Advertising photography

The re-creation of reality

Advertising photography has many aspects, above all the transmission of all the characteristics (and more!) of the product you are looking at / shooting at / representing, and then the preparation of it, the love that has to be conveyed through your image.

Details, sensations.

 

Most exciting of all, is the challenge of the impossible task: the egg that breaks, the trays which float in the air, new worlds out of ugly parts.

All pre-Photoshop era work, when problem solving was paramount.

Anyway, my acquired skills to achieve solutions are now recycled on PHOTO RETOUCH.

Having to deal with different realities, clients and situations is indeed high adrenaline. Every project becomes exciting and new, even if (in the end) it really is not.

And being able to see a certain kind of industrial reality from the inside is always a plus when you are in the process of creating the communication needed to show the company's image, your process, your accomplishments.

Each product has its own personality, and photography is called to show it, most of the times to exaggerate it.

I like to keep it simple, but moody also, to play with background materials, giving contrast to the product, dimension, light.

The rendering in the color has always to be as faithful as possible and the disposition as harmonic as possible.

Mechanics, plastic, parts of different kinds and shape are fun to photograph.

The challenge here goes from the too much reflectivity of steel and the deep black of rubber.

Objects have a soul and they have a world of their own, it's up to the photographer to let it loose ...

Food photography always needs a food stylist on stage. But most of the time the photographer has to do without one, the reason being budget, etc. You learn by doing.

And wine photography is where you can see how a good photographer knows how to deal with reflection and refraction, the right tools to feel the magic inside a wine bottle, and we want to get some of the transparence of the wine, right?

We're entering the cavern of the monster here, the misterious and forbidden realm of an advertising photographer.

Nothing so special, though, my studio was quite well equipped with first class cameras, lenses and lights, but quite small. After all, most of my work I was doing on location.

It started its activity in 1980, and ended in 1994, I had moved to Brazil, in the meanwhile.

It was a small place to get things done which, occasionally, was doubling as a darkroom, party location, music studio for practicing and having fun with the band.

 
All images & texts: Copyright Roberto Delpiano - 1997-2024

CORPORATE photography

Cover images of products with in-camera superimposed glowing logos, no digital tricks

Cover images of products with in-camera superimposed glowing logos, no digital tricks

Floating mechanical objects, and the industrial fans were quite big and heavy

Some 200 meters of paper-making machinery, I had to provide the extra illumination

Some 200 meters of paper-making machinery, I had to provide the extra illumination

Broken egg picture for an accident prevention products company

Broken egg picture for an accident prevention products company


The 'egg that breaks' may seem a simple picture to take, but it was not, especially without the computer retouching!
There was only 2 milliseconds from the 'broken' to the 'splattered' egg look, and we're talking late Eighties technlogy here.
I ended up having a rotten-egg-smelly-studio for a couple weeks

Mixup of new and old technologies. The computer eroding power from the manual design

Mixup of new and old technologies. The computer eroding power from the manual design

Product cover for locks producer Product Catalogue

Product cover for locks producer Product Catalogue


The locks are really floating, sort of.
They are supported in a very unsteady balance, no way I could fix anything with retouching or post-production, needed to be clean and ready for print from the camera.
I did a few of these sets at the time, for different lines of product, including a 'Flying Safe'
Should have a slide of it somewhere in one of my 'works of the past' boxes

Working with steel, no prepared composition, looking around in the workshop ... digital!

Working with steel, no prepared composition, looking around in the workshop ... digital!

Catalogue covers: Spring and Easter are coming, let's enjoy them

Catalogue covers: Spring and Easter are coming, let's enjoy them

Images convey the idea of Easter, product and sensations. Logos will do the rest

Fantasy table-top compositions for catalogue covers

Fantasy table-top compositions for catalogue covers

All in-camera compositions, creating a world and a story from mechanical parts

11 colors on plastic and aluminum foil for this ice cream, cookies, candies packaging maker

11 colors on plastic and aluminum foil for this ice cream, cookies, candies packaging maker

Prunotto wines, Alba - Italy. Catalogue page and product picture

Prunotto wines, Alba - Italy. Catalogue page and product picture

Hard work was to take pictures where there was no existing light, and there was no space where to place camera and lighting equipment

Leikam factory: airview of quite a paper production plant in Austria

Leikam factory: airview of quite a paper production plant in Austria

Conditioning air equipment for salami processing

Conditioning air equipment for salami processing

Getting the right lights was the usual challenge, and also the narrow complicated wet environment too ...

Photo posterizations for a Bank Yearly Prospect

Photo posterizations for a Bank Yearly Prospect

All darkroom process here, no Photoshop involved

Industrial ice-cream sticks + background for a Food Products Catalogue

Industrial ice-cream sticks + background for a Food Products Catalogue

Ice-cream is really in the air, under hot lamps, melting fast ...
No Photoshop involved, of course

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All images & texts: Copyright Roberto Delpiano - 1997-2024

PRODUCT photography

Experimenting with light with my saxophone - The tulip was supposed to be black, but impossible to find ...

Experimenting with light with my saxophone - The tulip was supposed to be black, but impossible to find ...

The light flares are not Photoshop, nor a filter, but a special 'penlight point technique' that I had developed from scratch in early Nineties

Skillets line photo for catalogue, all 4x5 inches work

Skillets line photo for catalogue, all 4x5 inches work

Different shapes, lines, for a main product catalogue cover and product lines.
Guardini pans, Torino Italy

Regalvini wine - image taken inside the 'Museo Contadino' in Piemonte, Italy

Regalvini wine - image taken inside the 'Museo Contadino' in Piemonte, Italy

Italian craftmanship decorative product line and decoration handmade bust statue

Italian craftmanship decorative product line and decoration handmade bust statue

Catalogue work is usually boring.
But if you tackle it as a challenge, it can be real fun

Advertising page and Catalogue cover, work of atmosphere

Advertising page and Catalogue cover, work of atmosphere

The Critelli company, Fairfield California, USA, Italian ideas that make it good abroad, and the usual bottles and presents flou Christmas atmosphere

Some nice salami and yummy specialties: Salumificio Bertoletti, Graffignana (Lodi) Italy

Some nice salami and yummy specialties: Salumificio Bertoletti, Graffignana (Lodi) Italy

Test for the 'new technologies', creating light out of nothing

Test for the 'new technologies', creating light out of nothing

Carnival masks done by a Venetian craftsman - all digital photo + enhancement

Carnival masks done by a Venetian craftsman - all digital photo + enhancement

I also had easy assignments to do in my life as an Advertising Photographer.
And one thing that has always made my day was color. How to render it at its best, how to express shapes and emotions

Tools for your kitchen from Vietnam, Korea, China, whatever. Late 1980, more or less

Tools for your kitchen from Vietnam, Korea, China, whatever. Late 1980, more or less

Fancy small catalogue work for a craftsmanship jewels maker

Fancy small catalogue work for a craftsmanship jewels maker

Classy necklace with gold, gold earrings are enhanced by the matte background, light and background choices the real challenge

A zemi was a deity or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object housing the spirit, among the Taíno people of the Caribbean

A zemi was a deity or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object housing the spirit, among the Taíno people of the Caribbean

Unique idol of the pre-Colombian era, made in cotton around a skeleton, spooky and very valuable.
He's sitting on one of my expensive Hasselblad lenses, just the right height to make it comfortable

Catalogue images, usually taken with the 4x5 view camera

Catalogue images, usually taken with the 4x5 view camera

Special aluminum paper for cookies, ice-cream, printed in rich eleven colors and one of the old joystick technology application

Plastic Oscar I won for the 8mm movie 'The Barboon' I was acting in + doing. Plastic, ok?

Plastic Oscar I won for the 8mm movie 'The Barboon' I was acting in + doing. Plastic, ok?

Two lines of Christmas cakes, for two different marketing segments

Two lines of Christmas cakes, for two different marketing segments

I usually ended up having panettone to eat for a couple years, and it was still good.
Panettoni La Torinese, Torino, Italy

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All images & texts: Copyright Roberto Delpiano - 1997-2024

MECHANIC photography

Working Area of a Hanwha Swiss Type automatic lathe

Working Area of a Hanwha Swiss Type automatic lathe

On-site production documentation digital photo - Alpha Grainger Manufacturing, Franklin (MA) USA

On-site production documentation digital photo - Alpha Grainger Manufacturing, Franklin (MA) USA

Swiss Type automatic lathe. Digital photo + retouching + Photoshop contouring

Swiss Type automatic lathe. Digital photo + retouching + Photoshop contouring

Round perspective of hydraulic brake parts and a world of flying gaskets, catalogue covers

Round perspective of hydraulic brake parts and a world of flying gaskets, catalogue covers

Worlds need to be created to give some punch to a cover, even when products are not so aestetically gratifying ...

Inside view of a Swiss Type automatic lathe

Inside view of a Swiss Type automatic lathe

Water treatment system by Tecn.A., Beinasco (TO), Italy - digital photo

Water treatment system by Tecn.A., Beinasco (TO), Italy - digital photo

BEFORE and AFTER my photoshop processing

Mechanical lathe important precision parts for a Poster - Injector landscape. All in-camera composition & effects

Mechanical lathe important precision parts for a Poster - Injector landscape. All in-camera composition & effects

Taking pictures of steel is always a challenge. 'Reflexion' is the word you have to keep in mind all the time

Mechanical parts produced with Hanwha Machines, Automatic Lathes imported + managed by Utimac, Robassomero (TO), Italy

Mechanical parts produced with Hanwha Machines, Automatic Lathes imported + managed by Utimac, Robassomero (TO), Italy

Utimac CNC Multi Spindle Automatic Lathe - working area view

Utimac CNC Multi Spindle Automatic Lathe - working area view

Mechanical lathe important precision parts for a promotion poster

Mechanical lathe important precision parts for a promotion poster

Just the usual mechanical parts. Composition for brochure and web page

Just the usual mechanical parts. Composition for brochure and web page


And then Photoshop came, and it allowed us poor photographers to put stuff together on a screen, to clean it up, to make it shiny and make it seem as they were all on the same table.

Bless its soul

On-site production documentation - digital photo

On-site production documentation - digital photo

Photoshop cleanup and Photoshop contouring on a Tecn.A. water treatment system photo

Photoshop cleanup and Photoshop contouring on a Tecn.A. water treatment system photo

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All images & texts: Copyright Roberto Delpiano - 1997-2024

FOOD & WINE photography

Bottle group shot. Difficult thing is showing the right transparency in all bottles

Bottle group shot. Difficult thing is showing the right transparency in all bottles

Panettone products for catalogue: La Torinese, Torino, Italy

Panettone products for catalogue: La Torinese, Torino, Italy

As much as the product was made the last minute for my pictures, looks were enhanced with pins and glue ...

Some nice salami and yummy specialties: Salumificio Bertoletti, Graffignana (Lodi) Italy

Some nice salami and yummy specialties: Salumificio Bertoletti, Graffignana (Lodi) Italy

Product line photo for the Scanavino wine company, somewhere around Alba (CN), Italy

Product line photo for the Scanavino wine company, somewhere around Alba (CN), Italy

Casa dei Cappelletti, Venaria (TO), Italy: product sheet photo composition

Casa dei Cappelletti, Venaria (TO), Italy: product sheet photo composition


It would be nice to have a food stylist in the studio, but it is usually not the case mainly for budget reasons.
So the photographer has to improvise, making sure the food doesn't stay out too much under the hot lamps, but there is a reward at the end: eat everything.
I used to make parties to to get rid of all the 'left over' food products

The cake was freshly made and the cream ... real cream as in the best Italian tradition

The cake was freshly made and the cream ... real cream as in the best Italian tradition

Salami product line shot on location. Portalupi Salumi, Guardabosone (VC), Italy

Salami product line shot on location. Portalupi Salumi, Guardabosone (VC), Italy


My photo studio had to be re-created on location, in this case.
All in one of the cold rooms in the Portalupi company.
But the advantage of having all the necessary products - and labels - and competent people to help and judge results, right at hand, compensated the stress of having to work in the cold room for many (too many!) hours a day

Regalvini wine - image taken inside the 'Museo Contadino' in Piemonte, Italy

Regalvini wine - image taken inside the 'Museo Contadino' in Piemonte, Italy

Salami been cured, usual documentation work on location

Salami been cured, usual documentation work on location

Christmas gift box, and Spumante/Champagne atmosphere

Christmas gift box, and Spumante/Champagne atmosphere

Lavatelli Christmas boxes catalogue cover - Perlino 'Asti Spumante' advertising campaign

Studio shot, localized flou filter to give 'vintage' atmosphere

Studio shot, localized flou filter to give 'vintage' atmosphere

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All images & texts: Copyright Roberto Delpiano - 1997-2024

THE DELPIANO PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO

Set is ready, lights are organized, 4x5 view camera is ready to shoot

Set is ready, lights are organized, 4x5 view camera is ready to shoot

On the ready-to-shoot set you can see the TV monitor which allows to view through the ground glass viewfinder + point light equipment I created - 1990

On the ready-to-shoot set you can see the TV monitor which allows to view through the ground glass viewfinder + point light equipment I created - 1990

Entrance/Office of the Delpiano Photographic Studio -  notice the computer system I used for my accounting (Commodore 128! green led monitor!) on the lower left

Entrance/Office of the Delpiano Photographic Studio - notice the computer system I used for my accounting (Commodore 128! green led monitor!) on the lower left

Organization in the Delpiano Photographic Studio

Organization in the Delpiano Photographic Studio

Mounted set for the 'Breaking the Wall' cover - 1989 - Honoring the fall of the Berlin Wall

Mounted set for the 'Breaking the Wall' cover - 1989 - Honoring the fall of the Berlin Wall

Close-up of complex photo shooting set organization: cables and lights organization

Close-up of complex photo shooting set organization: cables and lights organization

What's behind all those floating images (pre-Photoshop!) is something you could know only if you have been there.
Everything seems so simple but ... it is not

Graphic support items for Advertising Photography in the Delpiano Studio - late Eighties

Graphic support items for Advertising Photography in the Delpiano Studio - late Eighties

Studio is a mess, cables everywhere. Regular working day

Studio is a mess, cables everywhere. Regular working day

Close-up of complex photo shooting set organization: weird props and extras to create shadows and reflections

Close-up of complex photo shooting set organization: weird props and extras to create shadows and reflections

Cables, and cables and tight spaces. Everything is hard to reach and tripping something by mistake is a prelude for failure.
I had a small studio, but it wouldn't have been different in these kind of situations

Shown here is the 'Entertainment Area' so the photographer doesn't go crazy after so many hours of hard work

Shown here is the 'Entertainment Area' so the photographer doesn't go crazy after so many hours of hard work

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All images & texts: Copyright Roberto Delpiano - 1997-2024