These are some of the tables we photographed showcasing the incredible talent of the florists and linen suppliers we have the pleasure to work with. The photo shoot took place at Rancho Las Lomas, one of our favorite all around venues.
Since these table shoots are not real events, the location for each table is decided by the florist and us. Sometimes they win, and we have to make a difficult location work, as you can see in this first photo below This table is under a pergola that creates a harsh zebra shadowing effect. The easiest way to fix that is with translucent panels as shown a few images down.
Here we’re in partial shadow from the large trees around as you can see on the white cushion. With this subject matter it’s not a problem. Still, in order to allow the background to go a little darker we added a little warm reflected light. A shallow depth of field and a long focal length help separate the subject from the background.
Close ups are as important as overall views. Readers want to see detail. You probably wouldn’t see tables so elaborately decorated at a real wedding or event, but these “concept” tables, like concept cars at a car show, help the client see all that’s possible so they can chose the elements that they would like for their event.
With jewelry, there are always reflection problems, so we built a set and used translucent panels to block as many reflections as possible and to reflect light from the medium Chimera box to the front. These were shot with a 105 Macro and a pretty small f. stop. When shooting close ups, you’ll lose depth of field much more rapidly than if your subject is further away, so stoping down is important. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without plenty of light from the 800 W Dyna-lite flash and soft box.
