video: episode 21, small product problem solving in the studio
July 14, 2008 – 12:15 amWhat do all successful photographers have in common? They’re problem solvers. When faced with a challenge they conjure up solutions, using experience and creative thought as a guide. Whether it’s a photojournalist seeking access to a story, a portrait photographer with a difficult client or a commercial shooter with a troublesome product, they all face challenges head on and deliver the goods.
Back in the hills we used to say “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”. That just means there’s more than one solution to a challenge. Today’s video uses a simple setup to illustrate one situation with three possible solutions. Yes, sometimes there are alternatives to “just fixing it in Photoshop”. 
Speaking of problem solving, today’s video is being served up by a new host: Vimeo. Let me know what you think. The video is larger and of higher quality so I’m very pleased. There have been increasing difficulties with YouTube so I hope this works out to be a better solution.
A gallery of still images from this video may be viewed here.
Subscribers view video here:
Don’t have a polarizer? For a great selection Shop Calumet Photographic - It’s Where the Pros Go. And a reminder for anyone considering studio strobe lighting: Calumet is running their super special $169.99 pricing on the Genesis 200 1-Light Kit
at least through the end of this month (July). The Genesis 200 2-Light Kit
is currently just $339.99 (you also get free shipping with any Calumet order over $75). I can honestly say it’s a great deal, I’ve been very happy with mine.
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26 Responses to “video: episode 21, small product problem solving in the studio”
Vimeo rocks! It played right away without a hitch on my macbook laptop with safari 3.1.1.
By Jason Phillips on Jul 14, 2008
really good video. Well made in the end with the comparisons!
During the video I was yelling POLARIZER POLARIZER inside myself the whole time and then it finally came
Keep up the good work!
By Dennis on Jul 14, 2008
Hey Dennis, you’ve inspired me to create the “prophotolife photo mysteries”, trying to hide the surprise answer till the end (oops, the POLARIZER did it!).
Glad the video plays well!
By Jim Talkington on Jul 14, 2008
Hi Jim! Another great video from you. Vimeo for me runs much better as YouTube and the quality of the video is also better i think. Thanks for all your work.
By Andre on Jul 14, 2008
I come back after a few days and… everything is changed! Looove the Vimeo quality, and of course, the video itself. A question about polarizers: I used to use one when doing cemetery photography (blue sky thing) and just grabbed a filter that said “polarizer”. Now I need one for my new lens and popping over to Calumet… there’s circular, linear, warming… is there a huge difference between them and what type did you use for this instance?
Great tip on the wearing of black, too; I never really thought about it when doing shoots like this, or where you might reflect into something. I just started wearing neon pink… but I’m generally out in the middle of a field in the high noon sun.
By elzora on Jul 14, 2008
Vimeo worked for me. So photographers wear black, eh? I’ll have to get more black clothes.
How long does it usually take you to make these videos? Do you have someone helping with the camera? For some reason I thought a blooper tape might be kinda funny to see.
By Craig Lee on Jul 14, 2008
Thanks Jim. I appreciate the way you walk through the problems you face in everyday situations. I’m learning quite a bit, especially with your attention to detail. I wouldn’t have thought to put the reflector in the photo for the metal on the watch.
Also, the vimeo video is much better.
By John Brainard on Jul 14, 2008
Hi Jim,
While you’re trying out new ways to post your video it would be cool to be able to subscribe and download a podcast version I could watch on the move.
By Steve on Jul 14, 2008
After months learning through your videos, I decided to write something. Mainly to say thank you for all experience you are sharing with the community and also for the legitime interest to improve the collective knowledge, which makes our world better.
Best Regards,
Marcos Semola
http://www.s4photo.co.uk
http://www.semola.com.br/s4p.html
By Marcos Semola on Jul 14, 2008
Jim:
Once again another excellent video presentation. While you’ve suggested 3 possible fixes for the glare on the watch face, would it usually make more sense to “fix” problems in pre-production rather than in post-production? In this particular exercise, I’m sure you spent a lot less time using the Polarizer than you did taking additional images and then pasting them together using Photoshop.
I know that some of us that shoot in RAW format use the format as a crutch to a great image, knowing that more than likely, any problems can be fixed in Photoshop or other post-production software.
By the way, the new video rendering engine, Vidmeo does a great job in replaying your video!
Can we expect more videos using Vidmeo? Might it also be possible to republish earlier videos using Vidmeo?
Any comments on Vidmeo?
Keep up the great work! I just can’t get enough of your videos!
By Jim Strenk on Jul 14, 2008
I want to sincerely thank everyone for the comments, it means a lot. Marcos, thanks for joining in…you have a beautiful portfolio, btw. Steve, another great website (check it out). Let me see if Vimeo can help me facilitate the podcasts.
Vimeo looks like a big hit and I’m soooo glad. YouTube was getting frustrating for different reasons. Vimeo is a great experience from my end: easy upload and a great, informative interface. Two thumbs up.
Jim, I’m old school, I like to do everything in-camera. I hope that people watching the video decide that’s a pretty good way to go, too.
Craig, I do 95% of the videos by myself, using a remote to control the camera. I started out that way with the stick-in-a-can video and have found it’s actually faster and easier than coordinating and directing other people (at least for now). I have a system that lets me get a video done in a blur of activity, taking from 3 - 6 hours to complete from start to upload. And yes, there are bloopers. Man, are there bloopers.
I’m really happy you guys so appreciate thinking through situations (thanks, John). In the last year I’ve had young assistants tell me “just tell me what to do” instead of trying to think through a situation. Seriously.
Elzora! The short story is all polarizers have the same degree of final polarizing effect. Warming polarizers warm (landscapes only, I’d think), linear polarizers were used on older, simpler cameras and circular polarizers are necessary for autofocus and modern-metering cameras to work accurately (because of mirror functions). So circular is really the way to go with modern cameras. And, of course, they’re more expensive. I still use linear polarizers with manual focus and exposing by histogram and they work just fine.
By Jim Talkington on Jul 14, 2008
That was quite a mouthful there Jim!
I was curious about how you did the videos. You’ll have to put together a bloopers video sometime. I’m sure I’m not the only one that would love to see that.
You gotta wonder where those assistants are going to end up. I’ve worked with musicians in Church that insisted on having full scores. They were never taught to improvise or create. It made it very difficult to work with them as they weren’t very flexible. I imagine it’s the same thing in studio photography, or any photography or art… There are those who can do the standard stuff real good but can’t improvise and create new things. I hope I don’t find myself in that position too much.
By John Brainard on Jul 14, 2008
Ooo! Bloopers! I’ll toss my vote in for those! Thanks for the info on the polarizers… as soon as I hit “Submit Comment” I had a V-8 moment and realized, hi blondie, it’s the internet go forth and research. So I did, I’m just glad I’m not the only one that thinks they’re expensive! But, on a $1K lens, what’s another 100, 200?
Are these assistants and musicians coming straight from a school? (You know I’m going to ask.) And is it a lack of skill in thinking things through and exploring or a lack of desire to? I mean, MacGyver didn’t wake up MacGyver.
But, yes, bloopers! And Tupperware!
By elzora on Jul 15, 2008
Jim,
What is your preferred method? The post production in Photoshop or using a polarizer? I think the Photoshop image looks cleaner and a sharper, whereas the other image is more natural looking and certainly faster to shoot. Which one would you send to a client?
Btw, Vimeo is much faster and better quality. Thanks.
By Mike C on Jul 15, 2008
Mike, I’m glad you asked that question. I think the Photoshop method gives more control and (as you’ve pointed out) a cleaner and sharper final image. So that’s the route I would go for an advertising photo.
If this job entailed shooting fifty watches that would only be shown on the web at small size then we’d probably go the polarizer route. It would be faster, fully adequate and more profitable for the studio.
This question highlights an important part of our business, a question we ask ourselves daily: what’s the best way to do this job for both the client and ourselves? That’s where effective problem solving comes into play.
By Jim Talkington on Jul 15, 2008
The new video format looks good.
You also mentioned using polarizers for glare on cars and bikes; I stumbled across that this weekend and was surprised how well it works.
By Matthew Botos on Jul 16, 2008
Hi Jim,
Just wanted to say thank you for all your video’s and emails. They have helped me out so much. Keep up the amazing work.
Thanks again
Tyler
By Tyler L on Jul 17, 2008
speaking of bloopers, you showed the pictures out of order, based on the time on the watch.
yes, I am THAT kind of geek that notices things like that.
you really don’t want to watch an action movie with me, trust me
but, I like the new video thing, and good subject
By Bill Rhodes on Jul 17, 2008
Ahhh, Bill, you’re the news photographer at work! I like it. You’ll enjoy tomorrow’s “around the net” post because I mention Weegee.
As for the photos being out of order, you nailed it. If you were to sync up the times of the stills with the time of the video you’d find the stills get shot an hour or so before the video starts rolling. I always go through the actual process to be explained, shooting the stills first and troubleshooting. Then when the video camera comes on it’s easier to explain what I’m about to do. I just need to remember to never shoot a watch again! Hey, this is Hollywood.
By Jim Talkington on Jul 17, 2008
Our motto at Popular Mechanics, or at least it was when I worked there, was
Verisimilitude
how true that was.
By Bill Rhodes on Jul 18, 2008
Why have you switched to vimeo??
By Daniel Hurtubise on Jul 20, 2008
Verisimilitude - that’s a new one! Great word. Popular Mechanics? That sounds like fun…give us the scoop, Bill.
Daniel, I’m giving Vimeo a try for a few different reasons, I hope it’s working okay for you. YouTube has been frustrating lately: the 10 minute time limit, increasing amounts of spam comments, the service being down at inopportune times and a number of viewers inaccurately getting a “this video no longer exists” message. Singularly these things might not sound like much but collectively I’ve lost many hours trying to deal with them. Plus the quality is just “okay” on YouTube.
I’ve been super-happy with Vimeo in all respects, the user experience from my end is much nicer than YouTube and the broadcast quality is considerably better. Until a few minutes ago, when my video for tomorrow disappeared from Vimeo because their Amazon S3 servers are down. I hope it’s just temporary!
I really need to find a good, dependable video service…
By Jim Talkington on Jul 20, 2008
Excellent video, both informative and well-produced. Thanks much!
By Jon Van Dalen on Jul 20, 2008
Has anyone noticed FlashPlayer 9 error messages while viewing this site? I’ve been getting errors for the last week or so. While everything seems to appear as it should, I keep getting pesky messages from FlashPlayer 9.
Any comments??
By Jim Strenk on Jul 27, 2008
Hi Jim, are you getting the error just on the newer videos, the ones being served by Vimeo? If you have a minute sometime could you check one of the older videos (see video library) from when they were hosted on YouTube? Thanks much for mentioning it, I’ll do what I can to figure it out from this end.
By Jim Talkington on Jul 27, 2008