A high-impact photo doesn't always involve a complex lighting setup. Portuguese photographer Cesar Oliveira's concept for the Bar Royal brand was to draw as much attention as possible to the bottles and use a strong shadow to create depth and highlight the products.
But it is not as simple as it seems. Cesar knows his craft and uses broncolor equipment such as the picolite, softboxes of different sizes, beauty dish, masks and other tools in a precise way that shows the knowledge he has of how light works with each element. The classical and very structured approach to lighting is as precise as the pictures of the Portuguese.
In the first image (01) a G Pulse 3200 J was used with a fresnel and a generator. The biggest advantage of the Fresnel is that it emits a strong light and allows us to control the output of the light rays, but the shadow is not as sharp as a simple light source.
And here are the artist's explanations:
"For this image (02) we used the same concept and played with the shadows to create depth. I used the same G 3200 J Pulse lamp with the Fresnel Spot fixture but on the opposite side of the camera. The lamp was taken on the third pass up to 4 metres away to create a very hard light with great contrast between the shadows and the highlights. As the main light in this case was behind the product I had to use a fill light. I chose two picolites with the Fresnel-focus attachment to illuminate the label and bottle neck. With the Fresnel-focus attachment I can create a spotlight with a soft gradation. You can see that I have two diffusers on each side of the product but no light on it. The only effect I got from them was to create a very soft fill light so they don't have any unwanted reflections".
"For this last image (03), we chose a different mood with a more complex play of light. I needed to create a gradient of light in the background, but I didn't want it to disturb the light of the product itself. The choice fell on using the picolite projector fixture which allows you to focus the light completely on the spot you want to create a very even gradient. On the right side of the camera, I used a Pulso G 3200 J lamp with a softbox to illuminate the product with soft light. I used a beauty dish with a grid to illuminate the dish and add an extra touch to the liquid in the glass. On the left side, I opted for a diffuser paper with the Pulso G 3200 J lamp together with a P65 reflector with a narrow grid to get a gradient in the centre of the diffuser. This light should only have a little fill light and some reflections on the neck of the bottle and produce on the glass. In such cases, we must not forget to use a black card near the left corner of the background to block the light, otherwise we will destroy the gradient".
I use broncolor lighting in all my creations because it makes me feel confident that I can rise to any challenge. I know that the performance and colour temperature are accurate shot after shot. For me, broncolor is a working tool that not only gives the best results, but also saves a lot of time when creating an image and, as we all know, for a professional photographer, time is money!
Credits:
Photography and post-production - César Oliveira
Art Direction - Opal Commercial
Customer - Bar Royal
www.cesaroliveirafotografia.com
Instagram @cesaroliveiraphotography
Photography and post-production - Cesar Oliveira
Art Direction - Opal Publicidad
Customer - Bar Real