The Advertisement
Initial Idea
For my Small Product advertisement, I would like to photograph something in the range of beauty products. So In order to come up with an idea I decided to go shopping. What better way than to gather inspiration for my photographs? As a female, when shopping for beauty products, I like to look at the advertisements of each item, as I’m not really inclined to buy a product with dodgy packaging or sales posters. While looking for my product, I thought about how I could make each item my own, how would I advertise it? I looked at eye shadow; I would want it to be bright and colourful. I also thought about how I would advertise it. Would I get a model to wear the eye shadow or would I try something different?
I looked at perfume and lipstick; I also looked at the prices of each item. How much am I willing to spend?
I then settled for nail polish. Pink Revlon Nail Polish. I decided on the colour pink because it’s bright and girly and also a colour I would wear once I was finished photographing. (Really just an excuse for me to buy some new nail polish haha). I chose the brand REVLON because the logo is nice and big, it’s also simple and I knew that I would be able to work it well into any advertisement I’d make.
In order to turn this product into an advertisement, I have researched some existing nail polish adds; some REVLON and some not.
Here are some examples:
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Viewed 8th December 2011, <http://www.glossicious.com/2011/02/new-revlon-top-speed-nail-enamal.html>. This is the current nail polish add for the product I will be photographing. |
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| Viewed 8th December 2011, < http://webdoc.gwdg.de/edoc/ia/eese/artic20/piller/5_2000.html>. |
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| Viewed 8th December 2011, < http://www.cinemagupshup.com/bollywood/bollywood-actress-wallpapers/aishwarya-rai-in-loreal-lipstick-and-nail-polish-ad-photo/>. |
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| Viewed 8th December 2011, < http://beautyeditor.ca/2010/06/01/coco-rocha-struts-for-a-cure%E2%80%94and-shares-her-best-supermodel-beauty-tips/>. |
Looking at all these examples of existing Nail polish advertisements, I have that each ad seems to have the same common fingers framing the face, this technique works well, because every time you look at an advertisement where the model is holding painted nails up to her face, it’s kind of an automatic reaction that the viewer knows what is being advertised.
With my advertisement I’d like to try something different by not showing off a beautiful face so much and put even more focus on the nails.
To do this I’ve thought of the idea, for my model to wear a big floppy sun hat, where she will be pulling the brim down over one eye. This will help to take the focus off her face and draw more attention to her nails.
The sun hat I use for the ad will need to be a neutral colour, as it is important that I don’t have clashing colours (especially when the product I am advertising is pink).
Photographing the Product
Now That I’ve got my product, I’m ready to photograph my deep etched image, but first I need to think about how I am going to light it.
Here is an example of my product:
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REVLON, 2011, viewed 6th December 2011, < http://www.revlon.com/Revlon-Home/Products/Nails/Nail-Color/NEW-Revlon-Top-Speed-Nail-Enamel.aspx>. |
For my photograph, I would like to try and reproduce the above image. However, because the material of the bottle and lid is so shiny, I need to research how to photograph the product without casting any ugly reflections in the mirror- like- lid, and how to get the nice vertical lines running down it.
I found that the trick with any reflective product is what to position in the reflection. The last thing you want to see is some lighting stands, your camera or yourself in your product. Positioning some screens in the right places will take care of this. However If you photograph the products in a white box and light them evenly, they will tend to look flat and boring. It is important to use various shades (dark, grey and light) in the reflection to give the product the shiny look. Easier said than done, but when you get it right, they look great!To Photograph the Nail polish, I will need three light sources.
1. A light on the background (preferably white, this will make it easier to cut out the product in Photoshop.) This light will help to illuminate the white background even more.
2 & 3. Two softboxes, one on either side of the nail polish, but as close to as possible (leaving a gap for the camera). These will reflect in the lid and create the white vertical reflections. To get the black lines on the lid, I will need to get my camera at the correct angle to the product (to figure out the right angle, look at the object up and down so that you can find the right position to place the camera). I will also need to make sure the surrounding walls of the studio are black; I may need to hold up a black piece of card in front of me to stop and reflections I may cast.
· I will also need to sit my product on some kind of shiny material, preferably glass, or white Perspex, to create a nice drop reflection of the product.
Here is a lighting diagram I have constructed to for me to refer to when setting up in the studio:
Finding a Model for My Advertisement
For any kind of beauty advertisement I believe it is important to have an attractive person modelling what you’re trying to sell, as the buyer is purchasing the product to look beautiful, not ugly. So I will need to find someone who is attractive and will sell my product well. This person will also need to have nice hands and fingernails, as that is the main area I am focusing on. I am pretty lucky and have a fair few options of where to find a model. I currently live in a boarding house with around 40 girls, so this gives me plenty of choices, I also have a girlfriend that would be suitable for the job, I too have thought about asking one of the girls from the beauty/makeup department at CIT to model for me.
Points to help me choose a model:
· Has nice skin
· Needs to have natural longish nails, can’t be acrylics/gels etc. as I will need to paint them, and don’t want them looking fake.
· Slender hands
· Preferably longish hair (shoulder length or longer)
Choosing a model will come down to the above factors and who will be available at the time when I need to shoot.
Photographing my model/background image
In order to get the correct lighting on my models finger nails, the best position for me to place my main light source will be directly in front the subject, however the softbox will need to be slightly above her so that I can get my camera in there to take the pictures. This however will most likely cause a shadow to be cast across my models face from the sun hat she will be wearing. This can be corrected by using a reflector to bounce light back up on to her face removing the unwanted shadow.
For this shot I will just be using typically portrait lighting; one light for my main light source and another light on the backdrop to give depth to main subject and its background.
Here is a quick lighting diagram I have constructed to refer to when setting up my lights:
References:
Reed, M 2011, Perth Product Photography, Viewed 8th December 2011, <http://www.perthproductphotography.com.au/chrome-taps-mixers>.
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