shinny to matt finish

[pea3698]

Hey all you photo gurus. I have a quick question for you. The photographer here at work got a new set up. 35 g's worth of new set up. He is now using a flash versus hot lights. I should tell you that I work on photo retouching lamps, chandeliers, . . .

Ok here is the problem. I have a light and in the photo that I was given the finish just looks way to shiny compared to the product sample. I can't freakin get the shinny look to go away. The flash is attached to the camera or I would ask him to please light it at a diff angle for multi shots for me to mask the glare out off. I have tried a dozen different ways and I end up just washing out the product, loosing alot of detail, or just plain out making the image look bad.

Does anyone know of any tips on how to do this, in photoshop...???

[EVPohovich]

Once a photo is shot wrong there is only so much that can be done in PS to correct it. Have the photographer reshoot the photo and move the flash from the hotshoe to another location. If the setup is that good he most definitely has an eTTL flash setup. Time to learn how to use it.

Good luck, and let us see how it turns out.

[pea3698]

Well I satisfied who I needed to satisfy so it is going to stay as is. I'm far from happy but i've been argued with by the photographer and my supervisor so bleh it stays. Anyway, here are the before and after.

Thanks for the comment EVPohovich

before:

after:

[EVPohovich]

Wow, that's a shame. All of the depth is gone, and it barely looks brass now.

As long as the "customer" is happy...

[pea3698]

LOL EVP the fixture isn't brass. The finish is called "French Bronze Finish". The real life item is a fairly dark bronze finish. You should have seen some of the photos that I have corrected when all photography was done in China. That was some horrid stuff. I was actually scanning in finish swatches and laying them over the bases to see any finish at all.

[phil-ray]

i prefer the first picture tell the truth, alot more niceer on the eye, but as EV says as long as the customer is happy thats all that matters

[pea3698]

The first ones finish looks all wrong. The second one is closer finish wise. Shine could use some work.

I think that the background is what may be also making it easier on the eyes but we are silhouetting all of our lights now so they can be on any background. Also the white background makes white shade pop more (even though they are white they actually look a greyish color). Also with the white background we can place copy better in catalogs, allowing for more pieces per page without crowding and in turn means cheaper printing.
Also with a colored background it can make the finishes look off.

[blanius]

Just goes to prove that 35g in gear doesn't make you a photographer. It's knowing how to make a photograph with the gear you do have.

I still sometimes shoot with a 40 year old russian rangefinder camera and get wonderful photos.

I've taken some nice shots with cheap 35 antiques and lousey ones with my Nikon f3.

[ctranter]

Somone has traced round the second on with a black marker no?

[pea3698]

He is a good photographer, just isn't used to the equipment yet. This is the first market that he has been able to use it. So, I have to cut him some slack. Just that everytime I point something out he gets defensive.
He did get a nice set up. He got a Hasselblad body with a really nice digital back. Got lots of bells and whistles as well. He is still waiting on some lighting equipment to come in as well. I was trained with him on the camera and it is a sweet deal.
I think the big thing is that he feels threatened by me. When I came into the company I was a graphic designer, which I am supposed to still be, but they have me do 90% of the photo retouching, which was his job. They also trained me on equipment that he only knew how to use. So he fears job security. I can't come right out and say, " Hey guy, no worries. I have absolutely no interest in photographing product all day everyday. I didn't really want to train on the camera equipment. If they ever tried to make me take the guys job, I would say no. I don't want to be a product photographer."
Don't get me wrong, I love photography and wish I had the time to do more of it, but product photography doesn't interest me. Also I didn't go to school to bloody touch up product or take pretty product photos. I went to school to take the pictures and design collateral with them. Just doesn't work that way right now.

Bah i'm starting to ramble.