Product Photography Beginner Set

[Frontrunner]

Hi all,

My company is setting up a webshop. This webshop will have a wide range of shoes (approximately 450). I've been doing some research and I was wondering what you would advice me.

At this point I'm looking at a "studiokit" from interfit. This set contains a fotocube and two daylight lamps. We are interested in a kit like this, because we don't want to modify the photos with photoshop to get an almost perfect white background.

Is this the way to go, or would you advice me something else? Any other tips regarding product photography for a beginner?

 

[Don Kondra]

Object Photography Kits by Alzo Digital

Cheers, Don

 

[Imaginis]

Is this the way to go, or would you advice me something else? Any other tips regarding product photography for a beginner?

I would recommend your company to hire a professional photographer instead of putting you on the spot to do the job (presuming you are not actually a professional photographer).

 

[musicaleCA]

Is this the way to go, or would you advice me something else? Any other tips regarding product photography for a beginner?

I would recommend your company to hire a professional photographer instead of putting you on the spot to do the job (presuming you are not actually a professional photographer).

QFT. That, and many products are photoshopped to hell and back so that they look pristine. No shoe doesn't have wrinkles in the outer material, so why do all those shoes on billboards look so perfect?

 

[Don Kondra]

Nah, product photography on a small scale is fairly straightforward.

A tripod, light tent, three CF bulbs in clip on reflectors and shoot in Aperture mode.

If you can, get them to spring for a tethered computer, that helps alot

Cheers, Don

 

[epatsellis]

Nah, product photography on a small scale is fairly straightforward.

A tripod, light tent, three CF bulbs in clip on reflectors and shoot in Aperture mode.

If you can, get them to spring for a tethered computer, that helps alot

Cheers, Don

My $.02, fwiw.

Easy and straightforward, perhaps, perhaps not. About 80% of my clients come about by bailing out somebody who thinks the same thing. Once you have worked with sufficiently consistent and quality lighting and light modifiers, as well as having the real world experience, then it gets somewhat easier.

Shoes and anything else that's highly reflective demand extreme skill in the use of fill cards and flags, as well as knowing how light will react and knowing how to shoot to eliminate unwanted reflections. Creating highlights and shadows to show shape doesn't automatically happen by itself. A shooting table is always extremely helpful as well. While you can do it, do yo bring that level of expertise to the table, so to speak? If not, it's far better to let those who have spent their lives learning and doing shoot it.

My preference is for getting it right in camera, if you have to photoshop it to remove a background or adjust levels, you screwed up.

 

[Park]

Nah, product photography on a small scale is fairly straightforward.

You got it almost right. I think the statement would be more correct as

Nah, bad product photography on a small scale is fairly straightforward.

Shoes, particularly women's shoes, are traditionally shot creatively not just like something you are selling on eBay. They should outsource this to a good product photographer and have images that help sell the shoes not just photos taken inside a light tent.

They are not real but the shoes on this site are examples of what a great product photographer can do. michel tcherevkoff studio :: 212.229.1733

 

[Christie Photo]

Easy and straightforward, perhaps, perhaps not. About 80% of my clients come about by bailing out somebody who thinks the same thing.

Yeah... this is true.

There's no "one-size-fits-all" for this sort of work.

-Pete

 

[Imaginis]

Nah, product photography on a small scale is fairly straightforward.

Well, that completely depends on the end result you expect. If you are looking to get a commercially usable shot, it is much more involved than just setting up a light tent and shooting in Aperture Priority (which will yield a gray background, instead of the desired white). Of course if you don't mind how the shot looks like in the end, it is certainly straightforward.

 

[Don Kondra]

Oh, I care....

And did just fine with continuous lights before moving on to studio strobes.

I will admit I probably spent more time learning to use them than the casual shooter is willing to spend

Having said that, I still maintain someone reasonably competent with their camera can get good results fairly quickly with a light tent, some CF bulbs and a paper backdrop, the $50 tent comes with four backdrops.

I groan every time I read another "I built a tent" thread. Add up your time, cost of the PVC pipe, cutting up a perfectly good cardboard box, etc. and what have you got

For what it's worth, this is a very early test shot I think with 45w CF bulbs.

Cheers, Don

 

[Christie Photo]

...this is a very early test shot I think with 45w CF bulbs.

And (remember, we love you, Don) it demonstrates how the lighting is lacking.

It doesn't communicate the shape of the nozzle or the twist cap, nor the knurls on the twist cap. The label needs some more "pop," and the printing on the back is bleeding through. Also, the top and thumb-side of the sprayer is lost.

I guess what I'm tying to say is this lighting, while "adequate," is not particularly "good" lighting for this product.

-Pete

 

[Don Kondra]

Thanks for that Pete

You do bring up some good points on my test shot.

The blame for those shortcomings lie more with my amateur attempts at post processing at the time rather than the lighting system.

I'm not sure this is even relevant anymore since we haven't heard back from the OP but I still maintain, if on a budget, one can get "acceptable" results with continuous lights and a tent at a cost less than the price of one brand name studio strobe.

The "acceptable" results will take some experimenting to achieve, no matter the lighting system.

Cheers, Don

 

[CygnusStudios]

Well, that completely depends on the end result you expect. If you are looking to get a commercially usable shot, it is much more involved than just setting up a light tent and shooting in Aperture Priority (which will yield a gray background, instead of the desired white). Of course if you don't mind how the shot looks like in the end, it is certainly straightforward.

I could not agree more. I make my living shooting products, and I get most of my clients who came from the "it is pretty straightforward" mentality. There is a huge difference in what is done for websites to print to packaging material. Then you have to understand what an editor or designer is going to do to take that image and add the text, blend whatever color is finally going to be used, and make it conform to their needs beyond the image itself.

 

[epatsellis]

I'm not sure this is even relevant anymore since we haven't heard back from the OP but I still maintain, if on a budget, one can get "acceptable" results with continuous lights and a tent at a cost less than the price of one brand name studio strobe.

Don,
you might be surprised, if you can live without .1 fstop adjustability and a little scrounging, you can shoot with broncolor for less than $150 for a pack and two heads. I've used broncolor for years, and if someone really feels that they need 1/3 of a stop ability, a .1 and .2 ND gel are cheap, and give you 1/3 stop adjustments.

The 5 304 and 404 packs, a dozen heads and tons of modfiers cost me less than $1000, most people would only need one pack and a couple of heads for product work. Depends on your ability to get creative, and how much you're willing to compromise on image quality and quality of light.


erie

 

[Imaginis]

I make my living shooting products, and I get most of my clients who came from the "it is pretty straightforward" mentality.

A little bit off-topic: I recently had a small company inquire about my prices for a "pretty straight forward" product shot. In the end they decided I was too expensive and that an amateur photographer will do it cheaper. Now I am just waiting for a call back because they are not happy with the result.