Building a studio please help!!

[SBphotography]

Hello everyone, I want to thank you in advance for whatever feedback you give me.

I work for an antique restoration business and we want to set up a studio in our warehouse for pictures and video.
We have tons of space but we just have to make room for it first.

What We Are Shooting:
Full dining room sets (Table with 2 leaves, 8-10 chairs, china cabinet and buffet) and on a smaller scale commodes, individual chairs, end tables, benches etc.

What We Need Help Deciding:
-An idea on how much space we need (Length x Width x Height)
-An idea on how many lights we need and how big and what bulbs?
-What type of backgrounds? White? Grey? Fabric? Paper? Shiny?
-Paint the floor?

What We Want To Achieve:
-A consistent stream of pictures and videos for our products to market them online
-Professional studio quality with ACCURATE colour of the furniture

Our Current Equipment:
-Canon 60D with 50mm f/1.8
-Tripod
-2x 16" circular soft boxes with 3x 28watt 5200k bulbs in each

Notes:
-What we really want is to avoid hot spots and reflections on the furniture
(I understand that pieces that are rounded will of course reflect light)
-We REALLY need to showcase the colour of the wood and grain

Thank you again for taking the time to read this post, any advice is welcomed.

-SB

Ps. I understand this is my 1st post and please don't judge me for that. I've been lurking this forum for a while now and have gained lots of knowledge already. I'm a member of many online forums and I know how people get judged on their post count

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

What are you looking for as a final image? Do you want the piece in 'normal' looking surrounds, or do you want the piece on a monochrome background or are you just wanting to erase the background out of the image anyway?

I think that a 'seamless' background might work well, and we usually use a wide roll of paper, but they only come up to 12 feet wide, and I'm not sure that will be wide enough for a full shot a a large table. You could build a seamless backdrop, but that might be more work that it's worth. If you shoot so that the objects don't blend into the background, it's quite easy to extract them from the background (in post).

As for reflections etc. That will have everything to do with the object itself and your lighting. What works for one piece may not work at all for another piece. The best way to tackle this would be with some good education so that you can understand how light works and then adapt to each situation.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

"Light, Science, Magic" is geared towards lighting and product photography. Itsa great book!

 

[Derrel]

You are severely under-capitalized for this type of endeavor. I would hire a professional, and have him show you ways to go about this.

 

[KmH]

What We Want To Achieve:
-A consistent stream of pictures and videos for our products to market them online
-Professional studio quality with ACCURATE colour of the furniture

How much money do you have budgeted to set this up?

I'm with Derrel. Based on what gear you have so far.

 

[SBphotography]

@BIg Mike: For our photos we want to make it seem like the piece is floating in a white abyss and easy to lasso in PS.
For our videos we want the background to be pure white to give it that professional feel.

@Bitter Jeweler: Thank you I am looking into that book

@Derrel: Troll much? Do you know how much our business is willing to put into this? The answer is No so please be constructive in your responses. Not everyone starts off as a professional...

@KmH: Our budget is not low at all, we are a high end furniture business with money to invest in this project.

 

[KmH]

@BIg Mike: For our photos we want to make it seem like the piece is floating in a white abyss and easy to lasso in PS.
For our videos we want the background to be pure white to give it that professional feel.

@Bitter Jeweler: Thank you I am looking into that book

@Derrel: Troll much? Do you know how much our business is willing to put into this? The answer is No so please be constructive in your responses. Not everyone starts off as a professional...

@KmH: Our budget is not low at all, we are a high end furniture business with money to invest in this project.

Great!

Then like Derrel suggests, hire a local pro to help you set it up.

Then all you'll need to do is learn how to set up the lighting and do the actual photography and videography.

That shouldn't take more than a year or 2 before you can consistantly produce "professional studio quality" results.

Happy learning.

 

[SBphotography]

@KmH: I have lots of photography experience and my partner has video experience. I understand about having someone come in and advise us on how much lighting we will need and where to put it but we will be doing all of the photos/vids ourselves along with the post production. Basically I'm just looking for a rough estimate on how much space:lighting I'll need to accommodate the furniture.

For example, let's say a marble top commode is 60" in length and I want to get all angles of it. I don't want to have to always move the piece to ensure I don't take pictures outside the white background area. So will I need double, triple the size? And the amount of lighting to fill the area. We did some measurements and we are looking at 17' Wide X 25' Long X 10' or so High

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I did wonder where Derrel got any idea of your budget... In his defense, we do have a lot of flakes here who are opening studios with 25 cents in their pocket

That said, and since you do seem to have the budget, I would definitely suggest a cyc wall if you have the space. Space is needed two ways in your case. A syc wall does take space but, also, wood working (which I imagine you do in an antique restoration business) and photography don't mix well. Dust tends to get everywhere. We do have a member who does both and he may chime in.

Anyway, a cyc wall is a permanent built seamless background. They used to be quite expensive but there are cheaper ways of building them today and they are not only for super pros today. I cannot offer you a link for a manufacturer because I can't find one but here's a video that should interest you. You already have the tools to build that thing.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

It would be cheaper, and easier to move the product, than have enough lights, or move the lights around to shoot the object.

 

[CCericola]

I like the idea of the cyc wall Cloud. And SB, since your budget is not a problem I would still hire the professional photographer as a consultant at least for a few months to really get things up and running for you. It's hard to give you tips through a forum when we can't see the items, space, lighting in that space, etc...

 

[KmH]

A 60" commode is a far cry from a full dining room set, but I was also going to recommend a cyclorama, or building a huge light box using diffusion panels, which is what I do to shoot cars.

When I do that I light the diffusion panels with 12 or 14 of these; Altman 1000S-HM Fresnel Light 1000S-HM B&H Photo Video

To light reflective, curved objects to minimize hot spots and reflections of the light source, you light the surfaces that could reflect, not the item you are photographing/videoing.

To do video, you need continuous lighting. To do still photography, it is advantagous to use strobed lighting (flash).

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I'd def get a wider lens. But that's just my underexperienced opinion. From what I can guess space needed is going to depend on your lens. Do you want to shoot the whole piece of furniture or close ups of the wood?

If you are going to want pure white I'd think you'll need a lot more light...

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I like the idea of the cyc wall Cloud.

Thank you. Most people think of them as super expensive things but they are not that expensive anymore because a few cheap people like myself have figured out how to build them for themselves. Mine can take a tractor (as in the tractor in a tractor-trailer combo) and it didn't cost me that much. Yes, I built it myself. The contractor who built my studio did the flat surfaces but I did the rounded areas because he didn't feel comfortable doing them.

All that to say that the OP should be able to build his own at a very affordable price.

 

[SBphotography]

I just got back from NYC so I haven't had a chance to reply to you guys. I appreciate all the info you're giving me!

@cloud: that cyc wall is a great idea and I hope we can do that, I'll keep you guys posted on what the budget makers decide and base my questions around that.

@bitterjeweler: That's exactly what we've been doing now and it is horrible lol

@CCericola: we may hire our old photographer friend back for a consultation and advice on what to do, that also depends on the budget makers. The budget isn't a problem but we just have to have the right pitch.

@KmH: We definitely want to minimize hot spots especially because most of our pieces are rounded and have reflective surfaces so your idea is a great one that I want to use; reflecting light off surfaces instead of lighting the furniture directly

@misstwinklytoes: I am already in the process of investing in a new lens and personally wanting to buy the 5D camera (but that's another topic). Wide angle lenses cause distortion but I don't think it'll be a problem with our type of photography. I also do real estate photography and I don't like how the wide angle lens (Canon 10-22 that I rented) distorts every wall, column, piece of furniture.. in that case is it better to buy a tilt-shift lens?