Black Leather Coach Handbag = Awesome!

New Inspiration

Tonight, as I was cleaning out my studio, I came across several photo books from previous years sitting in a box that had almost been forgotten. I took a quick break to look through it for some new inspiration and found several pages of interest. Realizing that my lovely wife has a very nice black Coach purse (given to her as a gift ’cause we sure can’t afford it!), I had an idea and after dinner, and spending some quality time with Traci, I headed back into my studio as she headed for bed. I had to try this idea before I could sleep!

Sculpting the Right Light

I knew for this particular set I wanted a hard light with a wrap around fill. Up to now, I had been shooting mostly with soft light and I really wanted something with more punch and definition. I took off my 2′x2′ Elinchrom softbox and replaced it with a 7″reflector with a 20 grid spot and used my second  Elinchrom 2′x2′ softy on the other side for the wrap around fill. I then pulled down some white seemless and taped it to my product table to get a nice gradation from white to gray to black.

With the lighting pretty much set, I began to concentrate on getting the product looking right in camera. After a few test shots, I felt that it was lacking a little life so I started to add some supporting props. I really was getting bored with just a plain white background and wanted something a bit different so I pulled out my aluminum power briefcase and placed it under the purse to give some texture. I felt that it gave the handbag a little more character, as if the owner was about to embark on a power lunch sales call. I added in some sunglasses and an iPhone for good measure. (pics below)

Coach purse with briefcase underneath for texture and depth. Image© Chad Jackson | Jackson Visuals

Coach purse with briefcase, sunglasses and iPhone. Image© Chad Jackson | Jackson Visuals

Pictured with additional props: sunglasses, iPhone, altoid mints, and a few business cards. Image© Chad Jackson | Jackson Visuals

Eliminating Distractions

After toying around with the props for a few minutes, I realized that the image was starting to become more about the props and less about the main product… this wonderful black Coach handbag! I cut all the extras, save the briefcase ’cause I really liked the texture I was getting from the ribbed panel. Then, in a bold and brave move… I released the camera from the tripod and started just shooting the handbag from different angles. Sometimes I can get so locked into getting things perfectly squared up and aligned just right (perhaps that’s my architectural side coming out), I forget that it’s about MAKING pictures, not taking pictures. I wasnt getting any feel or emotion being stuck on iron stick.

As soon as I was free from that restriction, I started to find my groove again and fired off a series of shots that looked pretty close to what I was after. A few more snaps and I felt that I had it as close as I was going to get it for tonight anyway.

Post Touchups and Workflow

If you have followed my posts before, you may remember that when I shoot in studio, I always try to shoot tethered into Adobe Lightroom. My 20″ cinema display beats the heck out of a 3″ LCD on the back of my Canon 5d! Plus, it really reduces the time in transferring all the images from my shoot, when I’m done shooting, Im ready to rock n’ roll in LR.

I quickly sorted through the keepers and the losers. For this set, there were certainly more losers than keepers, but I did find a few. I made my global corrections including clarity, vibrance, and saturation along with tonal curves and increasing the blacks a touch. After getting them prepped, I then made a virtual copy of the two that I felt like best represented my original vision for this product… kind of a throw back 1930’s Hollywood look with a twist. I made a few different virtual copies to experiment with, then decided on the final two for my selects. Below are the two finished images I came up with.

Image one of two. Black leather handbag from Coach leatherworks. Image ©Chad Jackson | Jackson Visuals

Image two of two. Black leather handbag from Coach leatherworks. Image ©Chad Jackson | Jackson Visuals

What do You Think?

I think my favorite is image number two and feel like it best represents my original vision for this shoot. What do you think?

So there is another example of my creative workflow. If you have any questions or would like to comment on any of my images or workflow, please feel free to do so by using the comment form below. If you have suggestions for future photo content, or have questions regarding studio lighting, send me your questions and I’ll do my best to answer them and maybe even feature your question in a future blog post. And don’t forget to signup for our new E-Photo updates and newsletter. About once a month I send out an update email with a highlight of my most recent photos so be sure to signup to get the latest from Jackson Visuals.

Thanks!
Chad Jackson | Jackson Visuals

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 7:20 am and is filed under Creative Articles, Photography Portfolios. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.