6 Guitars

I haven't been shooting nearly enough lately, so I forced myself to do some practice today by visiting a difficult subject, my guitars.
I've previously struggled to get a guitar shot I'm happy with, reflections tend to end up ruining it, so I thought I'd have a go at solving this with some off camera flash (also something I need to practice using more) and careful angling of the face . I've got two flashes in use, one rimlighting the guitar from behind, and the other camera left, shooting down onto the face of the guitar through an umbrella.
The last thing under consideration was shooting multiple similar subjects and keeping the shots consistent. Turns out this was a bit of a prick thanks to the significantly longer bass, and the fatter acoustics throwing out my framing a bit, so that was a good learning experience at least.

I'd be keen for some feedback, particularly on the strobist side of things (I've got up to three flashes at my disposal if your suggestion involves more than the two I've used)

 

I'm glad you were after consistent shots, because my first comment was going to be if your trying something different, maybe switch up the angles a bit!

You've nailed the consistent shot thing.

I like the shots.

The handles or hooks (?) on the two side walls in the background are distracting.

You've cut the top off the bass in #1.

#3 might be the best, and #6 is the worst, for arranging the guitars so that the head stocks are clearly seen.

A smaller depth of field might help isolate the front guitar a bit more, if thats a look your after.

Lightings excellent. Be careful because there seems to be something bright and reflecting, between the first guitar in the rack and then the front guitar, check pics #1,3 & 4. YOu can just see the start of something much brighter shining through where the front guitar overlaps with the first guitar in the rack.

Excellent work.

 

Thanks -

Agreed, I'll clone them out when I get a chance

Pretty sure I snuck it in, now that I look at it though, the crop looks like I may have messed up a settings sync at some point. I will revisit it too

I tried to get a shallower DoF, but I needed to try and keep the headstock sharp as well as the body. Even as it stands, the headstocks are (imo) unacceptably out of focus (see #3 for example), so that was (just past) my limit.
I've used the flash behind the guitar to try and achieve that isolation instead

That's a flash - making the flash partially visible was an accident that I didn't mind the look of so I left it in.

thanks for the feedback

 

Nice one. Maybe try and bring the background down a little, maybe a stop. Should make the one in focus pop more.

 

I tried this yesterday, but didn't have any luck. As it turns out, I wasn't wearing my WWZAD bracelet (what would zack aria do?), and now after you've mentioned it, I happen to be wearing it - I should've brought the front flash closer to the guitar and dropped the power a bit, then the falloff would've been greater at the back...

 

Take this with a grain of salt as I'm a rookie as well, but have got some great shots using the below method...

Try turning the room light off or covering it a bit so the whole room is darker, then just use the flashes to light the scene. You'll get the focus guitar popping while still having the others in the shot but faded due to not as much light hitting them.

I unfortunately don't have any shots to show as they're on my Dad's computer (as they're his guitars I was shooting).

Otherwise they are some good shots. I dig #3 in particular. The lighting on the front is just subtle enough to show the shape. I also don't mind that the head is out of focus slightly. It guides my eyes to what is truly the beautiful part of the guitar, the body.

-ZXR