Creative Testing
Testing is an important part of a photographer’s creative development. It offers an opportunity to explore new ways of looking at something, or lighting it in a different way. It’s about finding out what works and what doesn’t. It is also a lot of fun to work on a project with no set brief, a blank canvas so to speak. Creative freedom is always a challenge.
With our studio now settled in Collingwood Ontario, I was looking for a local product that had a connection to the Community. That first test subject turned out to be Canadian Mist Distillery’s launch of a new whisky – Collingwood Double Barrel Whisky. The first instalment in “The Town Collection.”
After considerable study of the bottle I decided to view it from a lower perspective to offer some stature and place it on a solid textured wood.
I kept the background dark with a subtle warm glow behind the bottle to help it stand tall and proud.
For my vision of the final image I broke it down to eight separate elements, all lit differently and combined in Photoshop to create one unique image. In addition there was retouching to blend all the elements and repair any defects in the bottle and labels.
1) Bottle liquid content
2) The main label
3) The bottle edge hi-lite
4) Top seal
5) Top hi-lite left
6) Top hi-lite right
7) Main background
8) Wood
The final result has to appear natural to the viewer as a single image.
