Not too long ago, I used to be requested to supply comments on an unreleased product: a cocktail shaker from a well known culinary logo. The corporate requested me to take it for a spin, make a couple of cocktails, and fill out a survey. Survey?! Uninteresting. I’ll do you one higher – I’ll make an entire promo product video, proper right here in my eating room.

Now, I don’t come from a product images background, however I know what it takes to create a lovely product symbol, so I sought after to peer if I may just create an ideal edit with a digital camera, some lighting, and a pair digital camera rigs.

Lock Down Your Lighting fixtures

This shaker is beautiful and includes a graceful design with a lot of gold sides. However, because of this, it’s very reflective. Due to this fact, my first job was once shaping and controlling gentle.

Preferably, I’d shoot at evening to keep away from sunlight spilling in from each and every course, however I don’t have that more or less time within the evenings as the daddy of a tender kid, so I trusted Plan B. I blacked out the principle window and drew the curtains at the one on the a long way finish of the room, getting me lovely on the subject of a complete blackout. On this case, close-enough is excellent satisfactory since my lighting would overpower no matter ambient gentle is left. The use of managed lighting fixtures additionally permits you to dial within the colour temperature to no matter fits your setup. On this case, on account of the nice and cozy tones within the surroundings, I selected to stability round 2,700 to two,900 Kelvin. 

My key gentle (often known as the principle gentle) was once an Aputure 600 Bicolor LED affixed with a medium dome softbox, pointed at the place I’d be sitting and protecting the cocktail space. I additionally added a grid to this, which narrows the sunshine and controls the spill. Then I added a Nanlite 150 as an edge gentle for separation, affixed with a small round dome softbox, and a 2nd edge gentle at the different facet the use of some other Nanlite 150 with a slim Godox softbox, which is superb for tight areas. I additionally added grids to each and every of the ones softboxes to keep watch over the spill additional.

To find Your Motion

Tripods are an excellent get started, however product videography lives on movement: sluggish push-ins, dollies, and anything else that strikes across the product. I already personal a motorized 30-inch slider for managed push-ins, however for cylindrical merchandise like a shaker and a cocktail glass, I sought after to spin round it and catch the reflections bouncing, so I picked up a small turntable that allowed me to stay focal point at the product all of the time whilst spinning round it.

The tripod photographs had been key in shooting macro main points like lemon being squeezed into the cocktail, element photographs of prep, and citrus cutting. The function was once discovering the proper handbook focal point and orchestrating all the motion inside that aircraft.

Further photographs captured from overhead, which I captured via striking the tripod at the desk and pointing it down onto the shaker (once more, with handbook focal point), rounded out my protection.

With static photographs out of the way in which, I pulled out the aforementioned turntable. To make use of it, I arrange the shaker on it, set my focal point, and ran thru more than one strikes and takes. It labored like a attraction! I additionally selected to seize more than one takes in 120 frames according to 2nd, which might permit me so as to add some further visible aptitude in enhancing.

The ultimate problem was once the slider – lovely easy to start with look, however I sought after to push this device to the restrict. I sought after a razor blade gliding around the plastic packaging, so I stored the digital camera desk bound and put the packaging at the slider. On display screen it seems like the digital camera is monitoring the blade, when in truth the entirety continues to be apart from the field.

Given the restricted tools I used and the restricted area (and time) that I had, I feel this piece became out nice. I am hoping that I’ve made my level: you don’t want a studio to shoot product paintings. Use the distance that you’ve. So long as you keep watch over your gentle, upload movement the place you’ll, and create distinctive setups with the tools you have already got, you’ll make unusually excellent having a look video.

Principally, the ethical of the tale here’s to stay developing and difficult your self. Don’t put synthetic obstacles on what you assume you’ll just do since you don’t have get admission to to the nicest apparatus or essentially the most ideally suited areas.