- What's up everybody?
Peter McKinnon here and welcome back to another video.
Today is a tutorial, but,
I'm pumped about today's tutorial
because it's one of my favorite things to do with a camera.
It's how I started making money with photography,
it's what got me a career for seven years with photography.
It's what's continued to drive my career in photography now
and that is product photography.
Now, before you (mumbles) command W, I'm out,
product photography is incredible.
There's so much more to it than just the way it sounds.
It doesn't sound exciting.
Like if you look, I did a video, I don't know,
like two, three weeks ago called night photography,
and I'll link it up there,
night photography sounds cool.
It's like, yeah, we're shooting at night, it's dark,
it's mysterious, night photography.
But you're like, product photography,
you just think of like, blue jeans and like white runners
and just like mundane things that suck.
Like oh, I'm a catalog photographer,
just taking pictures of strollers and hockey nets, and yep.
Just, just doing that.
But, product photography is amazing.
There's so many ways to bring out your creativity
and express yourself through the way
that you show off a product.
And that's for whatever it is that you're doing.
And there's so many ways to monetize product photography.
So, that's today's video, it's gonna be incredible,
I'm super pumped on this, I'm very, very, very excited.
So, let's roll that intro, and then we'll get started.
(rock music)
(claps) Phew!
I also realize the beginning of this video was very intense,
I came off very, very hot out of the gates.
But, this is something that, as you can visibly tell,
I'm quite excited about.
Let me give you like a super fast back history.
I worked for a company for seven years
photographing all their products, okay?
This company specialized in making custom decks of cards,
and different tricks and marketed things
to the magic industry, magicians, we would sell
to magicians and collectors and people
that would collect the decks of cards
for the different artists that we had design them.
Super cool job, super creative job,
worked with a bunch of really cool down-to-earth people.
And we had like complete free reign, so it was awesome.
Now, one of the things that I got very, very good at
was taking photos of products, because that was my job.
So, the mail would come, and there would be
a whole bunch of new stuff for me to shoot,
and the boss, Brad, would be like, all right,
like here are these things, these are the days we need them,
like have at it.
Like, whatever, if you need some budget for photography,
here you go, just do your best.
And that was my, those were my guidelines.
So the sky was the limit.
So when it came to actually shooting decks of cards
or products, I would break everything down,
no matter what I was shooting, into different sections.
So I would talk about themes, textures, and props.
Those three things usually yielded
very good product photos.
Matty's on his way over, we're gonna do just that.
I figured instead of just sitting here
for the next 10 minutes and talking to you about it,
which I could very easily do because I'm pumped!
So, here's the set-up,
Matty's gonna just like browse through my office
and choose two things, we only need like two,
for me to photograph.
And then we're gonna take those two things,
go to the antique shop,
and I'm going to try to look for some props,
look for some things that support
those two items that he chose.
So, that's uh, this is fun!
I'm excited for this!
Okay.
- Any, any two things?
- [Peter] Any two things.
I mean, don't choose like, the blanket that covers my window
or anything like that sucks. (laughs)
- Can I?
- [Peter] Okay, so plug the merch.
- (laughs) I'm just kidding.
- [Peter] Link in bio, shameless shameless plug.
- Little plug there.
Any two things here?
- [Peter] Any two things, I mean,
everyone always gravitates towards
this shelf of nonsense, but,
- Yeah, there's so much.
- [Peter] Yeah.
- I feel like I want to choose like two things,
well maybe one thing that I could,
'cause I suck at product photography,
you're so good at this.
So maybe one thing that like,
maybe would help me if I saw you doing it.
And then maybe just one random.
Two things, right? - Two things, yeah.
- Random thing.
- [Peter] If we did four things
this video would be like, 40 minutes.
- Yeah, probably.
I kind of want to choose this egg.
(Peter laughs)
- [Matty] I feel like that might be too easy,
it kind of looks cool already.
- [Peter] Yeah, I mean, how do you make it
look like, really cool?
- That's true, that's true. - Yeah.
- Let's go with this thing?
I don't know what the heck...
What is this, man?
- [Peter] (laughs) Hold it in the light so I can see it.
It's a puzzle.
- What?
- [Peter] My friend Chris does a lot of puzzles on YouTube,
- Are you supposed to open it or something?
- [Peter] Yeah, I always
I always buy them after he tells me to buy them, so (laughs)
- This thing looks random.
Do this, at least.
- [Peter] Okay, go, so, number one,
- Number one, this thing - Weird puzzle.
- Weird thing.
And to help me, I think, let's do this,
is this a real camera?
No, it's fake. - No, it's plastic.
You know who got me that?
You know Ted Forbes, The Art of Photography
channel on YouTube?
He does cool stuff.
You've never seen-- - (laughs) No.
- [Peter] More of like an academic channel,
- Okay, okay, okay.
- [Peter] Really like into like,
the art of photography, it's great.
But he sent me that, it actually works,
but, it does look super plastic-y, and,
- Oh, it's like a film camera.
- [Peter] Yeah, hold it here so I can see it.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah.
Yeah, okay, so like, make that look super desirable
And like you'd want to buy it.
- Yeah, cause like, I have to take photos of cameras
a lot of times and I have no idea what I'm doing, so.
- [Peter] Oh, for like thumbnails and stuff.
- Yeah yeah yeah, thumbnails.
- [Peter] Yeah.
Okay, cool.
So, plastic camera, weird cast iron puzzle.
Okay.
Let's go buy stuff.
(gentle electronic music)
This is my spot!
This is the best antique shop I've ever been to,
run by the nicest people.
Alright, so you guys already saw
the two items that I'm going to photograph,
the old plastic Holga camera,
and that weird little cast iron puzzle.
So you know the items, so we're gonna go through here
and pick what I think is going to accent those items
to make really engaging, colorful, punchy,
good product photos.
So let's, let's go pick some stuff!
(upbeat electronic music)
Okay, so one of the things that I look for a lot
when I'm shooting stuff are textures.
Different surfaces and textures
that will match the item that I'm shooting.
So, for example, that little cast iron puzzle
is like brass and looks really, really old.
So the first thing that stands out is this old tin,
what is this, like a cigarette tin or something?
But look at the inside,
like look how gunmetal and rusty that is.
So, this would look cool if it was like
sitting on an old crate, maybe there's some stuff
coming out of it, like some old photographs,
like that puzzle was well lit.
That's kind of the mood that I'm thinking.
So like, when I have the object in mind,
I walk around a place like this
and try to find either textures, environments,
and then little props to kind of accent
the main thing that we're photographing.
An old brass padlock.
There's no keys with it though,
but I could probably pick it.
But the keys, if it had the keys,
those would be good little accent items
to kind of just strew around, like, is that even a word?
But just mix and scatter around the main little puzzle
that we're trying to shoot.
Look at these!
Yes!
I've always wanted one of these for my bookshelf
behind like where I film.
Okay, this works, look at this.
This is like an old, gross-looking crate for ginger ale.
Look at that.
I love that it still has the original paint on it,
it's all warped and gross, but,
texture is everything when you're doing product photos.
Texture makes stuff look so much more rich and inviting,
and pulls you into the photo and tells a story.
Everything about that photo just makes you feel good,
it makes you feel like wonder and mystery,
and those are all the types of things that I try to
pull out of products that I'm photographing.
Especially a camera and a vintage puzzle, it looks vintage.
It's not, but, I think having it on the corner here
with these old nails, and the little bit of red.
Both the camera and the puzzle will work well
with this crate, so, I'm going to buy it.
- [Matty] What're you checking out, Peter?
- Two things.
I just need some extra little mindless props.
So like, a wrench.
Perfect, cause it's old and rusted and looks dope,
and it's just one of those things that gives texture,
you get a shine off the steel here, it looks good.
There's some, I think it's an old Ford wrench,
which is amazing.
Made in Canada, I'll take it.
- [Matty] Oh hey guys, original lens ball!
Sweet!
(Peter laughs)
- Okay, picked all my items, everything is
conveniently fitting inside this crate,
but I'm not gonna show you everything yet.
You'll see it when we get home and we style some photos.
Yeah, I'm excited!
Always find good stuff here.
Always.
♪ Oh Maybelline ♪
Okay!
Now that we have our box of props,
I can begin to set everything up,
and kind of stylize the little theme,
the little set that I'm gonna build
to take the photos of the objects that Matty selected.
We have our old vintage camera, that's number one.
Like an old pencil case, I liked the texture of this.
I think that'll look good on camera.
We have, what do we have, some old postcards
and photographs that I will take out of these sleeves
and just kind of crumple up.
Bought that old Ford wrench.
An old, what is this?
Pennsylvania trailer, super rusty license plate.
Again, texture.
Texture is everything.
This thing has plenty of it.
And then we got this little tin
that we looked at right at the beginning.
And then the box itself!
Okay, so, all in all, this was like a hundred bucks.
Now, you don't have to spend that much money,
but these are props that you will have forever,
unless you throw them out.
So, you can reuse them and use them in other photographs,
and other projects, on sets, on films.
They're props, so you can use them
whenever you would need props.
The other bonus, is I have this crate,
so I just keep all the stuff in this crate,
throw this in the basement, and then
whenever I need something, I can go down there,
check to see if I have something that works,
if I don't, whatever.
If I do, it's probably gonna be in this box.
Which also, doubles as its own prop.
So, now it's time to stylize and set up this shot!
Item number one.
Alright, so this is essentially the set-up for this shot.
We got that tin half-open, we got the texture
of the inside of the tin right here,
we got this nice texture of this old-school pencil case,
these are the strings that close the pencil case,
they just look cool kind of loosely
just hanging out right there.
We got the wrench in there for added kind of
industrial, gritty-looking feel.
And then we got the box itself, the old-school box
with the nice window light kind of
hitting the side of that bronze.
And then maybe we'll shoot it in this way with the macro,
and it should look something like this.
(upbeat electronic music)
So again, as you can see, I'm not trying
to make this video super cinematic,
I'm trying to show you guys how raw things can be
when you're taking even professional photographs.
Like, you don't need to be in a big ass studio,
you don't need to have fake mist and crazy lights.
Like, I am literally chilling on my kitchen floor right now,
with a box that I just bought from an antique shop.
But it is doing the job, and it is doing the job well.
And this is the scene I ended up going for
that I liked the most with the camera.
I flipped the box back around, used this
as kind of the background, covered the wood at the bottom
with this bag, this license plate,
and put these on the floor so that you didn't see
my hardwood when I actually shot the frame.
But the reason I chose this angle is because I liked the way
the light was hitting the lens here coming in from the door.
I liked that it was hitting this lens real nice.
So this frame kind of cropped in tight with that macro lens.
That ended up looking the best for me.
(upbeat electronic music)
I just noticed my, I was holding my kid earlier,
she was just drooling on my shirt here. (laughs)
Just waaah!
Whatever.
Now I've told you guys this story before,
the whole reason this relationship exists.
The whole reason, I mean, I'm able to use this logo,
and put the Canadian maple leaf dead center,
which is super cool!
These are also, you know, shameless plug,
these dope wall flags are available in his shop, but.
(laughs)
I just Logan Pauled you guys. (laughs)
The whole reason this relationship even started
was because I was confident in my product photography.
And he started a business selling coffee and merchandise
and accessories, and stuff like that.
And I bought everything that he owned in the shop.
I bought it all.
And I started doing my version of product photography,
and then posting it to my Instagram,
and tagging him in every single photo.
And he didn't respond right away, but I just kept doing it.
I kept taking photos, making them as best as I could,
applying these types of techniques
until he finally saw what I was doing, and was like,
can I repost some of these?
And when we finally got a dialogue going,
I was able to say to him, hey, I'm willing to do this
for you if you want for a trial run to see if it's something
that you like, and then if it is moving forward,
maybe this is something that you can start paying me to do,
and sending me new products and I'll photograph them,
and that's how our relationship started.
Okay, that's it.
I think this video's been like 45-minutes long.
I know this was a long one, but it's,
if you're into photography, and you're here to learn,
and you really want to take this to the next level
and make it something that's more than just a hobby,
I think this is the kind of video
that you would benefit from.
So I hope you enjoy it,
I hope you get some of these tips and maybe implement them
into your own style and your own work as a photographer.
I think there's something here for everybody.
If not, whatever!
Thanks for hanging out.
But if you liked this video, hit that like button,
smash it if that's something that you're into.
Subscribe if you aren't already.
And! And!
I will see you guys in the next video.
Peace!
(upbeat electronic music)
- Yeah, that--
- [Woman] But this has to push back, somehow.
- How does this collapse?
Does this mirror
pop up? - Oh here!
I got it, I got it.
This switches that,
- Oh yeah, you squeeze that,
- [Woman] So there's a little button right here,
So that'll squeeze all the way in?
- And then push this in, - Super cool!
- [Man] No no, no.
- Down. Right. - Like that.
- Wait what, like what?
- [Man] You just kind of push them back.
- Cool!
- And you'll feel it.
- Just force it, right?
- Yes, - No!
- Okay yeah yeah yeah, I got it.
- And then it just closes up. - Cool!
I'm gonna have no idea what to do when I get home, but--
(laughing)