Lighting, camera settings help

[sudz]

Hey all, when your looking for answers I know the best and quickest result is to usually ask for help on forum boards as most users tend to be extremely helpful. Hoping for some suggestions and thanks in advance.

We will be setting up a studio area indoors to take photo's of firearms (nice stuff) with details and want to really show off the grain of the wood. Looking to make them really stand out and have that "wow" factor. Willing to buy camera, lens, lighting, etc. Let me know what you would recommend and how to set up the lights, camera settings, etc.

I have a bit of experience in photography so should understand a few things above a "beginner" level but I'm sure I pale greatly compared to the average user around here, so that's why I ask for help. If you agree with a post above you please let me know with a simple "what he/she said" as then I'll know I've got some good advice.

ps. Currently operating with a couple of halogen floods. Any advice on how to get them to perform better while we set up a better area, let me know!

Thanks in advance!

 

[KmH]

How much money do we have to spend?

The "wow" factor is a function of the photograhers skill, not the equipment used.

The key to really nice lighting is to make the light source appear large, even when it's not.

You will need at least one book about lighting basics and the best available is:
Light: Science and Magic, An Introduction To Photographic Lighting by Fil Hunter.

Edit: I saw this same exact post on another photography forum.

 

[JimKing]

I don't want to over simplify a solution but if you're shooting hand guns (photographically speaking) there are inexpensive light tents available (many on eBay) that would be a good place to start. It wouldn't take much studio experience and could give good results.

 

[Markw]

540W STROBE STUDIO FLASH LIGHT KIT BARNDOOR SOFTBOX SET - eBay (item 170494724307 end time Nov-29-10 23:59:16 PST)

:thumbsup:
Mark

 

[sudz]

I don't want to over simplify a solution but if you're shooting hand guns (photographically speaking) there are inexpensive light tents available (many on eBay) that would be a good place to start. It wouldn't take much studio experience and could give good results.

Thanks but its more rifles and shotguns than anything. Also we will be shooting other hunting related items too large for a light tent. Plus we have the space to setup a dedicated "studio" in our shop, so we can come up with something more permenent.

540W STROBE STUDIO FLASH LIGHT KIT BARNDOOR SOFTBOX SET - eBay (item 170494724307 end time Nov-29-10 23:59:16 PST)

:thumbsup:
Mark

Something like this looks to be what we need. Any others want to comment on it?

How much money do we have to spend?

The "wow" factor is a function of the photograhers skill, not the equipment used.

The key to really nice lighting is to make the light source appear large, even when it's not.

You will need at least one book about lighting basics and the best available is:
Light: Science and Magic, An Introduction To Photographic Lighting by Fil Hunter.

Edit: I saw this same exact post on another photography forum.

Yeah that other post was me as well. Just trying to get viewpoints from as many people as possible. Thanks for the reference on the text, I will be sure to use it once I start experimenting with the lighting. A guy in the other forum mentioned how it talks about woodgrains and reflective surfaces. This is exactly what I need to learn about. As far as budget - camera, lens, lighting, etc. I can probably go up to around $2000 to get it all setup. Sound reasonable? I haven't really checked prices to know how much it all could cost.

We will be doing thousands of shots like the following once we get the area setup:

Model 52

Currently we are shooting outside when light conditions are favourable but this makes for very inconsistent colours and hard to compare one rifle to the next.

ps. Not sure if I am breaking any rules by posting a business website link above. Not trying to advertise just want people to see what I'm trying to accomplish with the photo's. Mod - please remove if not allowed.

 

[JimKing]

The $2000 should get you going. I would scrimp on the camera body, splurge on the lens. The light kit mentioned looks pretty good and the soft box seems like a good start on the long guns. My best guess for a start would be to place the long box above and slightly behind the gun and a gun length but narrow reflector in front of the weapon. That only uses one light so you have another for background and a kicker for a dark stock. I'm just rattling based on what I have shot, guns only with bullets. The "Light Magic" book by the way is worth it's weight in gold.

 

[KD5NRH]

We will be doing thousands of shots like the following once we get the area setup:

Model 52

Long guns are tricky anyway, since they're...well...long. If you really want to show the quality and workmanship, it's best to do an overview shot and several detail shots. For things like polished wood and engraving, lighting becomes a bit of a trial and error process to bring out the lines without having any glare in the camera.

 

[Patrice]

Almost any modern dSLR and kit lens can do static product photos. Where the impact comes from is the lighting and how you stage the item to photograph. Considering you want to do thousands of photos you might want to up your budget a bit. $2000 barely gets you a couple of decent pro quality lights.
The shots you linked to are not very technically challenging and certainly, in my opinion, do not have any 'wow' factor at all. I'm sure that with a bit of practice and some imagination you'll be able to do loads better.

Beg, borrow, steal or even consider buying a book on artificial lighting for photography.

Good luck.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I think $2000 is a good start if you go with hot lights.

A simple body and a good 50 or 35mm lens would be good enough to start with. A softbox can be made to any size with cpvc pipes and fittings and a few clamps. There is diffuser material sold but you can also use sheers type material and you can make your own reflectors out of foam core boards.

Hot lights are called that because they get hot but the guns won't care. Any halogen work light will do for starters so long as you use the same type of bulbs in all of them and do a custom White Balance.

Use a paper seamless background so you don't have creases as in your example and build yourself some supports for the guns that can be hidden by the gun itself so it doesn't have to lean against the background.

There is not much you can do for the wow factor when doing catalog type images especially when you are just starting. Just do clean, well lit photos for now.

Later on when money is coming in and you've gotten tired of the heat, you can get better lighting gear. Good luck.

 

[kundalini]

The website you linked for Model 52 has poor examples for showing off a product IMO. Highly reflective where you want to see detail, obtrusive background and it (the background) swallows the product.

Use a seamless paper for the background to remove the wrinkles.

Any combination of camera and lens could be used for this type of photography, so don't get your knickers in a twist over that. The lighting and attention to detail is another story completely. If you setup your studio so that you can easily rig the rifles to be suspended by fishing line (that can be easily removed in post), get it away from the background and have a set lighting pattern to remove any reflection, you will be able to click off your thousands with good results.

I can envisage a 5 light setup. Two lights in softboxes for the product (because of the length), two bare and flagged lights for the background (even lighting) and a stripbox above and in back for separation and pop.

Just my 2¢.