New Member – Learning Product Photography and Looking for Lighting Advice

[CrazyChef]

Hi folks,

I figured it was time to stop lurking and actually introduce myself. My name is Phil and I’ve been getting more serious about photography lately and right now I’m mainly focusing on product photography.

Most of what I’m interested in working on is small tabletop stuff. Things like guitar effects pedals, small kitchen products, various types of packaged items, that sort of thing. I’m trying to get to the point where I can consistently shoot clean commercial quality product photos. Eventually I want to start learning food photography as well.

I’m still very much in the learning phase and trying to really understand the fundamentals. Exposure, depth of field, lighting, reflections, all the things that make product shots look clean instead of amateur.

My current gear setup is:

Camera: Nikon D5300
Nikon 40mm Micro-Nikkor f/2.8
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro
Nikon 18-55 kit lens

Most of my shooting right now is tripod-based tabletop setups while I experiment with lighting and camera settings.

Speaking of lighting, that’s probably the area I’m trying to improve the most right now. If anyone here has recommendations for solid but reasonably affordable lighting for product photography, I’d really love to hear what’s worked for you. Right now I’m using some cheap lighting that’s pretty amateurish that I got from Amazon.

So I’m curious - If you were starting over today and wanted a good but inexpensive lighting setup, what would you buy first?

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to learning from the community.

Phil

 

[Jeff1566 66]

Hello Phil, and welcome. Good luck with your new venture....

 

[Tinstafl134 130]

Get a light box and a couple godex lights .

 

[CrazyChef]

Get a light box and a couple godex lights .

Yeah, I've been looking at the Godex lights. Apparently they make some high quality beginner-friendly products.

 

[cgw135 160]

Google "product photography."

 

[CrazyChef]

Google "product photography."

There's always that one dude in every group...
You could easily use that same reply to EVERY question ever asked in this forum since it's inception.

 

[Tinstafl134 130]

Yeah, I've been looking at the Godex lights. Apparently they make some high quality beginner-friendly products.

The Lightbox is collapsable but will help a lot. also if you want to utilize a pice of plexiglass under the setup so you can light it from he bottom too. I had an old side table and I put the glass over it and some foam core at 45 degrees and shot the light into the foam core and made the bottom of the set white too. you will have to adjust it but one on each side and one underneath or on top help a lot

 

[DanOstergren40 5]

Yeah, I've been looking at the Godex lights. Apparently they make some high quality beginner-friendly products.

I have great experiences with Godox lighting. I highly recommend starting with their stuff.

 

[TJMcG130 14]

My wife makes jewelry, and often wants pictures for reference, and to send to customers, etc. I have been using two of these lately, in a flat-lay setup. I have also done some shots using necklace and earring displays, with the same lights and a backdrop. I have a light tent, but I seldom use it anymore. This type of light will work well with that also, however.

I just use manual settings and adjust the exposure in the rear screen.

 

[CrazyChef]

@CrazyChef Only 10 yrs lurking to come out of the shadows. LOL Glad you joined the conversations.

Now, on the subject of product photography. It somewhat depends on the product, is it glass, does it have a lot of specular highlights, are you looking for drama, do you want to show it in use??? All of these questions need to be answered before you can pick the lighting. As already mentioned a light box, gives soft light while minimizing shadows, but if you want more drama consider low key using black V-flats to put the product near darkness, with only the important highlights illuminated. Snoots, barn doors, and girds contain and focus light. A conventional Rembrandt lighting set up creates shadows, and adds dimension. Backlighting and rim lighting can separate the product from it's background, and sometimes you can get creative with the lighting as in this one, where a sparkler was used (no other light)
hot bulb 2.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

For glass products I would suggest White-Line and Black-Line Lighting to really show off glass details. Here's one using the techniques
Pepsi05202017_257-Edit.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

As to lights LEDs (not the cheap ones) offer the advantage of WYSIWYG, but strobes seem to offer better contrast/color. Take your pick there are a lot of options out there.

This is some great advice. Thank you.

 

[Tinstafl134 130]

Also you might want a polarizer or the reflections. And glass you will need a couple black cards or scrims and or
Bigger depending on the size of the product

 

[JBPhotog]

Welcome to the 'Marianna Trench' of photography. The knowledge and experience one needs to do commercial quality work is bottomless but everyone has to start somewhere right? My journey began more than 40 years ago and there are still nuances to my knowledge base that I learn today. I highly recommend looking at magazine ads and taking them on as a challenge project. You will learn quickly that studying the product, how it is lit, perspective and technique will push you to make mistakes which is where you will learn the most. Start out thoughtfully with regards to gear so your investment is valuable to the outcome. And of course watch tonnes of tutorials.

 

[ELKRIVERSCOTT]

Hi folks,

I figured it was time to stop lurking and actually introduce myself. My name is Phil and I’ve been getting more serious about photography lately and right now I’m mainly focusing on product photography.

Most of what I’m interested in working on is small tabletop stuff. Things like guitar effects pedals, small kitchen products, various types of packaged items, that sort of thing. I’m trying to get to the point where I can consistently shoot clean commercial quality product photos. Eventually I want to start learning food photography as well.

I’m still very much in the learning phase and trying to really understand the fundamentals. Exposure, depth of field, lighting, reflections, all the things that make product shots look clean instead of amateur.

My current gear setup is:

Camera: Nikon D5300
Nikon 40mm Micro-Nikkor f/2.8
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro
Nikon 18-55 kit lens

Most of my shooting right now is tripod-based tabletop setups while I experiment with lighting and camera settings.

Speaking of lighting, that’s probably the area I’m trying to improve the most right now. If anyone here has recommendations for solid but reasonably affordable lighting for product photography, I’d really love to hear what’s worked for you. Right now I’m using some cheap lighting that’s pretty amateurish that I got from Amazon.

So I’m curious - If you were starting over today and wanted a good but inexpensive lighting setup, what would you buy first?

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to learning from the community.

Phil

I used to tape commercials in a TV studio and on one occasion i was doing work for a for real big time production company and ask the producer how he handles lighting. Where they go and which angles and using contrast for depth and fill lighting. I was told to shoot it the way I thinks looks best any way I set up my lighting. Nothing automatic and no set rules outside of composition. I also learned that with video or film to take a picture and move the camera. Move it up or down or fight or left or anywhere, just move it.

 

[ELKRIVERSCOTT]

Hi folks,

I figured it was time to stop lurking and actually introduce myself. My name is Phil and I’ve been getting more serious about photography lately and right now I’m mainly focusing on product photography.

Most of what I’m interested in working on is small tabletop stuff. Things like guitar effects pedals, small kitchen products, various types of packaged items, that sort of thing. I’m trying to get to the point where I can consistently shoot clean commercial quality product photos. Eventually I want to start learning food photography as well.

I’m still very much in the learning phase and trying to really understand the fundamentals. Exposure, depth of field, lighting, reflections, all the things that make product shots look clean instead of amateur.

My current gear setup is:

Camera: Nikon D5300
Nikon 40mm Micro-Nikkor f/2.8
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro
Nikon 18-55 kit lens

Most of my shooting right now is tripod-based tabletop setups while I experiment with lighting and camera settings.

Speaking of lighting, that’s probably the area I’m trying to improve the most right now. If anyone here has recommendations for solid but reasonably affordable lighting for product photography, I’d really love to hear what’s worked for you. Right now I’m using some cheap lighting that’s pretty amateurish that I got from Amazon.

So I’m curious - If you were starting over today and wanted a good but inexpensive lighting setup, what would you buy first?

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to learning from the community.

Phil

You will note watching movies and especially video taped television much time is spent giving the background more depth by including things like the shadow of venetian blinds or a shadow of something with patterns. If something is lighted and you think it looks good you are inventor of something new. I used to use flashlights and vehicle position lights and mirrors with lighting. Bouncing lighting looks cool.

 

[ELKRIVERSCOTT]

You will note watching movies and especially video taped television much time is spent giving the background more depth by including things like the shadow of venetian blinds or a shadow of something with patterns. If something is lighted and you think it looks good you are inventor of something new. I used to use flashlights and vehicle position lights and mirrors with lighting. Bouncing lighting looks cool.