Recent shoot with artificial plant stems on a white background. The stems would not stand up on their own and so it was necessary to hold the plants in place so that the stems would fall naturally. I opted to poke the bottom of the stem through the background and clamp it in place and shoot a separate shot of the bottom of the stem that could be retouched back in post.
By poking the stem through the background the best overall compromise could be achieved, between speed of shooting many products over one day and option to use the images with complete cutout onto white or retain a very natural authentic feel with the inclusion of a slight shadow and vignette of the background. With the extra option of having the stem appear to hover or stand above the background with the full stem length in view.
A short video slideshow shows the retouch process. I have also included a before and after cutout for comparison showing the stem without shadow for comparison.
