Taking gear pics like Bulb?

[Decon87]

Hey guys, this ones for all you photography buffs out there.

I've got a Canon Rebel EOS T3i camera, while not top of the line I think it should be suitable for this. I was wondering what Bulb does to his gear pics to make them look so damn good? Is it a filter, special lens, way he focuses, etc?

I've noticed in his pics that it seems like he likes to really focus the foreground and keep the background blurry, making use of depth of field. I've also noticed his picture almost have a washed out greyish look to them that somehow makes the subject really pop? How would I achieve this?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Some examples below:

 

[ThePhilosopher]

There is definitely good lighting (it looks to be diffuse and fairly soft in most of the examples you've shown, but strong) and the DOF isn't as shallow as you'd think (definitely not f/1.8).

In post, I'm guessing there is some sharpening/clarity and moving the black point to be a very dark grey (curves, levels, or any of the other methods to do this) among other possible things.

 

[Philligan]

There is definitely good lighting (it looks to be diffuse and fairly soft in most of the examples you've shown, but strong) and the DOF isn't as shallow as you'd think (definitely not f/1.8).

In post, I'm guessing there is some sharpening/clarity and moving the black point to be a very dark grey (curves, levels, or any of the other methods to do this) among other possible things.

This. It looks like he does a mild S curve with the tone curve (that's really easy to google and see what's happening) and he's also lifting the blacks (google "crushed blacks" to learn about that). I find the S curve with a lifted black point seems to really make the mid tones stick out, and since most of your colours are mid tones, it makes them pop more.

I'm guessing he's pulling the whites down in the tone curve, too (basically the same idea as lifting the black point to grey, only pulling the white point down to grey).

There's nothing fancy going on. He has a neutral coloured couch near a big window for soft light, and has what looks like a pretty standard preset he keeps going to. The only real secret here is learning how to position the guitar so the light falls on it nicely but you don't get too many reflections in the clear coat.

 

[Decon87]

There is definitely good lighting (it looks to be diffuse and fairly soft in most of the examples you've shown, but strong) and the DOF isn't as shallow as you'd think (definitely not f/1.8).

In post, I'm guessing there is some sharpening/clarity and moving the black point to be a very dark grey (curves, levels, or any of the other methods to do this) among other possible things.

Which setting do you think would be best for the f-number? The lowest my camera currently goes is f/4.0. Think this'll do the trick?

This. It looks like he does a mild S curve with the tone curve (that's really easy to google and see what's happening) and he's also lifting the blacks (google "crushed blacks" to learn about that). I find the S curve with a lifted black point seems to really make the mid tones stick out, and since most of your colours are mid tones, it makes them pop more.

I'm guessing he's pulling the whites down in the tone curve, too (basically the same idea as lifting the black point to grey, only pulling the white point down to grey).

There's nothing fancy going on. He has a neutral coloured couch near a big window for soft light, and has what looks like a pretty standard preset he keeps going to. The only real secret here is learning how to position the guitar so the light falls on it nicely but you don't get too many reflections in the clear coat.

So most of his photo style doesn't exactly come from taking the actual picture but the editing he does afterwards? And playing with the tone curve and lifting blacks, I'm assuming that can be done in Photoshop?

 

[7 Strings of Hate]

So we've reached a point that people not only want to copy his music, but also his photos? Good stuff.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

Which setting do you think would be best for the f-number? The lowest my camera currently goes is f/4.0. Think this'll do the trick?

You mean your lens? DOF depends on a number of factors and f-stop is only one component, so I really cannot answer your question.

So most of his photo style doesn't exactly come from taking the actual picture but the editing he does afterwards? And playing with the tone curve and lifting blacks, I'm assuming that can be done in Photoshop?

Yes, there are plenty of tools available in Photoshop to do just this - the curves adjustment layer is probably the easiest way to go about doing this.

By the sound of it, you should really focus on getting to know your equipment and how it reacts to different situations (lighting, distance, camera/lens settings) as well as your post-production tools.

This video has an excellent tool for understanding the tools available to you in Photoshop (check the link in the description for the PSD file): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-DPJ-UuguQ

 

[Decon87]

So we've reached a point that people not only want to copy his music, but also his photos? Good stuff.

Valuable input. I have no interest in copying his music though. These are nicely stylized photos that show off the subject well, and since I do plenty of selling online having good looking photos is a definite plus. I've always had problems with too much contrast in my photos which hid a lot of the detail and this seems to do away with that problem.

You mean your lens? DOF depends on a number of factors and f-stop is only one component, so I really cannot answer your question.

Not too sure. I'm still very new to this but when taking a picture my camera has a bunch of settings you can play with including one that says "F_._" where the underscores are numbers that change as you turn a wheel. I'll have to glance at the manual.

Yes, there are plenty of tools available in Photoshop to do just this - the curves adjustment layer is probably the easiest way to go about doing this.

By the sound of it, you should really focus on getting to know your equipment and how it reacts to different situations (lighting, distance, camera/lens settings) as well as your post-production tools.

This video has an excellent tool for understanding the tools available to you in Photoshop (check the link in the description for the PSD file): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-DPJ-UuguQ

Awesome, thank you so much for the resources! I'll definitely take a look at the video.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

Not too sure. I'm still very new to this but when taking a picture my camera has a bunch of settings you can play with including one that says "F_._" where the underscores are numbers that change as you turn a wheel. I'll have to glance at the manual.

Awesome, thank you so much for the resources! I'll definitely take a look at the video.

I wasn't actually asking (cameras don't have apertures , lenses do). You should probably shoot RAW as well to minimize the artifacts you could introduce in post-processing.

The manual isn't going to describe the nuances that go into DOF. You'll have to consider things you can control such as: camera-subject distance, subject-background distance, focal length, and aperture.

I get you're just starting out and want to take photos that have a certain look, but until you at least understand how your camera works providing information about post-processing isn't going to help much.

 

[7 Strings of Hate]

Valuable input. I have no interest in copying his music though. These are nicely stylized photos that show off the subject well, and since I do plenty of selling online having good looking photos is a definite plus. I've always had problems with too much contrast in my photos which hid a lot of the detail and this seems to do away with that problem.

I'm just joshin ya man