cheap product photography setup

[pixmedic]

...because you dont have to spend a lot of money to get a setup that works.


im not really a great "product photographer", but in a lot of ways its similar to portrait photography...which im not really great at either, but I digress...
i have a few different setups I use depending on what im photographing. prices range from $5 in wal-mart pieces to $24 on e-bay.

ill start with the cheapest of my rigs...
step 1: buy a 2 pack of 1/4 inch thick foam board from wal-mart. 20" x 30" 2-pack was <$5. you can get other sizes as well depending on your needs. the 20x30 works well for me.
step 2: get the wife to glue material onto one side of each foam board. this gives you one side for white background/forground, and one side for black (or other color of choice)
i choose NOT to connect the two pieces so i can turn them in either direction depending on what im shooting.
since its being used as a background that will not be shown in detail, any type of fabric will do. in our case, the wife used some black velvet we had left over from another project. maybe a few bucks worth at most.

all in all i would say we probably have less than $10 in this setup. the wife used spray adhesive to hold down the fabric, which she already had.
this setup works well for shirts, bunnies, and anything too big to fit in one of our lightboxes.
when i shoot with this i use one of my yongnuo or fuji flashes bounced off the ceiling for light. very effective.

the next setup, and the one i use most for small items, is a 16" lightbox with two rows of LED lights.
plugs in using a standard mini USB cable and works pretty well. also has a cap on top allowing me to shoot from directly above the item if i need to. this is a made-in-china cheapie and cost $16 shipped to my door.
its hard to see in the picture, but from the front to the top/back there is a white foam liner which can be swapped out for a black one if you want a black background. the two rows of LED lights are in the top section, one in front and one in back. it folds up into a small carry case.

lastly, i have a 24" lightbox, although i do not use it as much because it does not have built in lights. instead, it has 3 separate lights that you can set up on the sides and over the top to provide the light. its a little more of a hassle and i prefer just to use the foam board and bounce a flash for things too big for the 16" box.
this is another Made-In-China item and i believe it was $24 shipped. the lights and everything fold up into a built in carry case. it also came with several backdrop colors.
if you dont mind the setup it actually works very well and i used it for several of the bunny shots.

and there you have it...
nothing expensive or elaborate, because you dont NEED anything expensive or elaborate.
so...now that you know you can do product photography without spending a lot of money, go photograph some products!