Floating Cosmetics Splash Shot

Combining carefully controlled lighting and meticulous attention to detail, Karl creates a high-end ad-style splash shot of a bottle of Chanel moisturising cream.

Starting at the beginning and guiding you through the whole process, Karl explains his planning and pre-visualisation before going on to build up his studio set and lighting.

This product photography class covers the necessary tools and techniques you need to capture a pro-level liquid splash shot like this.

 

In this class:

  • Product photography: How to photograph cosmetics
  • Product photography tips
  • How to photograph splashing liquids
  • How to create composite images
  • The best lenses for product photography
  • Useful tools and equipment for studio photography

To watch Karl edit and retouch this image, check out Floating Cosmetics Splash Shot | Post-Production.

Comments

  1. Hey Karl,

    Great video. Really loved this one. Quick question:

    When you started seeing the floor and had the bounce mirror in the shot my first thought would be to use a longer lens(maybe the 120/150mm) and back up. Is there a reason you did not do that? Perspective shift would require light position adjustments? Or other potential issues I am not thinking about?

    1. Hi Luigi, it depends in what context, if it doesn’t have a fast flash duration and you are wanting to do work like this then yes. If you are wanting to use if for other work then no.

  3. Hey Karl,

    I was working on a shot where water from a watering can was being poured over an all-weather boot and I had a bit of trouble getting a shot where the drops where sharp (most had motion blur). I was shooting tethered with a with a Canon Mark IV at F11, 100ISO and the fastest shutter speed possible with flash which I believe was 160 or 200. Lighting wise, I used a Profoto Acute 2400 kit. Would I need to shoot with stronger packs such as the Profoto 8a’s? Is there anything else I can do?

    1. Hi Chris, it depends on the relative amount of movement, so for example it is the amount of distance of travel of the moving subject across your composition/frame. In this instance it was high as I was very close in, so I’d expect it to be 1/4000th (t0.1) or faster for this sort of shot.

  5. Hi Karl,

    Great show again! I feel I’m learning a lot.

    The Skrim you use, Home made obviusly. What size is it? What size do you think would suit someone with a small home studio?? would 1.5m x 1m be enough or would it be like a soft box? (bigger the box the softer the light)

    1. Hi Tiaan, I use scrims from 1m x 1m to 5m x 2m so the biggest you can fit in your space and use will be the best option.

  6. Hi Karl very nice explanation of this tutorial.
    I want to ask a question Is every product shot a gradient is necessary for it and the importance of gradient in the product shot?
    Thanks

    1. Hi Akansh, it’s mostly important on glossy or reflective objects, on matt objects it’s not so important.

  7. I have been looking for information like this for a long time! I can’t wait to try this out. So incredibly helpful, thank you!

  8. Karl,
    do you ever use the Scoros’ incredible recycle rate of 10-50 frames a second when you do these liquid/action shots? I’ve noticed you usually just take 1 shot whether it be by the miops/triggersmart or just your timing and reflexes. Ever use a burst?
    Thanks in advance

    1. Hi Nicholas, no unfortunately I don’t as the medium format cameras can only shoot about 1 photo per second. If I switched to the fastest 35mm camera then it might be an option.

      1. Ah yes, I forgot about that. I wonder if there is any light “bleed” or “leftover” light from previous flash bursts when shooting at very high burst rates. That question was clear as mud i’m sure…..thanks for the reply Karl.

        1. Hi Nicholas, there wouldn’t be any leftover flash bleed as each burst of flash is 1/2000th of a second or faster.

  9. Hi Karl,

    I want make a portfolio with some comercial products and show it in my web. Can i got problems if this photos show the product brand?

    Thank You

    1. Hi Justiniano, brands will usually only have a problem with it if they don’t like the way their brand is being represented.

      1. Neri

        Hi Karl,
        you talked about this in a couple of videos/shows. But you never explained what could happen if the brand would have any problems. Maybe that might be interesting for a lot of people here, especially if starting out and not having talked to a lawyer yet about that.
        Thanks

  10. Hello there Karl. I have a two part question for you about this shoot

    1. did you choose the flat pieces of acrylic vs round tubes to stop from having specular highlights that you get from shooting roundish objects or just strictly for rigidity??

    2. How did you fasten the two flat parts together to make the T bar that you have? Just simply hot glue or did the sign manufacturer do it for you?

    Thank you for your time!

    Also this was a super tutorial I am loving all of them so far!

    1. Hi Rodrigo, 1. Strictly for rigidity. 2. The sign manufacturer did this but i’m sure you could hot glue it yourself.

  11. Super training, very detailed and got’s some very simple and extremely useful tips in it.
    Just yet another top level video from my inspiration to becoming a product photographer.
    Thx Karl, you rock!

  12. Hi Karl, can you tell a little more about the Frosted Acrylic. I think I have found the right material where I live in the Netherlands. Can you please advise if its the left or right one your using and if yours is 3mm thick as well? What size would you recommend on getting for these type of shoots.

    I am doubting on getting either this material for background purposes or the diffusion material that your using as well. This one seems an easier solution in terms of setup.

    Cheers.

      1. Hi Goodfella, it looks like the one on the right side of the photo is the correct one but it is hard to tell from the picture. 5mm is better. I use lots of different sheet sizes for different jobs. As you would have noticed in this video the sheet size was quite large even for a small product so that I can keep the background further away so go with as large as like. For this one it was probably 1m x 1.5m.

  14. and this one as well,

    Chanel No.5 Perfume Week

    as you can see im a Still Life Photogrpaher in NYC, & my inetrest is in Still Life only.

    Thanks.

    1. Hi Yechiel, we undertook 3 shoots for the Channel products, the first shoot will be published in December. The second should be at the end of December or early January and the other cosmetic shots i’m still shooting so should be January or early Feb. I understand that you are interested only in the product shoots but we also have to produce and publish a range of content to satisfy all of our members. I also recently did a live product sunglasses and and another on wine that you might enjoy if you didn’t see them already, you will find these in the live shows section. Cheers Karl.

      1. Hi Karl.

        A quick question. I have seen few videos where you glue the product, so after the photoshoot would you discard both the product and the stand ?

        Sometime, client asks me to return the product.. so if glued it may not be in original condition to return right?

        Thanks

        Regards
        Venu

        1. Hi, this type of glue comes off very easily and then simply clean with methylated spirits and it’s as good as new

Leave a Comment