Putting together a small studio for photographing clothing/accessories

[cs4]

Hi Forum!

We're planning to set up a rig/small studio for photographing our products.

Our "product sizes" range from suits to shoes, so the setup needs to be highly flexible in regards to the scale of the products photographed.

We will be photographing several hundered products a year - so we wont have time to finishing every single photo in photoshop. The images will be used mainly on WEB - and its crucial that the backgrounds are completely white/blank (whats the best way to go about this? bluescreens? white backgrounds with the correct lighting?)

In this part of the process we're first of all looking to get an overview of what gear we need and what it will cost (studio with lighting, soft boxes, stands, light readers, camera etc.)

If someone know any starting point resources (web sites/books) or even better would give us some advice on putting together what we need we would be very thankful !

We are pretty tech savvy people so we hope to be able to do this ourselves - BUT If there's someone reading this thats an expert at this particular subject and with LOTS of experience on it I would definitely consider paying for some consulting work.

Thank you in advance!

[TPF Sponsor]

[cmullinsphoto]

what's your budget for gear? there's a wide range of stuff that would do the trick. For the background I'd recommend using white and learning to light it properly. Using the blue or green screen can lead to color contamination on your product, which will then give you problems in post.
try this site, webphotoschool.com. they have some cheap lessons that might come in handy. Of course, there's a lot they don't cover. I've been doing this type of photography for 8 years now and am available at cmullinsphotography.com if you want to get into it further. best of luck to ya.
chris

[Christie Photo]

We will be photographing several hundered products a year ...whats the best way to go about this?

Hire a photographer.

-Pete

[3D Spin]

Hi

Use a white background. I think a blue or green screen will give you to much trouble when you are not proff. And make the light from the background reflecting away from the product.

Cheers
Oliver

[ANDS!]

Hi Forum!

We're planning to set up a rig/small studio for photographing our products.

Our "product sizes" range from suits to shoes, so the setup needs to be highly flexible in regards to the scale of the products photographed.

We will be photographing several hundered products a year - so we wont have time to finishing every single photo in photoshop. The images will be used mainly on WEB - and its crucial that the backgrounds are completely white/blank (whats the best way to go about this? bluescreens? white backgrounds with the correct lighting?)

In this part of the process we're first of all looking to get an overview of what gear we need and what it will cost (studio with lighting, soft boxes, stands, light readers, camera etc.)

If someone know any starting point resources (web sites/books) or even better would give us some advice on putting together what we need we would be very thankful !

We are pretty tech savvy people so we hope to be able to do this ourselves - BUT If there's someone reading this thats an expert at this particular subject and with LOTS of experience on it I would definitely consider paying for some consulting work.

Thank you in advance!

Background stand, with a role of white seamless paper. You can get the Impact portable backdrop for about 100 bucks at Adorama.com and get a free roll of paper. Also one of those reflective white surfaces would be good. I forget what its called.

As for the lighting, umbrellas should be fine since you're only shooting products and not people.

What camera system are you rocking?