Need ADVICE for CATALOG photography

[obscura333]

Hello All, this is my first post.

I recently was hired at a local market and I've been asked to research equipment for a small photography studio, so we can update our food catalog.

I have seven years experience as a photojournalist and have a hobby in family portraiture and food photography. But I know very little about lighting equipment when it comes to product and professional food photography.

We will be shooting various products as well as fresh cooked foods. I really love the lighting and photography on this link: Good Taste - A celebration of food from Lunds and Byerly's

My budget is $1,000 for lighting and props. Any advice on equipment would be amazing!

I currently shoot with a Canon 5d Mark III.



Thanks so much!

 

[julesoille]

Here is your shopping list:

• 4 stands (2 for the strobes, 2 to hold the crossbar)
• 1 crossbar $60
• A not dangerous strobe boom stand that won’t fall over or snap $300
• Boom arm $300
• 3 umbrella diffusers $120
• Sand bags x3 $30
• Light meter $300
• White paper rolls $80
• Acrylic Risers $30
• 3 strobes 600w $800
• Tether your camera (use light room + your laptop)
• Tether cable $30
• Table

Now you have to learn how to use this crap... A !k budget wont cut it

 

[webrotate360]

Some of the images in your Good Taste reference link were shot in natural day light I think, but you can actually see some of their equipment on the reflective products like this one. As far I can tell there were just three continuous softboxes used in that shot. You can get a similar setup for cheap like this one and it will work fine (though it may not last long ) for similar shots if you stick to small items and will not be shooting water drops, splashes and staff.

 

[Scatterbrained]

Hello All, this is my first post.

I recently was hired at a local market and I've been asked to research equipment for a small photography studio, so we can update our food catalog.

I have seven years experience as a photojournalist and have a hobby in family portraiture and food photography. But I know very little about lighting equipment when it comes to product and professional food photography.

We will be shooting various products as well as fresh cooked foods. I really love the lighting and photography on this link: Good Taste - A celebration of food from Lunds and Byerly's

My budget is $1,000 for lighting and props. Any advice on equipment would be amazing!

I currently shoot with a Canon 5d Mark III.



Thanks so much!

While I haven't looked at any of the links on that page, I did take a quick gander at the images on the main page. Most of that could be done with one key light and a reflector or two, maybe the odd mirror when needed. That kind of lighting is deceptively simple in that the lighting equipment used won't be too complex, it's the skill of the photographer setting it up, and their ability to pick just the right balance that matters.

You could build a shooting table really cheap if you don't mind putting in some work. Two I-beam sawhorses and a 4'x4', 3/4" sheet of plywood for a table, a roll of vellum or a sheet of rip stop nylon for diffusion, some black and white cards, (foam board works well here), and some fingers and dots for fine light control, maybe even some Cinefoil if need be. You can hang your diffusion sheet from an arm or make a frame for it if you like. You can get 1/8" weld steel rods from a hardware store and make fingers and dots simply by bending the end of the rod in to the size and shape you need then adding the nylon or some black vinyl screen material. A pair of C stands and grip arms to hold the diffusion material and light. A single strobe will start you out fine for close up shots where you don't need to light the background, and of course a light meter and color checker. I'm assuming you already have a calibration device for your monitor? Oh, yeah, don't forget the A clamps.

You can forgo the strobe and pick up some cheap clamplights from the hardware store, but it will limit you to shooting in areas where you can either A)kill all ambient light or B) wait until nighttime comes around.

For shots looking down one light and a reflector will do you just fine. You can head to a hardware store and get cheap vinyl floor tiles to simulate stone floor or countertops, often times for $1 or less each.

For example this shot:

Ruger: MK II by tltichy, on Flickr
​

was done with one light, a diffusion sheet, a mirror, and a reflector. The background consists of vinyl adhesive floor tiles stuck to a piece of foam board. I got the tiles for $.89 each at Lowe's.

​

One light through a diffusion panel (or softbox) with no reflector will give the harder light look that's coming back in style, while still having softer shadow transitions. It can give a nice, low key, moody image with a really simple set up. Then you can just add fill back in via the reflector.

Sorta like this:

Flight Plans by tltichy, on Flickr




​

The thing to remember about this kind of shooting is that it is almost always lit from behind (not directly behind, but you get the idea) or the side. A light behind provides the rim and highlights, while a card in front (and or overhead) provides the fill/key. You can even use small mirrors to target light into specific areas if you need to. For fresh food you can just put a light on one side (with a diffuser) and a reflector on the other. Quick and simple.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

$1K budget does seem a little small but like scatterbrained said there are always ways around it.

Many people use hotlights for still life photography and hotlights(continuous lamps) are the cheaper route for sure, but, per their name, they get really hot, so it has a chance of melting some of the products you would be shooting which would be a major problem. I would recommend strobes for this reason, but then again, you know better than I do whether or not hotlights could cause problems for you.

If you do decide to go with strobes I recommend Prophoto for their ease of use and exceptional quality, however they are a bit pricey. A cheaper option would be white lightning but I don't have any price estimates for you at the moment.

 

[ruben_c]

Once you have lightning I would also invest in color reproduction. I work with SpyderCheckr and SpyderCube. SpyderCheckr is a color reference like the passport and SpyderCube is for white balance and contrasts...

 

[JoeW]

So you'll be shooting food and want equipment/lighting advice eh? I suggest you check out Teri Campbell's book "Food Photography and Lighting." Teri runs a top notch food photography business out of Cincinnati. Book is great, his facility is to die for. He spends a lot of time in the book explaining the setup and equipment that he has and when to tap in to particular pieces of gear (as well as the obvious "here's the shot, here's what I used to create this" bit that is part of all photography books).

I agree with a lot of the comments above. When I look at the photos on the site, I see a variety of different approaches (some are high contrast) but most appear to be shot with filtered natural light or one key light plus a reflector. In my experience (depending upon the type of food and food product), setting and props can be more of an investment than the lighting (again, depends upon what you're looking to do and when you look at the examples you provided, it's not all shot on a white cyc background).