We shoot chrome and grey references in the same light as the plate. HDRI is a start, not a finish: we rebuild key and edge in the renderer until the contact shadows sit.
If the physical product cannot be there, we still light an empty stand so the CG object inherits the same wrap. The test is simple , if a producer can point to the render in the first second, we go back.
Materials are photographed, not guessed. Polarisation, roughness, and a measured white help more than a downloadable ‘studio HDRI’ from a different room.
Grade happens with the composite, not before. A plate graded in isolation will fight the CG no matter how good the look-dev was.
We deliver layered files when the contract asks, and flattened masters when it does not. Either way the public image is one picture.
Seacount Desk is on Rua da Prata, a ground-floor room with a yard. The book is tinned fish, tile workshops and the small rooms that rent by the week. Mornings are for the street and the hill. Afternoons are tabletop in the yard, under a silk, when the tile is too bright to be useful.