Like this

_DSC4301 by Zack, on Flickr

How could I have done this better?

Shot with a 50mm, d7200, SB910 camera mounted and bounced to camera right.

Shoot it vertically an fill the frame.
I'm not sure the red back drop is working.  
Get your source off of the camera and and light at a higher ratio so he doesn't look so flat.

The red wasn't really a choice but a lack of options.

It's a shower curtain.

Looks fine to me. What is your goal? Product photography can be done many ways depending on what kind of style/look you want to achieve.

No goal really, just trying to improve upon something I haven't really messed with much.

Round 2

_DSC4414web by Zack, on Flickr

Not an export but #2 looks better.  I'd put a little less crop at the top. Maybe something to the right or crop out the blank space.

Looks better, but for a product shot you really wanna to shoot tighter and not lead all that dead space on the side. Also I'd light it a bit mor to the side and lightly fill the other side. It will give more dimension.

If you want to replicate lifesize lighting on a smaller subject, like this little guy, you need to scale down your lighting.  You can either use a smaller source, or move your existing source back a bit.  Picture the difference in summer time verses winter.  In winter, the shadows are not only longer, but more defined, whereas in summer, shadows are softer.  Picture the earth in winter using a light that's a bit further away, and in summer it's using a light with an umbrella.  

If your goal is to get flat-ish lighting, use an umbrella and get really close.  With this little guy, just shoot like you would a normal person, using different light to see what you can come up with.  

There's a guy in GD who shoots (or used to) a lot of star wars themed figures in really cool details, but I have no idea his screen name.  Maybe he'll come in and lend some advice.

That is an interesting suggestion. I'll mess with that later or tomorrow.

I'm doggy sitting this today, so there's not much chance to mess with the camera.

_DSC4425-Edit by Zack, on Flickr

The light is a bit too sharp, what modifier were u using? The easiest way for me to shoot most products is with a softbox kr beautidish up close. And f 10 ish apperture to keep the subect in focus.

I like to really soften the light source and make them huge.

Toys lighted up with small Ikea light.

And one with a Alien Bee and covered beautidish. So you can see soft vs hard and direct light.

Round 3

_DSC4770 by Zack, on Flickr

Round 3A

_DSC4765 by Zack, on Flickr

3A is looking good; 3 is a bit dark.

Looking back at the lots of space on the right of round 2, that can be a good thing if the project will require room for text for something like a magazine spread.

Alot of times when I am doing models and small parts with a back ground, one of the things I try to check first is how much separation I get from the background with lighting. This will allow me to cut things out in post process.

All your pictures are good, but the light could be a bit more dramatic?

This is why I'm doing this thread. I know what goes into a 'good' picture.

As in, the general how and why to properly expose and all that.

What I don't know is how to make this little dude really pop in an interesting manner. Something involving the light source scaling I think. Not sure.

I will try a few more shots tomorrow. Tinkered with something else today.

Try some rim light if you want a little more pop/separation from the background.

I did a little playing around this afternoon and tried a few different setups to see what popped a little more.


Here is what I came up with.






Main light was flash in a small soft just off to the right of the subject. Red and blue as rim lights.

That's some good stuff. Unfortunately, I'm limited to a single light. The SB-910 was in my bag when I left the house the day the fire happened. The SB-600 and a few others were not.

Maybe you could us a reflector or mirror to bounce the main light off of and add a little highlight?

 

That's what I've been thinking. The question is how to set it up. I also considered using a LED flashlight to add a bit. I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow.

More bouncification.

_DSC3789w by Zack, on Flickr

I like the exposure on this last one, but it looks like you either have too little DOF, or the focus is a bit soft. Look at how sharp the nose is v. the ear. A couple solutions:
- Back up some and zoom in more (the farther out you are focusing, the more DOF you get at the same aperture setting)
- tighten down the aperture some - maybe a stop or two (and obvi make the corresponding exposure corrections)

Every one of these is getting better!

-shooter

It was shot with a reasonably wide aperture. I want to say it was f/4.

Eyes and face are in focus, most everything else is not. I shot it more like a portrait.

I agree that a little more depth of field would have improved the look of that one a bit but the lighting is getting better.

Edit: Here's a similar composition at f/8.

Had to bump the ISO and flash up a bit to compensate of course but the light is almost the same.

_DSC3803w by Zack, on Flickr

In that case, just make sure the room is really dark, do a 5sec exposure and trip the light once for main, then bring it around again for the kicker.

Might work better if you used a small flash light and painted, though.

It all depends (to me) on what you are going for with the shot. The concept.

Is it straight-up "this is what it is" photography?

Is it an enticement to the viewer (thus, shallow DOF might be interesting, or lighting that drops off dramatically or has a reason to be different)?

All your shots you've taken so far might work in various applications. It's all about what you want to show and tell with the image. Current style might affect it a bit - for example, the very bluish, overexposed food photography that's been popular for a while now. The concept is to make the food appetizing, and a little dreamy, as if you were daydreaming about the food at your table.

Concept is huge. It affects your photos, and it should. Take twenty different shots of that same figurine with as many different lighting setups, DOFs, crops, color spaces, etc. as you can think of, and pick the one you like. Analyze why you like it. Ask us which ones we like. (danger, here: We all like different things )

Think about how Ichiro Nagata put his stamp on gun photography - he put gels on different strobes to add visual drama and character to the firearms when he burst on the scene... His concept was to take unusual and interesting photos of guns. It worked. Now, it worked *for him* and anyone who does that now will be mistaken for Ichiro-san. This is just an example, not a template.

JMHO.

This project got moved to the back burner for a while but I had a free minute today and decided to hit him with the black background I've been using for a few other subjects lately.

_DSC6864-Edit by Zack, on Flickr

Second shot

_DSC6884-Edit by Zack, on Flickr