Assignment 2: Product on Location

1.  Pre-Light Polaroid and Diagram

This assignment calls for a professional editorial food photograph to be shot in one of the restaurants at the Pepsi Forum, Atwater.  What follows is a game plan for the final shoot (with food) based on our initial scout, including a lighting and setup diagram, a digi-polaroid (with the provided Gourmet layout), an equipment list and a short analysis.

The restaurant was a large room with a lot of dark wood surfaces, booths, round tables with tablecloths and a mixture of quite rich ambient tungsten light coming from a variety of narrow (pots) and wider sources.  This initial impression of warmth and the possibilities suggested by the available light implied a conservative lighting setup, perhaps two Profoto heads, one softbox, one narrow grid and a mirror as a possible kicker.  In the process of choosing our shooting spot and then our angle, we anticipated changing and refining these accessories but at least we had our starting point.  We also needed to bear in mind the demands of the magazine layout (portrait orientation) plus the type of food being photographed (in our case, soup of the day).

After some consideration, we chose our shot, a round table, with a black tablecloth and a rich brown background (to be out of focus in the final shot).  We decided to shoot from a distance of around 4ft and 2ft above the plane of the table (around a 45 degree angle).  The idea here was to provide some impact to the white soup bowl and rider plate whilst giving enough space in the bowl mouth so that the soup would be visible (an important point).  There also needed to be room (without crowding) for the toasted baguette slices and butter packs supplied with the soup.  Based on this information we made a tentative sketch of our setup:

We chose a focal length of 100mm for our shot.  This was slightly longer than the 80mm we had initially envisaged but the additional amount of compression in the background provided a pleasing effect.

We decided to work with an existing, ambient light source as our main.  This was positioned almost exactly above the soup bowl and metered at f5.6 @ 1\2 sec.  The depth of field seemed right for our shot and also gave us some latitude to control the ambient when we brought in our Profoto fill (with the necessary CC gels).  The back of the shot showed some significant fall off, with a deep shadow area (f.2.8) around the edge of the back booth (see diagram above).

Next, we took an opportunity to ask the chef about our product.  He took us through the various soups in the freezer and we opted for rich, orange, sweet potato soup.  We thought this would go very well with our background.  We also found out that, in addition to the bread and butter mentioned above, the soup would be garnished with parsley, a nice contrast in our colour palette.

Because of our strong tungsten toplight, the most likely scenario on shooting day would be that our Profotos would become fill.  We planned to use only the modelling lights from the heads to accomplish this, whilst manipulating shadows, highlights and any unanticipated flare through the use of gobos.  We planned to dial up or down the modelling lights in order to arrive at our desired fill level.

Based on our first visit, we arrived at the following equipment list:

• 1 x Profoto kit
• 1 x light meter
• 1 x tripod
• 1 x 250W tungsten light
• 1 x narrow grid
• 1 x laser pointer 
• 1 x small softbox
• 3 x black stands
• 2 x extension cords
• 1 x light meter
• 1 x gray card
• 2 x small mirrors
• 1 x remote radio trigger (1 transmitter and 2 receivers)
• 1 x CC gels
• 1 x neutral density filter
  
• 1 x polarizing filter
• 1 x Canon 50D camera
• 1 x lens 100 mm
• 1 x laptop with Capture 1 for tethered shooting
• Gourmet magazine layout
• 1 x blutac
• various gobo cards
• masking tape

We anticipated adding or removing items from this list in the period between the pre-light visit and the final shoot.  With all the variables in mind during our initial visit, a digi-polaroid was taken and then the Gourmet layout was dropped in.

2. Pre-Light Report and Analysis

• After some further consideration, we decided we were quite happy with using the overhead ambient light as the main.  The source was not so overpowering that highlights might be a problem and we also would be able to control its level through manipulation of shutter speed.
• For this shot we wanted some moderate compression but we had chosen an uncomplicated background so that the broad line of the bench would compliment the round shape of the soup bowl.  A focal length of 100mm accomplished this, which in addition to the f5.6 aperture offered a fairly narrow depth of field which we intended to centre on the front edge of the bowl.  This would throw some of the soup in focus and then give a slow fall off towards the background.  We felt that anything wider than f5.6 would detract from the product and also not provide the kind of 'house style' required by this particular publication.
• We planned to start off with a shutter speed of around 1\2 - 1\4 second.  This would provide the maximum amount of main light source from above and also allow us to control this source by using faster shutter speeds.  However, the 'warm' feel of the shot is something we wanted to retain (after the necessary colour correction for tungsten).
• Based on our metered readings, the overhead available source will provide more than enough light for this shot and also give more of a 'feel' of the product within the context of its environment.
• On the shooting day we feel that we will be bringing enough strobe to provide the necessary shot.  As described above, we envisage using modelling lights only, which we will balance using the variable function on the Profotos.
• Again, based on our readings and our plan to use only widely variable sources (the Profotos), the issue of too much light should not arise.  The white bowl in itself is a highly reflective surface and should not require too much fill in order to define it against the dark background.
• The test shot does raise a few issues.  First, it was not something we were able to verify, but we were not sure about the reflections on the soup itself.  On the day the soup needs to look appetizing and hopefully will be captured before it has a chance to cool down and congeal.  In order to anticipate this problem we plan to have a circular polarizer at hand.  This will also assist we hope with any unwanted reflections coming from the white bowl.  The highlight in the background, however, is a feature that provides depth and is something that we want to retain in our final shot.  Obviously, a fine balance is required here.  We were also a little concerned about the positioning of the bread relative to the bowl and, more importantly, the amount of soup that would be visible in the final shot.  Also, after inspecting our digi-polaroid, we realized that it would be necessary to move our product further up the page in order to approach a slightly more central position.  In order to cover ourselves we also plan to take a series of bracketed background shots (without product) for possible compositing.
• Since our light sources will only be tungsten, we plan to address colour balance by taking a grey card reading.  In post-production we would then apply adjustments to the colour temperature of the RAW file in order to give the right 'feel' for the shot.
• Finally, although permissions had been obtained for the shoot, we planned to call the client a few days prior to the shoot to verify the time and availability of food.  At this same time we will also review the terms of the contract and license for use of the final image.