A lovely day out at the Focus on Imaging Show yesterday ended with a half hour masterclass on product photography with photographer Karl Taylor - thought I might pick up some tips for my own products. The product here is a bottle of whiskey, placed on a glossy acrylic sheet.    

Preparing the Equipment

The background light

 

The whiskey on the acrylic sheet with the background light

 

The main light is behind the white screen, creating a soft light

 

A tracing paper screen softening the main light

 

The 3rd light, a mini spot, with Karl Taylor taking test shots

Needless to say, I don't have this sort of kit (or a Hasselblad camera!), but it was interesting to see how the whole effect was put together, piece by piece. The attention to detail was amazing. The end result incredible - sorry, no image of the finished shoot, but you can find out more about Karl Taylor here Now I need to apply some of this to photographing my greeting cards and pictures...