How do you photograph three colours of the same product?
Today we had a photo and video shoot with Roxana, the photographer who also took the Kickstarter photos and video. We have a small studio corner in one of our rooms now.
The professional photos are still being edited. But I took a few with my phone because I wanted to show you the colour variants and hear which one you like most.
Two things to keep in mind
The light slats are dirty, because I put them under the test rig. Car wheels stain the covers, and the same happens with the dark grey slats. That will be retouched in the professional photos.
Also the black frame does not have the black slats yet, but dark grey. It does not look bad in my opinion, but black would be nicer I think.
The mixed combinations
Several people asked for mixed combinations, so I photographed those too.
- Light frame and light slats
- Dark brown frame and dark grey slats
- Black frame and black slats
- Light frame and dark grey slats
- Dark brown frame and light slats
- Black frame and light slats
By the way, is it just my screen or do the dark brown and black frame look almost the same?
Why photographing wood is harder than it sounds
This is the part I underestimated.
A wooden frame does not have one colour. It has grain, and grain reflects light differently depending on where the light is coming from. The dark brown that looks warm under one lamp looks black under another, and on a phone screen with the brightness turned down it is anyone's guess.
Which is a real problem when people are picking a colour they will live with for years, from a photo, on a phone.
That is why the survey waits for the professional photos rather than going out with what I shot today. Showing a studio photo of one colour next to a phone snap of another is not a fair comparison, and people would rightly say so.
What is next
Once the edited photos are ready, the colour survey goes out. That is the one where each of you picks the colour you actually receive.
I cannot promise the mixed combinations yet. They were not part of the original plan and we need to understand the logistical overhead first. But if there is real interest, we will look into it.