Noobinian with some questions

[girl_with_brain]

Hey all I'm a noob to the forum and noob to the wonderful world of DSLR's. So new that my camera is on its way and will arrive on Wednesday! lol

Previously I shot with an outdated Nikon coolpix 5700. I did some pretty rad photos with my minimaliast equipment but it was long overdue for an upgrade.

I'm a graphic/web designer by trade and recently a few clients said they'd pay me for some product photography. So in I jump on my way to adding photographer to my list of trades. I also will be doing a few children's portraits from time to time for fun and who knows maybe for some fundage later on.

If anyone has tips on which polarizer and flash to get for product photography would be awesome!

 

[kristyberends]

Hey there, love the 50mm f/1.4, so good choice on that. I use a canon speedlite 430ex and it works nicely, but if you have the budget you might want to look at the 580ex II for flash.

 

[Vinny]

I don't think you need a polarizing filter to shoot products. Depending on what type of products you're talking about you might want to use a light box or use a flash off camera with a soft box.

 

[girl_with_brain]

I don't think you need a polarizing filter to shoot products. Depending on what type of products you're talking about you might want to use a light box or use a flash off camera with a soft box.

You're right! But I am also shooting some infant/children's portraits which will most likely be outside. For that I'll need a polarizer won't I?

 

[o hey tyler]

I don't think you need a polarizing filter to shoot products. Depending on what type of products you're talking about you might want to use a light box or use a flash off camera with a soft box.

You're right! But I am also shooting some infant/children's portraits which will most likely be outside. For that I'll need a polarizer won't I?

If you plan on pouring cooking oil all over your clients before your shoots, you may want to invest in a polarizer.

Otherwise, you can probably wait a little while before picking one up.

 

[Rosshole]

Also, for good product shots I would seriously consider muliple off camera strobes/flashes/continuous lighting/etc...

 

[cnutco]

Welcome!

 

[girl_with_brain]

I don't think you need a polarizing filter to shoot products. Depending on what type of products you're talking about you might want to use a light box or use a flash off camera with a soft box.

You're right! But I am also shooting some infant/children's portraits which will most likely be outside. For that I'll need a polarizer won't I?

If you plan on pouring cooking oil all over your clients before your shoots, you may want to invest in a polarizer.

Otherwise, you can probably wait a little while before picking one up.

Yah don't think I'll be using hot oil any time soon!!!! lol. Though I'd still like to have one in my kit for occasions when I'll need one. For example one of my clients makes tea and wants me to shoot the boxes in the mountains or mountain type scenery at least. Won't that occasion call for a polarizer?

 

[girl_with_brain]

Also, for good product shots I would seriously consider muliple off camera strobes/flashes/continuous lighting/etc...

I was looking at the cowboy studio set ups pretty cost effective. Thoughts?

 

[o hey tyler]

You're right! But I am also shooting some infant/children's portraits which will most likely be outside. For that I'll need a polarizer won't I?

If you plan on pouring cooking oil all over your clients before your shoots, you may want to invest in a polarizer.

Otherwise, you can probably wait a little while before picking one up.

Yah don't think I'll be using hot oil any time soon!!!! lol. Though I'd still like to have one in my kit for occasions when I'll need one. For example one of my clients makes tea and wants me to shoot the boxes in the mountains or mountain type scenery at least. Won't that occasion call for a polarizer?

Well you have to remember, purchase for what your needs are. If you are going to NEED to shoot some reflective materials in brightly lit areas, then yeah, a polarizer of good quality would be an excellent investment if you want good results with your photos.

And I didn't say hot oil, I said cooking oil. Like vegetable, canola, or olive oil.

 

[girl_with_brain]

If you plan on pouring cooking oil all over your clients before your shoots, you may want to invest in a polarizer.

Otherwise, you can probably wait a little while before picking one up.

Yah don't think I'll be using hot oil any time soon!!!! lol. Though I'd still like to have one in my kit for occasions when I'll need one. For example one of my clients makes tea and wants me to shoot the boxes in the mountains or mountain type scenery at least. Won't that occasion call for a polarizer?

Well you have to remember, purchase for what your needs are. If you are going to NEED to shoot some reflective materials in brightly lit areas, then yeah, a polarizer of good quality would be an excellent investment if you want good results with your photos.

And I didn't say hot oil, I said cooking oil. Like vegetable, canola, or olive oil.

Oh hahah I interpreted cooking oil as hot oil! For some reason I was picturing two girls wrestling in a kiddie pool of hot oil. hahah not scalding but a comfortable temp. I guess that'd make an interesting subject to shoot. And Wesson's brand can use it for their magazine ad

 

[Derrel]

Oh hahah I interpreted cooking oil as hot oil! For some reason I was picturing two girls wrestling in a kiddie pool of hot oil. hahah not scalding but a comfortable temp. I guess that'd make an interesting subject to shoot. And Wesson's brand can use it for their magazine ad

Yes, yes, definitely, work on bringing that shoot to fruition, then post lots of shots of it for C&C.

 

[Rosshole]

Also, for good product shots I would seriously consider muliple off camera strobes/flashes/continuous lighting/etc...

I was looking at the cowboy studio set ups pretty cost effective. Thoughts?

Their prices seem good but I know nothing about the quality of the equipment...

 

[Studio7Four]

Polarizers are nice to have but I don't think are a necessity for what you're doing. I use mine for the occasional outdoor scene, when the sky or a body of water figure prominently (it can give the sky some more pop, and definitely helps when shooting water from a low angle). However, for children's portraits, composition and depth of focus will bring the view right to the child, so background elements which may benefit from a polarizer should not be an issue.

I agree with the other posters that the way to go for flashes is off-camera with a soft box, just for its versatility for now compared to a light box. I'd recommend considering going a little cheaper on the flash and using the extra $$ on accessories such as the soft box, remotes, or additional flashes. Unless you're doing quite a bit of product photography, I'd just google "diy light box" and make your own, using the flashes you just bought.

 

[sobolik]

Hey all I'm a noob to the forum and noob to the wonderful world of DSLR's. So new that my camera is on its way and will arrive on Wednesday! lol

Previously I shot with an outdated Nikon coolpix 5700. I did some pretty rad photos with my minimaliast equipment but it was long overdue for an upgrade.

I'm a graphic/web designer by trade and recently a few clients said they'd pay me for some product photography. So in I jump on my way to adding photographer to my list of trades. I also will be doing a few children's portraits from time to time for fun and who knows maybe for some fundage later on.

If anyone has tips on which polarizer and flash to get for product photography would be awesome!

You need a circular polarizer. Inexpensive is just fine. Number one caution I can say is don't believe all those that say you must buy the most expensive anything. Photos forums abound with the incredible coincidence that the most expensive piece of equipment is always the correct one to get. Here is a link to prove my point about "image degradation" Dirty lens article

If you are a skilled? designer then half the battle is won. Composition is critical. The other half of product photography is lighting. Study light boxes and their lighting abilities.
"The object of product photography is to show details of an object clearly. Lighting an object well brings out details and provides pleasing highlights. One method for uniformly lighting small objects is to surround the object in a light box. The following article describes the process for making your own lightbox for small object photography. From start to finish this project should take no longer than 30 minutes." Homemade Light Box for Product Photography StudioLighting.net

Also see light boxes for product photography - Yahoo! Search Results

As far as portraits go. Again lighting is critical for studio portraits. And much info is on the web for studio portrait lenses. Candids take the show on the road and get the kid doing what the kid does. Telephoto zooms are called for here and you just take the lighting as it comes. When taking photos outdoors the polarizer can improve your photos hundreds of times over if the light is polarized. Polarizers and Neutral density filters cannot be duplicated with post processing software. You must have a polarizer in your bag of tricks. I did a beach wedding in Door County Wisconsin and they raved after saying it looked like a tropical Island. It looked so wonderful because I used a polarizer. Not using it would have been an inexcusable "crime".