Clothing Photography help

brothersanju · Jan 14, 2012

Hello,

I am new to photography and want to take photographs of clothing for business from home on mannequins.

By browsing online I got some knowledge that some background support backdrops may be needed along with softboxes for lighting.

- Please guide me if this is the right way to start clothing photography?
- What kind of softbox and lights (in watts) should I go for?

Also, I have an ordinary digital camera (Nikon L1 Coolpix Nikon | Imaging Products | COOLPIX L1). Will this be good enough to start and will it give a proper image?

Also, can I use my computer to click the photographs by connecting my camera to it? i.e. Connecting my camera to the computer, viewing the image of the object to be clicked and then click from the computer (through some software I guess)? Is this possible? I

Your inputs are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Regards
Sanjay

annadavis · Jan 31, 2012

Yeah.. Do tether your camera to computer.. It would be easier for you.. Sometimes even though an images looks crisp on the actual screen it might not be on the computer.. Also by tethering your camera you can already edit it (apply some enhancement) and see the final output.. If you really want to be a photographer for clothing you must have the proper tools.. Try using TableTop Studio's Kuhl Lite120 lights .. They are good to use, they do not produce too much heat unlike other tungsten or halogen bulbs.. And provides true daylight color so less work on color correction..

tirediron · Feb 1, 2012

Lighting is a HUGE topic; far more than can be covered in a simple forum post (or even ten posts). First, you need to determine a budget. Nothing else can be determined without knowing how much money you are willing to spend.

Next, you need to determine what type of lighting, either strobes (best) or continuous (cheaper, but harder to use).

Tethering is a good way to go, however, I'm not sure that your current camera supports tethering, and AFAIK, there is no way for that camera to trigger external strobes, so you may well be stuck with using continuous lighting. Spend some time surfing the Strobist Blog and search terms such as "product lighting".