) (camera clicks) What kind is it? Go ahead and do that again. You can start from there. Nice. I'm going to go a bit wider. All right, go ahead, And Sonora just look his direction and kind of smile. Hehehe, hehehe. (laughing) Are you stoked. I'm pretty much just gonna keep it at that. Like I don't need you to walk anymore. Okay. Okay, so I'll have you there and I'll have both of you two walking through. I'll kind of, I'll let you walk through and decide where I want to keep you. (laughs) Careful bud. But don't walk into the light. Take a step to your right a bit, right there looks good. Cool. So I'll have you guys kind of take three steps back from your spot and I want a natural, I want you guys to walk into it and make it look natural. Yeah. (camera clicks) Nice and hold real quick. (camera clicks) That looks sick dude, band photo. Cool. That might have actually done it. Let me look. Yeah. I think that that looks really good actually. Going down because I want to frame them against the sky versus the rocks. So I just wanna get a product shot of Mason walking along this slope. It's just a nice look. I like it. And it's gonna be very bright behind him. And as you can see, the slope area is shadowed. I'm gonna be exposing a bit more for the shadows and we're definitely gonna be losing some data in the highlights. But, so it goes. In this situation I'm just gonna make sure the backpack is brought up enough to where we're not losing data in the shadows. So, all right, go ahead. Oh (camera clicks) Same thing. I want to come up. (camera clicks) Nice. Ooh, I think I got a good one in there. Oh bud. Oh yeah. Decent comp. I'm just gonna scoot a little to the left. (camera clicks) Nice. (outro music)
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Ratings and Reviews
Romain Dancre
Concrete Examples & Lots of Value Really interesting workshop with a real experience and real photoshoot. We get to understand the whole process of Andrew and his way of thinking and acting and this is super interesting to learn about!
Robert Ransley
Simply outstanding!
Adriaantje Buijze
Practical and useful! Finally, this workshop does not leave you with theoretic principles but actually provides you with practical to do's / to go about's if you want to grow further into a career of photography for brands.
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