Packshot Photography Lighting Breakdown | The High-end Beer Bottle

[@Silverturky]

your tutorial is hands down the best i've seen and its extremely practical I did the exact same setup for a client here and its working flawlessly thank you for the lesson and I'm gonna carry this forward for all of my product shoots of this type. you have upped my game considerably

[@gabzeraoz]

This is by far one of the best content I've seen for Packshots and I am actually using it for 3D.

[@jimjimgl3]

Did not know the existence of polarizing gels...seems amazing.

[@vadiance]

Best video on this topic I've found on the internet! Thanks for creating this, very useful.

[@luisrios4185]

You have a "teacher" touch. I like how you explain. Thank you. I will see all your tutorials.

[@jeancammas2134]

thanks a lot man. I really enjoyed your lesson and definitely learned more than something. Take care and hope to see more of this content

[@fernandoalan5785]

WOW! Amazing man. One of the best videos about bootle i've ever seen. Nice tips

[@loicmathys4057]

This was so good, very informative with explanations about pretty much anything! Good job Max very cool to see you back on youtube :)

[@kigabuma]

Thank you very much for the video.

[@marooni3608]

I learned a lot from your videos and I am really thankfully for that. Too bad that you stopped posting. I would be really interested for a 1to1 zoom "training/discussion" on the subject. Thanks again for everything!

[@NinoGuerra1]

Phantastic Video, thanks for giving all this insights of your work. I would be interested in your PS Action. I want to buy them:)

[@Romper_Stomper]

Great video and excellent result! 👌 Love your channel, which have a great content! 👍

[@nikitaleckie2553]

Hi like your video's and watch them all the time! Little question..what is the thickness of your scrims? 3mm/5mm of 10mm?

[@maxbridge8921]

I have all three actually. Depends on the size of the acrylic

[@FiratTuzunkan]

Great video! Just a quick question about the side lights... From the front camera, it looks like those black cards would block the side lights... How's it possible that black cards do not get in the way of side lights?

[@ABCTeppo]

This was very good video. I learned lot's of new things. Thank you

[@phildoherty]

Brilliant!. Q: If I have 10 different labels to shoot should I just shoot a master bottle with no label and then add the labels in post? It seems like that would be the quickest option. The shots are for website only.

[@maxbridge8921]

Glad it helped. So long as the liquid and bottle shape remain the same then yes, that's what I'd do

[@bristolfashion4421]

Thanks so much - really interesting.

[@yanncabello6268]

Thanks ! Which dimensions and thickness for opal acrylic please?

[@arbidans_lv]

Hello. Thanks for this video! What is the percentage of light transmittance of your opal acrylic glass. Thanks

[@vijden]

Hi, spray you using for glass, what about aluminium? Same spray needed or not necessary?

[@kevinmorphet8083]

Oohhh! Polarizing gels! Learned something new today! Thank you! Have a great 2019. Cheers.

[@pnwbjj]

Good video. Would like to have actually seen your process for the dust & scratches and frequency separation items.

[@TheWizardofx]

Having a hard time finding Opal Acrylic in North America as it seems to be a UK trade name. The two candidates I have found are "sign white" and "lightbox white". Lightbox white seems to be the correct choice (and not because of the name) as it has a frosted look and allows good, diffuse light transmission. The Sign white sample is very glossy and almost opaque... allowing no light transmission from natural light sources. If you could nudge me in the correct direction! Great video, both of them. Hugely appreciated!

[@maxbridge8921]

I can't say which of those to choose as I've not used them. It's very common over here, almost every acrylic shop sells it. I'd advise calling a few places in the US and see what they say, I'm sure there will be an equivalent. If not, then you could get trace instaed, savage translum or lee 129 are good.

[@chrisham4430]

Is the white base you are shooting on made of acrlic as well or is it just white paper ?

[@maxbridge8921]

That's glossy perspex. Pretty sure it's called perspex, I buy it so rarely and my memory is like a cieve but 99% sure that's right. Most companies that sell the opal acrylic will do this stuff as well

[@mustafa.mznhadi]

Great job

[@LigonMedia]

Terrific video. Thank you.

[@hedbonker5604]

Liked and subbed. Great stuff man!

[@maxbridge8921]

Mike Flynn cheers Mike!

[@alexanderlebrenz4155]

Hey Max, i saw your Video and it is so inspiring and awesome. I have a question: Did you use the circular polarizer on the cam the whole time for this set? And is it in the normal lighting without the front light for the label in normal position or did you polarized the set, too with the circular and then put the sheet of polarizer too? LG from germany, Alex

[@maxbridge8921]

Thanks. I don't fully understand the question but I'll do my best to help. From memory, this was a while ago, the polarizer is on the whole time but the only light with a polarized gel would be the one for the label. Hope that helps

[@alexanderlebrenz4155]

@@maxbridge8921 Hey Max, thank you. That was what i meant :-) so i can put my polarizer the whole time on the cam. but you don´t circle it, right? it is in "normal" position and the only polarizing effekt comes then from the sheet on the flash, right?

[@richardbrenyah4357]

I really love your tutorials it's simple and to the point that a beginner would understand it. I want to ask you one question. When you changed the background to black you said you feathered the bottle with black edge, how did you do that. PS I found a way to do that so if you don't have time don't bother. I contracted the selection, feathered it and inversed it and filled it with the background color.

[@maxbridge8921]

Sorry for the delayed reply. Honestly it's been such a long time since I made this video I'm not sure what I did! Sounds like you sorted it though. Glad the video helped

[@DarioVenturini-photography]

Thank you Max, great tips, what is the thickness of acrylic, 3 mm or 5 mm

[@maxbridge8921]

It's useful to have both. 5mm is more rigid of course but both thicknesses are good to have.

[@Hongs.average]

Thanks!! Good information on shooting a bottle. I am learning photography and photoshop 😂 I may try focus stacking one day.

[@Hongs.average]

By the way, it looks pretty nice already -me being new in photography, wondering what hours of hours editing to do if for a commercial shot...more tiny minor imperfection that I barely notice, background and effects?

[@maxbridge8921]

It depends what the client wants. If it's just cleaning and colour matching then it won't take too long. On the other hand the client may want more significant alterations / corrections. I may also want to spend longer doing micro adjustments depending on the final intended usage

[@JamboLinnman]

Many thanks. Would you recommend any particular lens focal length and aperture?

[@maxbridge8921]

For this sort of subject I'd go for anything over 50mm. I have the voigtlander 65mm and would probably be using that or my voigtlander 110mm. In terms of aperture, you should figure out the sweet spot for the lens you're using. That's normally around f5.6 to f8 but have a Google to check. You may then need to focus stack to get everything sharp

[@JamboLinnman]

@@maxbridge8921 many thanks... all of that makes sense. I have 3 really nice Zeiss lenses in that range (55 Otus, 85 Milvus and a 100 Milvus macro) and am used to focus stacking intimate landscape shots. I’m a landscape and nature photographer but am doing a job for a friend’s brewery. This is all really helpful! 👍

[@maxbridge8921]

@@JamboLinnman nice glass! Any of those will do. I'd just choose whichever worked for me in terms of working distance. Depending on the final usage and the camera you're using, I'd shoot a little wider than necessary and crop in. That would allow me to shoot at, or around, the lens sweet spot plus get a little more depth of field by being further away and cropping in, hopefully you can then avoid focus stacking especially if you have multiple to shoot. As I said though depends on the final resolution needed and the resolution of your camera .

[@JamboLinnman]

@@maxbridge8921 Good point, will play around to see. I shoot with a Canon 5DS R (50.6MP) and the images are only for online use so have plenty of leeway! Thanks again.. really good of you.

[@maxbridge8921]

@@JamboLinnman No worries. Yeah I'd definitely crop in if using the 5DS R, no point in making your life more difficult by focus stacking when the images will only be used online.

[@DrejpaPL]

So i need like 1k$ setup of light to do this? Is there any cheaper alternative?

[@maxbridge8921]

You can try using speedlights but you'll still need the modifiers. It will also be a little harder as speedlights don't have modelling lights but it's doable

[@jdib1080]

What monitor are you using for editing?

[@maxbridge8921]

I currently use the NEC PA271Q. It's a little cheaper than the Eizo, I think that's called the CG279X (the latest 27 inch) but supposedly uses the same panel. It's a great monitor. Before that I had a Dell U2410, not great for professional use but ok for those starting out

[@richardbrenyah4357]

Hi you used a polarizer filter on the camera so how come it didn't take the side reflection away. And also what was the purpose of the polarizer on the camera

[@maxbridge8921]

The polarizer on the camera is set to not remove that highlight. It's rotated to a point where it pretty much does nothing to the image other than allowing the cross polarization technique to work with the polarized gel on the light.

[@jdib1080]

Would two 5' 3" stripboxes work for this setup?

[@maxbridge8921]

They sound a little big but you can always use some cloth to block some of the softbox. You'll still need the scrims etc. though

[@jdib1080]

@@maxbridge8921 yeah I have two 35x160 cm stripboxes, but I think it could work

[@ADNZ5442]

Would the Photoshop Class book be a good place to learn?

[@maxbridge8921]

I've never read it I'm afraid so can't say

[@joshhammond3033]

Hey thanks for doing this, it is by far the best tutorial on bottles I have seen. For some reason I just cant get the bootom of the bottle to light up like the top (Im using the same bottle) I was shooting it on the the table rather than having it raised like you suggested though do you think that could be it?

[@maxbridge8921]

Hey Josh. I'd be pretty confident to say yes, that is almost definitely it. If you were completely level with the table, meaning you could barely see the table surface, then maybe not but I imagine you weren't and that is why you've got the issue. I'm not saying you should be level with the table but if you're not raising the bottle, you'll need to be, otherwise the bottom of the bottle will reflect the table. Let me know how it goes next time

[@joshhammond3033]

Ah that makes sense now, I will reshoot it with that technique. Thanks!

[@carlomarchi8611]

I really enjoy your tutorial. It was very interesting due also instructive techniques you taught 👏🏻 how about bad-relief label? Any chance to raise the contrast of label to enhance the readability?

[@maxbridge8921]

Thanks. Can you clarify what a bad-relief label is?

[@carlomarchi8611]

Square Mountain at the level of bottleneck there is the name of beer or brand

[@maxbridge8921]

@@carlomarchi8611 ah I see what you mean. This particular lighting arrangement is quite fixed, obviously to bring that text out more we need to create more contrast with our lights. You could always play around a little with light position and intensity in the current scrim formation and see if that works. Next step would be to try some card, black most likely but maybe a good silver could help. Whatever works it would be an additional image which would then be composited into the final version. Hope that helps

[@prewishjay5581]

will a double diffused softbox have the same effect as the softbox with the plexi glass in front of it?

[@maxbridge8921]

No. A double diffused softbox will just creat an even light with hard edges. You get that nice soft edge glow by creating an uneven, graduated, light.

[@samersaadsaas7776]

I have a question , I'm going to buy two big sheets of opal acrylic because in my country for saving money u should buy the big sheet and take it to other company for cutting it ....one sheet will be 3 mm and the other one 5 mm ... but i don't know the sizes i need ...i will use that for the same products as you do the biggest thing will be a glass of wine or shoes and other will be watches , rings and small stuff .... i need some help please with that , thank you

[@maxbridge8921]

I have a range of sizes each being useful for different purposes. In the video, I think the sheets are close to the dimensions of A1, maybe a little smaller. I also have small 50cm x 50cm sheeets, a3 and a4 sheets. I'd also like to grab some larger sheets, much bigger than A1 but I've not got the room to store them. You don't always want to use a large sheet, especially when working with watches and jewellery where you may only want to work on a very small area of the product. Hence it's useful to have different sizes for different scenarios.

[@53NorthPhotography]

Which acrylic sheet would you recommend: www.trentplastics.co.uk/acrylic-plastic-perspex-sheets/opal-acrylic-perspex-sheets www.trentplastics.co.uk/acrylic-plastic-perspex-sheets/frosted-acrylic-perspex-sheets Thanks Stephen

[@maxbridge8921]

I use the opal stuff

[@53NorthPhotography]

Square Mountain Thanks

[@Dave2Con]

Hey Max, what size sheets do you use for the Opal acrylic?

[@maxbridge8921]

Good question. It's nice to have a range of sizes but the three in the video are 100x75cm. In terms of thickness, I have some 3mm and some 5mm. Useful to have a measuring tape in front of me just as you ask!

[@jkahn923]

Can I do this setup with multiple bottles in one shot? For example a four bottle set up in a small vshape?

[@maxbridge8921]

Yes and no. You could do multiple items but if you're expecting the same result then no. The additional items will change the highlights inside the bottles, they'll all be different. The the black card on the edges won't work for every bottle. If it were me, I'd not use this setup for a multi-bottle image. Use the same principles shown in the video but you'll need to find another way. Unless you just create the look by compositing all the bottles together but personally I don't love that look unless done by a very skilled retoucher.

[@jkahn923]

@@maxbridge8921 Wow thank you so much for the quick, clear, and precise reply. Guess I will ditch this wonderful setup for something more suitable for multi bottle setup. Do you have any videos for reference? I was maybe just using this multi light setup technique found in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHXafZRopr54bpI

[@jkahn923]

Also can I use cross polarization for a multi light setup by geling all key and fill lights with polar gel?

[@maxbridge8921]

@@jkahn923 I've not got a video for this sort of thing but it's the same principles you'll just need to experiment to find what works for your particular bottles. That's always the same way with photography, same techniques modified for a particular scenario. My lighting is always unique, similar techniques but every product is different. Depends on the photography you're doing I suppose, advertising vs Packshots. In terms of cross polarisation. It's a cool technique but it has it's limits. End of the day, if bit doesn't work it's just a small highlight to remove in lost

[@elizabethedwards3687]

Hi Do you ever spritz your bottles?

[@maxbridge8921]

Libby Edwards Hi. Yes I do, all the time. Was there anything you needed to know?

[@elizabethedwards3687]

Hi Yes, what do you use before spritzing(car wax or Krylon clear? Or?

[@maxbridge8921]

I use paint primer, either Matt or gloss. It's not Krylon, don't have that on the UK, but it's similar. I mention it in the 1st part of this video. Hope that helps!

[@abidnego5974]

layers and PS is my kryptonite. i dont get it. ive tried following along in several different tutorials and im completely lost... great video though!!!

[@transikk]

What tick is that screen? I want to order some and there are 3 different tickness to chose from 3 mm 5 mm and 10mm

[@maxbridge8921]

Do you mean the opal acrylic?

[@transikk]

Square Mountain yes I followed your link to that company way cheaper the the stuff from usa but i dont know with tickness would be the best i use speedlights

[@maxbridge8921]

I use all three. The thicker it is the more rigid it will be, depending on the size. I have small 3mm a4 pieces and big a0 10mm pieces. The ones in the video are 5mm.

[@transikk]

Square Mountain thanks

[@naedolor]

You are a good photographer, but your photoshop kung-fu is weaker than mine :)

[@maxbridge8921]

Ha ha! I try but there's always more to learn. Kung Fu film answer "you have insulted my honour, we must fight. Wacoms at dawn!"

[@d.robert998]

Time to go metric, man, let's give up on those inches!

[@maxbridge8921]

Ha ha! Can't help it man

[@jamesnetherian4981]

it's bad photography. I'm sorry.

[@justinzaff]

Thank you , very informative .