New Product Range shoot
I have been shooting the Remington Advanced Coconut Therapy range of haircare products. Quite good products to work with, the strong colours help these types of electronic product ranges stand out. There’s some chrome elements which need careful lighting treatment in the studio.
Hair dryers seem to be more difficult to photograph then the other haircare products like the wands or straighteners. The studio set-up images can be seen on my Facebook photography page.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillippilkington/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/phillippilkington/
New Product Photography
I did a shoot before lockdown of the new Remington Hydrolux hair straightener. It has a unique feature which is steam comes out as your using it on your hair. The feature has a open outlet where the steam comes out and this aspect is something that needed to be shown well in the photography.
When the straighteners are closed you can’t see the shape of the outlet well, so I needed to do a composite image, I photographed the straighteners open, then photographed them closed, each time doing an image stack to get high quality image. I could then use the open image where the light was able to shine on the bottom plate showing the shape of the outlet, combine that image with the closed straightener image for the final result.
It took a fair amount of work but I managed to get what the product team wanted and now this image can be seen on the packaging artwork and used in other marketing areas, advertising, social media etc.
Check out my other social platform profiles
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/phillippilkington/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillippilkington/
Christmas food shoot, Manchester
I worked on a food shoot in Manchester with a food stylist Tom Citarella which was a Christmas food shoot, not too over the top on the Christmas props which is something that I think works well.
The food is mainly a Wellington, not a traditional one but Chef Tom was telling me how it’s not really a Wellington but it has to be called something. All the normal trimmings around it which helps frame the shot nicely.
Can be tricky to get the over head shots but the big camera stand comes in very useful for shots like this. Also because of time restrictions I used the same lighting set-up for both the over head view and the lower angle too.
I have included BTS images to show how the shot came together, the set-up used etc, take a look at my Facebook page to see more BTS images. The images are used for brand marketing and social media uses for Russell Hobbs new product.
I have worked with Tom Citarella on many shoots and would recommend using his services to other photographers or events, he even does food demo’s.
Check out my other social platform profiles
Insta:https://www.instagram.com/phillippilkington/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillippilkington/
Thanks,
Phill.
Christmas food Manchester
family meal manchester
christmas food shoot
Commercial Photography shoot, Loving Slate
New images of Slate art by Loving Slate based in Southport UK. I took the photographs of their art for commercial purposes. The day consisted of shooting flat copy style imagery of framed wall art, their was around 20 pieces. Then we went outside to photograph the sculptures, we did it this way because it had been raining, and it did continue to rain on and off which did make things a bit difficult.
I am happy with the results. This was a repeat shoot for this client so I think they are happy with the photography too.
If there are any topics around Commercial Photography you would like me to blog about just reach out and I will be happy to engage. Thanks, Phill.
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Starting something new, motion design
Hello,
I am starting something new. Motion design.
I chose to start this other aspect of creative industries because I thought it could compliment my photography/video business services. This video is an early example of what I can produce currently, I will be getting more proficient as time goes on. I realise these things take a lot of time to become an expert. But I am happy with the results. Keep an eye out for more of this in future.
Phill.
Oil and water Photography
Oil and water Photography
In this video I show you how to do oil in water photography at home. The results are abstract, strange, beautiful and almost space like in results you can get with only a small amount of photography equipment. The type of images you could hang on your wall at home. It’s a great way to experiment at home if you are in lockdown.
Equipment I used.
Nikon D600 Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens
Manfrotto MT190 xpro4 tripod
Aputure AL-MX LED light
Coloured gels
My Youtube channel has other videos about photography, I have another video about doing product photography in your home during lockdown. Check it out. To see more please visit my other social media accounts:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillippilk…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillippilki…
Product Photography shoot at home during lockdown
Photography ideas at home
Photography ideas at home
Product Photography shoot at home during lockdown. Examples of images created with behind the scenes on this still life shoot for Hunt & Hustle brand barber scissors. I would normally shoot in a photography studio, this is work that I managed to do during the Covid 19 virus situation has effected all our lives.
I am letting people see the inner workings on a shoot with a highly reflective chrome product which can be very difficult to shoot. But not so bad if you know what your doing. Also using a mirror as an effective background to this table top style photoshoot.
If you have questions about this type of photography please let me know and I will do my best to answer those questions for you.
This video is the result of a genuine client shoot and was not contributing towards the making of this video in anyway.
Equipment used,
Nikon Z6
Nikon D600
Tokina 100mm f2.8 marco lens
Elinchrome FX400 lighting kit
Manfrotto 190 xpro4 tripod
Adobe lightroom, Photoshop
To see more please visit my other social media accounts:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillippilk…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillippilki…
Ecommerce photography, Amazon retailers
This is my first blog post in a while, I have been busy shooting. A lot of the work I have been doing is for Amazon/Ecommerce retails, the images I am showing is for a company I have been working with based in Bolton. They selling high end radiators in many shapes, sizes, colours.
I have been thinking about life after Covid 19, a lot more businesses are going to be changing their business strategy and aiming more for online/ecoomerce sales as a reaction to the impact Covid 19 is having on all businesses. A service like my product photography can help businesses to create the content they need for this shift in business strategy and I am able to help out.
I have also been shoot roomset photography for this radiator client and I will be posting about that in a future blog post. If you are looking for an ecommerce photographer in the Manchester area I am happy to talk about your image needs.
Phill.
Concept Advertising Photography
Floating iron with some steam, I don’t normally do the Art Direction on product shots but this one I thought I had an idea that would work. Also included, see BTS image and I have a close up and a second option of the same image. The iron in this photo is Russell Hobbs 3100w
Powersteam ultra. Follow me to see future posts.
Happy with these images, high quality, effective advertising photography.
instagram.com/phillippilkington
facebook.com/phillippilkington
Insights into Liquid Photography
Hello again,
I have seen an article on a photographer called ‘David Lund’, he is a specialist liquids photographer, a very good liquids photographer. He is letting people see the behind the scenes work on one of his advertising photography shoots and I thought it is something that the followers of this photography blog would like to see.
If you don’t want to read the whole article I will mention some of the things that interested me the most.
As soon as he saw what the Hasselblad cameras can do he bought into them costs $50,000.
He learned a lot from Karl Taylor, technical issues on how to shoot studio photography.
David uses retouching filters by Topaz labs, I have had a look myself and will be making a purchase.
His photography work uses extreme composite images (up to 90 images) built up in Photoshop, no surprises there.
It is a very interesting read and if you want to gain insight into high end advertising liquids photography it is worth a visit.
Article link: Topaz Labs
David Lund website: www.davidlund.co.uk
Thanks for reading,
Phill.
Packaging Photography shoot for Remington’s Gold Dust series
Hello again,
I have been working on Remington’s new haircare product range called ‘Gold Dust’, I thought I would do a show and tell on these products and the work I have been doing recently.
The Gold Dust series is one of Remington’s budget range, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from the photography. I have worked hard to make the appearance of the products are the best they can be, and the results are great, the products look high end haircare products which is my intention.
I did my normal studio photography techniques which is to do multiple lighting set-ups and to combine the images together in post-production, picking and choosing the best bits from each image to make one final finished image.
If you liked the post about packaging photography and you are in need of similar photography services please make contact via email or by phone and I will be happy to talk to you about your images needs. Or if you have questions about the blog topic please let me know. Thanks,
Phill.
Advertising photography, step by step example
Hello again,
I have been working on this drinks photography image last month and I wanted to add the article onto my photography blog.
I am giving some insight into high end advertising photography, I am showing the step by step build up of a composite image, it shows the initial shots taken in a photography studio which are cut out in post-production. The changes that happens to the product itself as multiple shots are combined to enhance the product image. Then a different background is selected and put in behind the product to give the look of being shot on location.
I hope this gives readers a better understanding of what happens on a high end product photography shoot. If you have questions about this type of photography then please let me know and I could do more blog articles based on requests in future.
Thanks,
Phill.
Advertising photography image composite
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Brand Campaign shoot: George Foreman
Hello again,
I have been working on a food photography shoot with George Foreman and I wanted to show some of the results here. The shoot took place in Manchester inside the building where the George Foreman marketing offices are based, there was a team of people on shoot, me the food photographer, Tom the food stylist, creative director from Pondarossa creative agency and 3 marketing executives from George Foreman.
We all had a part to play and worked as a team to create content for the brand. There was a pre-planned arrangement to what we were going to be shooting, I think it was 6 meals in various different locations or looks. The theme of the shoot was to show the versatility of the type of food that can be cooked on the Grill.
The results are very pleasing, some of my best work as a food photographer. Most food photography uses a shallow depth of field to make the food stand out and show lots of detail, the food is the star and the background setting can lead into out of focus.
I hope you like the photography I have shown here. If you want to hear more about a particular shoot or a a type of photography please send me a message and I will try and work on it. Also check out and follow my Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/phillippilkington/
Thanks,
Phill.
Woof Charity dog walk, Heaton park, Manchester video
Hello again,
To the shock of many photographers I have started to make some video production pieces, this video I have to show is a short video made for the Charity ‘Woof’. It is a charity dog walk raising money for Cancer Research UK. The event took place on 23rd September 2018, lots of nice dogs and dog owners took the dogs on a walk around the famous Heaton Park. There was also a competition for best dog. The park is a great place to hold events such as this one, it’s massive, well looked after and very scenic.
I wanted to raise my skills in video production so I volunteered my services for the good cause. I live near Heaton Park which was helpful, I only got to spend about 45 minutes filming as I had other commitments but I will be working on more videos such as this one in future. I hope you like the video, if you feel compelled to help out with the cause please contact the Woof facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/woofcancermanchester/
Packaging photography for Haircare products
Hello again,
I have some images to show, these are images of hair dryers and they are to be used on Remington packaging covers to show off the products to their full potential. All 3 images have very different lighting used which can be seen in the reflections on these shiny products.
It takes a lot of studio lighting skill and techniques to make the reflections look as good as these. Every photographer has their own way of working and controlling the reflections through lighting. I have as used some image stacking which is to make sure the whole product is in focus. If you don’t know then I will tell you that lots of photographers who get a shot in one photo may be leaving parts of the product out of focus, not that noticeable but could be an issue if the image is printed large. Than some technical details are more visible.
If you want to me to post about anything in particular then please let me know. I hope you enjoyed reading about my product photography.
Phill.
Interior Photography at Hull University
Hello again,
I was asked to photograph hull university as they have had lots of renovation work done to their building and a new wing to the campus including an auditorium. As soon as I saw the interior I new their was massive potential for some great interior photography. I had just ordered a new lens which is the Tamron 16-30mm f2.8 VR ultra wide angle zoom lens which was the perfect kens for this type of shoot.
The colours and the design and the standard of work that the builders and contractors had done looked amazing, I got my tripod out and over the next 5 hours took around 400 images of the great Hull university. One reason why I took so many images is because I was bracketing, this means I would take a shot that was under-exposed (too dark), then I would take a shot at the correct exposure, followed by a shot that was over-exposed (too bright) and by combining these shots in photoshop I would have control over the images and what looks best. This process does take a fair amount of time but it is how to get some technically brilliant results.
The new lens performed so well, the clients were very impressed by the work and used my photography services several more times. If your business needs new interior photography you can always talk to me about a high end photography service. If there are any topics which you would like to see on my photography blog please send an email to let me know.
Thanks for reading,
Phill.
Pink Toasters, I can make them look good
Hello again,
I shoot lots of products, a fair amount of electrical products. Sometimes I can be challenged to make products look great, this shoot wan not one of them. The pink toaster with chrome trim is just a good looking product. I wouldn’t have one in my own kitchen but the images look so cool. I did some of my normal techniques like shooting multiple lighting set-ups and combining the shots in post-production using Photoshop. These photography techniques is the main reason the product shots look so good.
If you are from the UK and you are wondering what the piece of kit on top of the toaster is, this is a bun warmer. Sold in Europe only to warm up buns and croissants on top of the toaster, I know what your thinking, I want one. Well in the UK you can’t have one. Europe only…. doh.
For these type of product shots which get used on the packaging cover I will do a range of shots, this main image is the ‘hero’ shot, this is the image that the brand will use the most. It has to match other product shots in look, camera angle, product angle, etc. Colour consistency is also important because there is likely to be a range of products which all match in colour, here is the toaster and the is also a matching kettle, maybe they will have a coffee maker to match also?
If there is any more details about product photography you would like to know please let me know and I will be happy to answer your questions and maybe even do a write up on the photography blog?
Thanks,
Phill
Photography for Restaurants, top 8 tips
I am going to talk about photography that I have worked on for Restaurants and the way I work for best photographs that show the food in their best light. Get ready for the best tips to help you shoot better images for restaurants.
- Start with the natural. One of the issues with photographing food in restaurants is the lighting. The lighting normally is set up to create a ambience for the customers who want a romantic meal. Most restaurants are dark with some window light, some side lights. Other restaurants don’t have any window light. I really like to include natural light when shooting food.
- Balance the light. When I can I will use long exposure settings on the camera for food photography. This lets the daylight show on the food shots but being careful to balance the light with the flash. If the exposure is too long the daylight will appear too bright, the shot might look OK but some details of the food might disappear and become white areas with no detail. Best keep camera exposure to around 1/2 second and try using different power settings of the flash to get the correct exposure you are looking for.
- Use a tripod. Nobody can hold a camera still enough for 1/2 sec, the image will appear to be slightly blurry. If you are doing long exposure shots the photographer will need to use a tripod.
- Use a long lens. When I say long lens I am referring to the focal length, I would recommend using in-between 70-200 mm. It just so happens most lens manufacturers make this very type of Lens. I use a Nikkor 70-200 mm lens, an even better option would be using prime lenses. Prime lenses are the ones that don’t zoom, they have a fixed focal range, they usually produce a better image quality. The more noticeable difference is the quality of out-of-focus areas of the image, a good lens to use would be a 85 mm or 100 mm lens.
- How shallow. Most food photography is taken at fairly close range as this helps the viewers to see the detail of the food. As a result, the background of the image will be blurred although this is not a bag thing it helps the look of the image. How much to blur the background or even the food is up to the photographer. It helps to add style to the image but if you blur the image too much the food itself may hardly be in focus and the clients can’t see the food clearly. The way the depth of field (blur) is controlled is by the F stops. I don’t recommend using an F stop as low as F/2.8 as I think a good balance is around F/8 to F/11. It does depend on how close you are to the food as the closer you are the more blur will appear. If you go too high with the F stop control, say F/16 or above, I think you are seeing too much of the background coming into focus.
- ISO. Most photographers will know this but for better quality images the ISO should be as low as possible. My camera’s lowest ISO is ISO 100, some cameras can go lower than this. By using ISO 100 the image created will have little or no digital grain which usually looks bad. You can shoot on ISO 400 but I don’t recommend going higher than this.
- Go Ultra wide. When shooting for restaurants, in my experience, the photographer is not only there to create images of the food but of the kitchen and dining area too. To make the interior look its best, I would use a ultra wide angle lens for this. It makes the room look bigger and it helps the look of the interior by adding a dynamic element.
- Look for the unique. If there is anything unique about the restaurant make sure you get images of it. The restaurant industry is one of the most competitive industries there is aside from the photography industry…. Restaurants normally have something about them to help them stand out from the crowd. It could be features of the building, cocktail drinks that only they serve etc. I once captured a staff member because he got his accordion out and started playing for the customers.
If you follow these tips you will have some great results from photo-shoots at restaurants If these tips have helped please let me know and even share images with me so I can put them on my blog to show others.
Float your boat/product – Bolton Product shoot
Whatever floats your boat.
This weeks blog I show some examples of a studio photoshoot I did in Bolton where I make the products float, or just a part of the product. With the right tools and the right know-how it isn’t too difficult to do, but to make it look good is some only a skilled professional Photographer/Retoucher can pull off.
The main example I have here is a shot of a Remington Mens shaver, to create this image I would set up all equipment, camera, lighting in the Bolton Studio. I would then take a photograph of the complete product as normal, the shaver head is still attached at this point, I would then take another shot of the product but this time the head has been removed. I would then bring all images into Photoshop to start the Retouching work, I start by cutting out the product with the pen tool. I do the same for both images, I then use these two images on the same page where they will appear on different layers. I can now cut out the shaver head off the complete shaver image and use it on the other image where the product head has been removed. It is that simple, we are done, finished….
It can become more complex depending on the product.
The image below is slightly different. I used fishing wire to suspend the coffee hopper out of the coffee machine, I then took the same image without the suspended hopper and masked out the fishing wire. Using this technique there are lots of options to do special effects photography without too much difficulty.
The shoot in Bolton went well with some great product photography to show for it, if there are other studio photography techniques you would like to hear about please get in touch and I can work on my next blog post with your ideas in mind.
Tell me what floats your boat….
Phill.
360 spin photography Manchester
Hello,
Thank you for visiting my photography blog. I am going to show you a photography service I have been working on for over a year now. That is 360 spin photography, most of my work is product photography and this is very useful for that area of imagery too. Firstly let me tell you how it is done.
I set -up lights and camera in the studio, I use a white spinning turntable which helps to create an even spin, if you don’t use a proper turntable then the spin won’t be a smooth spin. With the turntable I shoot one full spin with 72 still images, I then bring all images into Photoshop and retouch any issues with the product, I then use Photoshop timeline to create either a video or a gif with the still images. Once the video has been render I then use Adobe After Effects to make the spin look even smoother.
To create one full spin does take a lot of work, the process including set-up, the shoot and the post-production is 1 full day for 1 product. The benefits are a very nice 360 product video, and a high res still of the product from any angle from the cameras single view point. This is a great asset for any business to show off high quality products. If you require a 360 photography service please get in touch and we can chat about your image needs.
Phill.
Product Photography Showcase
Hello again,
This weeks photography blog post is showing a product shoot I did not too long ago in bury. It is a cover image for Russell Hobbs packaging of their red textures kettle, it is a nice looking kettle and the highlight is it mixes smooth and textured plastic surface. I think it is a nice touch to help the look of the product.
It was a bit of a challenge to show off the different textures when photographing the product in the studio, When you use softboxes and diffusion sheets for the correct lighting techniques the textured surface starts to look too soft, the lighting technique for textured materials is to use a harsh lights without any diffusion. I do usually use multiple different lighting setups for a packaging type product shoot but this one was just harder to work on. I then need to blend multiple shots together in Photoshop which is a high level skill all on it’s own. I did find the right set-up to showoff the different textures and the end result is pleasing to the eye. If you are looking for a specialist product photographer then lets talk and I will be able to show off your products in the same way.
Many thanks,
Phill.
New Photo-Shoot, Food Photography in Bolton
Hello again,
One of my recent shoots was a food photography shoot in Bolton and I thought I would share some images on my photography blog.
I shot a variety of images on the day but the ones I am showing now are salad images with props to help the look for a Russell Hobbs brand shoot for their website and social media channels. The main image I am showing is the birds eye view look which is very popular over the recent years in food photography. This image works very well with that type of angle, I have said it before on my blog but the high end look from a shoot like this is helped by using a food stylist.
I have used daylight from the windows by shooting at a longish shutter speed, 1 second exposure. I also used flash as a fill in light from the lower side of the frame. I shot at an aperture of F/11, this is because it one of the sharpest settings from my lens, I normally will try to use a lower ISO number to increase quality, higher ISO numbers light ISO 800 would introduce some digital grain. Especially on the camera I used which is the Canon 5DS R. The camera does work well for food shoots like this, it is almost a studio camera but can be used elsewhere but really needs either a lot of light or a tripod. I used a Tamron 24-70mm F2.8 lens, I shot at 70mm to reduce any distortion. The flash lighting I used is Elinchrom, this is because they are Professional level lighting equipment and the costs are reasonable.
My other image which is a close up image of the salad shows the closest point at which this Tamron 24-70mm lens can focus. It really isn’t a macro lens but it is a good lens with some versatility like what I have shown here. Again I used the lens at 70mm but this time the aperture is F/5.6, a common setting for food photography, it creates depth to the images and makes the viewer pay more attention to the areas in focus, the subject weare shooting is salad and that is where I want the viewers attention to be focused on.
Bokeh is the quality of out of focus areas, this lens has some nice bokeh considering it isn’t a prime lens, which area the best lenses to have nice bokeh.
I hope you like results from this food photography shoot in Bolton, if there is a photography topic you would like to hear about in my blog please let me know. Thanks for reading, Phill.
