PHOTO 101: Copywork Basics

Photographing artwork to show its design, color, function, and form can be tricky. The lighting should be color balanced, the exposure should be spot on, and the staging should show the item in it's totality. I usually like to take several close up shots to feature any special details of the item. The trick to copy work is to make it look good. Take fast food for instance. It is essentially copy work of the food item. Go to a family owned restaurant and you might be accosted by some pretty ugly food photography. It usually does not even look appetizing. The exposure is often too dark. The food looks dull and plain. The composition is uninviting. Etc. etc... Now take a look at a McDonald's BigMac that is prominently displayed as a 5 foot wall poster and that thing shines! It looks so juicy and perfect. The lettuce looks like it was just picked and washed with all the dewy drops of water and the meat is practically glistening. This is why food photographers are some of the most highly paid photogs on the planet. So when you think about doing copy work, put some effort into it. Consider EVERYTHING. It is not as easy as it looks.
Some tricks to help you along:
1. Use things to prop up paper and objects that are flat to give it a more dimentional look. I literally had a remote control under one object, my camera lens cap under another and one of Jacob's blocks under a third object all to create a nice diverisity in levels. The shadows from the lighting then help it all look more dynamic rather than a flat mess.
2. Use soft lighting to capture a more velvety look and hard light if you need to enhance or show texture on a surface. I typically use just one light. When I shoot paper I point the strobe head straight at the white ceiling in my studio to create a huge, very soft light source that is fairly even across a large area. This allows me to keep my metering to a minimum and my creativity to a maximum.
3. The surface that you shoot on does not always have to be a flat black or white surface. Consider what you are shooting. Cindi, the designer of the invites in this post has a very earthy style and so I felt the slightly destressed wood set her work off nicely. Play around with reflective surfaces and different textures but try to always use solid colors. You want the substrate to uphold the item you are working with not ditract from it.

Here is some copy work of some invitations that were designed by my sister, Cindi Garabedian ans shot by me today. She has recently decided to go full time again in the design world after taking only the most interesting freelance clients over the past few years while raising her two boys. She asked me to do some copy work of a few items that she wants to include in her portfolio. She does amazing work and if you are looking for a great graphic designer to do your identity system, high end invitations, or promotional materials she is back in business! Contact her at garabedian4@verizon.net