Georgi Nedelchev on glass and light: With Profoto, I easily achieve my vision
What lighting to choose and how to arrange it to achieve an impressive product shot on a black background? In the Dynaphos studio, photographer Georgi Nedelchev "lifts the curtain" on his experience to answer.
Composition with a retro bottle and a retro glass "Grandpa's Rakia"
According to Georgi, this is a simple composition that will allow you to quickly see how the lighting of the products changes, and from there – the appearance of the entire shot with three types of lighting.
For the first backlight, Georgi uses Profoto B1 with a Softbox 30x120 cm. He positions these strip boxes vertically to create vertical highlights on the objects. When the first flash is activated, the left backlight creates a white outline on the bottle and part of the glass.
Georgi shoots at f/8. When his objects are transparent glass, as in the "Grandpa's Rakia" composition, he recommends that the light intensity be 3 stops below the exposure. When the second backlight is switched on, two outlines appear - on the bottle and on the glass, and part of the contents in both objects is brightened.
The third backlight is top: Profoto B10 with an Octagonal Softbox 90 cm.
"The size of the Octagonal is perfect for the product photography I do, and it's one of the most used octagons I have," explains Georgi.
As a result of its use, he gets a bright outline on the top of the bottle and on the top of the glass, as well as on the surface of the liquid.
"These vertical outlines are a bit thick for my taste, they are too wide, so I will use so-called strip masks. They significantly reduce the width of the strip boxes," explains the photographer, demonstrating how with a strip mask on the first light, the left outline becomes thinner than the right. If the light intensity decreases, a correction is necessary.
Adding a strip mask to the other backlight results in a better shot. In it, we see elegant highlights, which, according to Georgi Nedelchev, "create a sense of elegance."
How and why to color the highlights
Georgi Nedelchev adds color to the highlights to make the shot more interesting. Or as he puts it: "to make them less mundane." He does this with Profoto color filters and gels, as they contrast well with the liquid. For the demonstration, he chooses blue color.
"They are easy and quick to install. My idea is to place the gel or filter directly on the lamp so that the entire softbox is colored blue in this case."
With a blue filter, blue highlights are also obtained. But we cannot see the color of the liquid inside the bottle and in the glass.
To correct this, Georgi uses Profoto C1+. It consists of 6 diodes and is "a small enough flash" to be placed behind the bottle and illuminate the liquid without itself being visible, explains the photographer.
"To diffuse the light, I use a diffusion lens and a spherical diffuser. I adjust the color temperature, as with the other flashes, we adjust the intensity and shoot. The liquid brightens" – Georgi demonstrates.
If necessary, as in this case, the lamp is adjusted more precisely until the liquid is evenly colored.
Result Achieved
"The main thing I like about this way of working is that I can simultaneously create a pure black background and at the same time have the liquid colored from behind. It's easy to use a white background and have the light reflected from the white background illuminate the liquid in the vessels you're shooting. But when shooting on a black background, this is one of the few ways that allows the liquid to be illuminated independently of the background," says the photographer.
Why use the Pro Foto system?
"Because it allows me to achieve my initial vision more easily. The ability to have a small enough lamp to place behind the objects I'm shooting; the ability to get very thin elegant highlights thanks to the strip masks I use, and the ability to introduce color as an expressive tool in the highlights I get, are part of the technical expressive means that I believe make this photography different," Georgi Nedelchev summarizes.
To be helpful, we suggest you follow his tips step-by-step and see the result in the video we shot in our studio. And if you want to see the quality of Profoto lighting live, come to our showroom at Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov Blvd. 90 in Sofia.
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