What is the best way to shoot Granite Countertops??

Hello Everyone!!
I am a very novice photographer, I have a Canon xTi 10.1 megapixel, an external flash and a Tameron zoom lens. Thats it for my equipment. I love to shoot everything from nature to children/people etc.. I have been asked to shoot at a friend's wedding (I'm doing it for free as a gift) I'm very nervous I want to do a great job but I have been suddenly asked to shoot Granite Countertops for a marketing brochure from a private home (I don't know the people but I was brought up from word of mouth). What is the best way to shoot Granite without a glare but to get the best shot overall? They have this in several rooms. Also same thing...suddenly and word of mouth I have been asked to shoot Candy Baskets for a Candy shop again for marketing. Any ideas on that and what should I charge for both of these jobs? I've looked into a stock calculater site prices ranged from $245 to $500.00+ again I'm NOVICE should I charge less? and what should they get for it? PLEASE HELP...it's all coming up soon. Thanks for READING One more thing any ideas on business cards/templates/wording? I know I just asked ALOT thank you

Claudia this is a nature photographers site, you might want to widen your search on the web. But I am sue somebody might be able to help you here.

yes, I know and thanks...just thought I would give it a try because I saw alot of different questions that pertained to me that were answered...so if anyone still knows that would be great. By the way Jody, Breathtaking photos!!!! I was in Colorado last summer loved it!

You need a polarizer, some good studio lights, and a very solid understanding of how to use the studio lights. I'd even polarize the lights too.


Kent in SD

Thanks Kent...I just learned something new. I did research on your ideas. Apppreciate it!
Claudia

Hi Claudia,

We do quite a bit of this kind of ad work, and countertops can get complicated fast due to reflections. Kent has introduced that point by recommending polarizers. As a novice you're not likely to have access to, or know how to use, the studio lights that would make the job a lot more controllable, and potentially easier. But I'd hold off on the polarizers till you had a chance to see if you can control reflections without them. That's because you have to balance the need to eliminate stray reflections while helping emphasize the sheen or glow on the granite. Polarizers are likely to take that away along with the stray reflections, leaving the countertops looking dull and even rough.

That means not only controlling the direction of your light sources relative to the angle of view from the camera, but also the size of the light source. While a bare strobe will give comparatively small, even tiny, reflections, huge soft boxes are likely to give the kind of glow you need. You can't be expected to spend thousands on commercial lights (even tens of thousands) and huge soft boxes, but you can manage "large" light sources by doing things like hanging bed sheets between your lights and the subject.

Sounding pretty complicated? It's really not once you have an idea what's going on. You should go to The Strobist and do some reading, and things will fall into place for you- especially the possibilities for using small camera-mount strobes rather than the big stuff we use.

You'll get into some "engineering" challenges when shooting the countertops, but it can be done with experimenting and paying attention to detail. The candy baskets will be pretty easy and straight forward because they're smaller. I'd start with them if at all possible. Advice for that kind of shooting is also at The Strobist.

But AT ALL COSTS I'd do some practice shooting at home to get things figured out before you try to work in front of clients. They'll want to be helpful, but in truth they'll be worse than distracting--- the last thing you need when you're just starting out. If you've done the work at least once at home, it will come easier on the job site and you'll look more like a pro.

And on the subject of being pro, I would not charge them amateur rates under any circumstances. You shouldn't take on the job without the expectation that you can turn out good work, and for that you should be paid like a pro. After all, you're worth it! If you can't deliver on the job, it's much better to help them find a pro, especially one you can help and learn from. But if time allows and you work at it, I bet you can do the work yourself.

As for rates, we charge by the hour but have enough experience to be able to estimate or quote pretty close to how much time a job will actually take. If pressed for a flat fee, we base that on our own estimate of how long a job will take, but expressed as a final price including time for post-processing work. And our hourly rate is similar to other professionals such as accountants, lawyers and architects, if that will help you develop rates for your own region and economy. You ARE a pro now (believe it or not!), and should be paid like your peers.

I like to photograph stones, but I wouldn't take them for granite.

Hi again Claudia,

It occurred to me that I should come back and talk a bit more about the prospect of recommending the client(s) find another shooter if you're not quite up to the work yet. Doing such a thing is VERY professional on your part. The client should really respect your professionalism for speaking up when a job is outside your reach, especially when you follow it up with efforts to help them find the right shooter for the job.

They'll remember you for your honesty and greatly appreciate your help in solving their problem. The most recent example of a similar process in our business is highlighted in this thread over in NPN's digital topics. We could easily have skinned the client for a lot of shooting, when we neither wanted to do the work nor felt our services were needed. Instead I helped him work out an alternate solution using "surveillance" camera gear.

He was so happy with our help that he offered to pay for the time we invested in research, then proposed a bunch of alternate shooting that he really needed but hadn't figured he could afford on top of the hourly shots. For our honesty in not taking the shoot and meanwhile helping the client, we came out with a friend for life along with shooting that was more in line with our capabilities and interests. With a tab big enough to cover a year's mortgage payments!

Bottom line, there really are some great folks out there who will value your honesty and hard work. And quite frankly, folks that don't value such service are beneath your consideration as clients.

I like to photograph stones, but I wouldn't take them for granite.

Great post! It's gneiss to see something useful instead of the same ol' schist.

Thanks for all your input Hank!! I will be taking all if it into consideration. The people that know me that suggested me in the first place know my photography already and that I consider myself a novice "still" and probably for a long time. I make sure that people know that I'm still learning. So we'll see. I will be practicing all the techniques and ideas. Thanks again

I wouldn't be too afraid of the candy baskets. Bouncing flash will go a long ways to making that work without a formal studio lighting setup. You'll probably have to practice a bit at home, but with some creativity and thought, that should be doable.

The granite countertops... I have no ideas about shooting that. The only practical advice I can give is to observe that you probably already know someone with grantie countertops installed. See if you can borrow their kitchen for a few hours to try to work out a shooting strategy. If you can't pull it off in a friend's kitchen under no pressure, than trying it front of a client will be a disaster. You may have to buy pizza for your friend since they probably won't be able to cook while you are there.

Also, if you have a Border's or Barnes and Noble nearby, go there and read everything you can get your hands on that might be relevant (studio lighting, product light, photographic creativity, etc)

Last, the suggestion for looking at strobist.com is a good one. There is a lot which you can accomplish with minimal equipment.

Thanks Dan. Love your Black and Whites!!!!!

Here's an inspiration that may help simplify your counter shots, Claudia, provided the point of the shooting is the countertops themselves more than the "setting" showing them in a broad view of the whole kitchen:

Props! Put an interesting kitchen object such as a knife block, bowl of fruit, a couple of eggs and a bowl and whisk, etc on the counter. Maybe even a very attractive apple pie, if the client's mind runs toward amplifying the cozy home angle. Then frame tightly to show it and it's reflection on the countertop.

The more tightly you can frame your shots, the less issues you'll have with stray reflections. While a shot of the whole kitchen gets complicated fast, narrower views with props will probably require no more equipment or skills than you have now.

In my original response my mind gravitated insantly to problem solving the most difficult large "scenic" view, when in fact your job may not even require it. My bad! I'd confur with the client to determine their vision for the shots and go from there.

Hank....you're just full of great ideas and alot of help! This will already be in a home that's lived in, I will discuss what is expected of the shot. All the ideas really provide a good foundation for me.

Claudia, those black and whites were shot with a hot-shoe flash and off camera cord. What I did was get some black velvet for the background and laid that and the flowers on a table.

I surrounded that with a lot of white foamcore and then shot it with the flash unit from a lot of different angles until I began to get a feel for where the shadows were coming from. Additional foamcore, or moving already existing foamcore, completed the picture. Essentially, I built a lighting tent with foamcoare and made sure that the flash was never pointed directly at the subject. The first one took me about 3-4 hours to work out the shadows and the last ones were maybe 15 minutes.

Don't forget that a white ceiling also makes a great reflector.

You can probably do something similar with candy baskets, depending on their size.

By the way, a microwave strategically placed my go far towards eliminating hotspots on a granite countertop. You'll still need to check to make sure you didn't make the problem work - the appliance might be worse for reflections.

Dan...how big was your lighting tent? I'm assuming the smaller it is the more light bounces. What a great idea though. Very creative.

My lighting "tent" was about 2 - 21/2 feet wide, where the subject was, about 36-40 inches long (top to bottom), depending on piece and orientation of foamcore I picked up, with left, right and and sometimes top and bottom being about a foot. Again, the last was scrap foamcore.

The sides were supported by piles of books and duct tape , or sometimes by building a "fort" of foamcore, where it supported itself. Yes, it wasn't a real stable configuration, but it worked.

I generally aimed the flash towards the foamcore or sometimes towards the ceiling, or sometimes towards foamcore held about halfway to the ceiling.

The key here was to bounce the light and use a white surface as a giant softbox. To see some of the effects, shoot something shiny (pocket change works), but aim the flash unit towards the ceiling. Compare the image with placing the flash unit on the hotshoe and repeating the shot exactly (tripod). Next, place something white next to the sides of the object, and repeat the shot. Add more reflective surfaces, move them around, and otherwise play with the setup. Assuming that you are shooting digital, just keep moving things around and see what happens.

This next suggestion probably won't help with a candybox, but for some other objects, such as flowers in a vase, can help. Place a reflector, or white surface, below the object you are shooting. It will help lighten the shadows than can form below the subject.

Even something non-reflective, like a cheap Hummel-knockoff, will work.

Secondary exercise: A willing model. Just keep moving the light, bouncing the light.

This is actually a good exercise in general, to help you see what light will do to a subject. It has certainly helped my macro bug work.