Product Photography for a Newbie

[YWGPhotoGuy]

Hi all,

Looking for some direction here...

I would like to pictures of small to medium products (pencils and shoes) on pure white backgrounds as well as possibly on a nice back drop (in front of a brick wall or something).

I have a 2 part question:

How much talent do I need, I am willing to take a course/read a book enough necessary but if it's going to take years of study and work I probably just revisit my decision?

What type of lens, lighting, and tripod do I need? I was looking at the Manfrotto 055 cause of the horizontal arm but I am not sure what an appropriate lens and lighting setup would be. I Nikon D3300.

Thank you for your help

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I would say for pictures on white you don´t need much of talent.

1. Get one of those lighttents
2. put it out into the sun without letting direct sunlight into the front opening
3. put your camera on a tripod
4. Set your camera to RAW image quality
   
5. and create a series of images with different exposure compensation settings
6. play a little with the whites in lightroom
7. get some more than decent results

If you add some knowledge about aperture, shutter speed and ISO, you could deliberately change the camera settings to achieve for example a bigger depth of focus.

Lens needed: around 35-50mm focal length - even the kit lens would get you decent results to start with. Lighting: for images on white not really - a lighttent with sunlight is sufficient. Tripod: The Manfrotto 055 is a really nice tripod. If you plan to travel with it, it is a little heavy though - but stability comes with a price .

Well, and for everything else there is some talent and if you don´t have much some work involved. Depending on the type of shot you want you will need some lighting. That can range from cheap styrofoam boards as reflectors, or cloth as diffusor to easier controllable flash with softboxes.

 

[YWGPhotoGuy]

Thank you so much for the reply! Is there some lighting you'd recommend if I wanted to set something up in the office that I can count out even in cloudy day?

Are there any online courses you'd recommend?

 

[photo1x1.com]

I photograph almost exclusively with elinchrom lighting equipment, and I highly recommend it. It is medium priced. But depending on where you live, there are other options - I´m sure people will chime in here to give advice on lighting equipment.
Regarding online courses - some recommend books, others are more visual types. I´d go on youtube for the beginning. Not everything is technically 100% correct - neiter on youtube nor in most books, but together with a lot of practice with your camera (which is the most important part), you will sure get there.

 

[Designer]

Thank you so much for the reply! Is there some lighting you'd recommend if I wanted to set something up in the office that I can count out even in cloudy day?

Electronic flash. There are some less expensive speedlights available. Learn how to use flash and you'll be set.

Here; this site has some free courses.

http://strobist.blogspot.com

 

[Derrel]

You can FTP the files to one of those Hong Kong retouching houses and they can prep and finish the images for like $1.09 to $1.29 each. Not kidding you, such places exist.

I thought knockout.com was one, a few years back. Or maybe it was dropshadow.com.