Product photography - what do I need to improve?

[jmariemi]

I am a graphic designer for a small manufacturing company. We are currently expanding our product lines to be included in some big name stores like wal-mart, target, and costco. Our photography isn’t terrible, but it could use improvement to bring it up to a more professional level. I have taken photography classes, but mostly based on composition and how to use Photoshop, etc. But here I’m dealing a lot more with studio photography (and by that I mean indoor lighting for product and project shots). We have a large photography room, and currently our supplies include:

•Camera: Canon EOS 10D digital (original cost: $1,500 when we bought it 5 years ago .... current amazon price: $150)
•Lenses: Canon ultrasonic EF 100 mm f/2.8 macro USM
Canon zoom lens EF 28-200mm
•55” lightbox (with black and white backgrounds)
•2 250 watt halogen lights (This one here: Lowel Pro-light)
•2 800 watt halogen lights + a 500 watt lowel omni light (very similar to this kit here: GO Jet Set Kit)
•1 silver reflective umbrella with white on the back (same as the one in the link above)
•2 shoot-through umbrellas
•1 small light table (1.5’x1.5&#8217
•Black and white butcher paper rolls on the walls for backdrops
•2 plexiglass domes for jewelry

We mostly dabble in products such as: hair accessories, scrapbooking lines, tech bags, and jewelry.

I have been doing a lot of research online to learn more about studio photography and equipment, etc. but I am by no means whatsoever an expert, or even intermediate.

My question is, how do we get our photography up to the next level? My boss gave me a $2,500 budget to improve what we have. He’s interested in a new camera and some new lights, because we’ve been having problems with ours. (we’re running into the problem of things being very blurry, and the halogen lights make everything orange, and when your product shots are on a white background, it’s just a hassle to have to edit them every time to a truer color.) I was thinking that it would be a good move to invest in some soft boxes such as these ones: Amazon.com: Fancierstudio 2400 Watt Lighting Kit With Boom Arm Hairlight Softbox Lighting Kit By Fancierstudio 9004SB2: Electronics but at the same time, I’m not sure if we truly need them, or if I just need to become more skilled in studio photography.

I honestly don’t know if they will be better than the lights we have (I just feel like the halogen lamps put off a harsher light that isn’t very diffused...and it can also get really hot and claustrophobic to be in an enclosed room with them!) I’m not sure either if the problem with the camera not focusing well in most of our product shots is happening because: A. We’re all using the camera settings incorrectly or B. We are using insufficient lighting or C. Our lenses aren’t the right mm for the closeness of our shots (approximately 2 feet away) or D. The camera really just needs to be replaced because the technology is outdated (or cleaned somehow...I was using a longer aperture on some shots, and quite a few dust spots showed up).

My boss also offered to pay for me to take some studio photography classes at the local community college (which would maybe cost about $400 per class) but I don’t know how many I would need to take.

thanks for all your help!

 

[y75stingray]

You have a decent set up for retail photography. It sounds like you still need to learn the basics. the first tips i can give off the top of my head

1. learn how to set a custom white balance!! your shots are orange becuase your white balance hasnt been set properly . Google "set a custom white balance" find a tutorial its pretty easy as long as you have a grey card.

2. use a tripod and time set shutter or remote tether. your shots are most likey blurry due to camera shake.

3. learn the exposure triangle!!! apeture, shutter speed and ISO levels all need to be set just so to get that perfect exposure.

4. Don't worry too much about your gear. Play with what you have once you really get into it you will know what aggrevates you the most about your set up, then use that money your boss allowed you to improve on that.

 

[CCericola]

You might want to look into hiring a pro to help you set things up and guide you through the process. It's not uncommon for a company to pay a pro to teach their employees what they need to know for the bulk of the work but pay the pro to shoot the more complicated stuff.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

^^^^ :thumbup:

Never buy gear until you know what you're doing. You could be buying the wrong stuff. I would take your boss up on the offer of classes to start with. You can probably learn it all on your own but it might take longer and if your boss is paying for it, why not?

Then, start posting here stuff that you do in your work studio and in class and we can help.

Just for your info, part of my work is product and I use strobes. Although they require a bit more knowledge than continuous light since it is not quite what you see is what you get, they are much nicer to work with because they don't get hot and, for a full time studio, they are cheaper to use, electricity wise. With strobes you also need a flashmeter. Now those things are not cheap but they can be found used.



PS = My :thumbup: was for stingray but CC's response is very good too. I will be spending a week in a large corporate studio to teach creativity to the staff so it is definitely a possibility.

 

[jmariemi]

Thank you all very much for your responses! I appreciate them and I feel like they have a lot of valuable insight.

The problem with the camera that i'm not quite sure what i'm dealing with is this:

flowers with different apertures | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

As I was changing the aperture, I came across some dust specks (you can see them in the first and last shots-I purposefully left these unedited so you could see what different apertures I was using), but after having cleaned the whole camera and lenses, i'm not quite sure where this is coming from.

Thanks!

 

[y75stingray]

yes, your sensor may have some dust on it, what ISO were you set at? At a higher ISO rating you will see every liitle speck, however at a low rating there is a good chance they will not be visible. Thats the way it is on my 5D MARK II anyway. you should try to keep your ISO very low. I keep mine at a constant 100 when shooting high key product and adjust my shutter and lighting acordingly.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Dinner is over and I wanted to come back to add to what CCericola said.

The part of my business that is product photography is shot entirely by an assistant. This kid knew the very basics of photography when I hired him but had never worked with lights in a studio setting. 90% of the photos are used for catalogs so we want a consistent look which means the set up doesn't change much from one object to the next. I spent a week teaching him then he was on his own practicing for a couple weeks. I only had to get involved a couple times with things that were a bit trickier to light. Since then he has been shooting on his own.

All that to say that the idea of hiring a pro to help get set up and going may be the way to go for you guys as it seems you may be in a similar situation.

 

[mjhoward]

Looks like you need to work more on isolating your subjects from that background and the foreground for that matter. In the series you linked for instance, a much larger backdrop that also ran a longer length on the ground or table would be necessary. This would allow you to pull the vase much further away from the back of the backdrop and allowing it to blurred with large aperture and it would also allow for a more continuous white 'floor'. In your images, the vase is right up against the table edge, which is also where your cover or backdrop drops off the table. You dont want to see this, you want what appears to be just and infinitely large and continuous white room.

I'm no professional by any means so take that advice for what its worth... pretty much nothing

 

[epatsellis]

Imagine somebody asking you advice about a magazine or catalog they want to design in-house. How would you quantify everything you know about design to convey what they need to do???

It's a similar situation, the advice to hire a pro is good advice, and if you're company is considering moving up into the big leagues, they should seriously consider having a pro shoot most of their work. While 70% of the knowledge is easily transferable, the 30% that isn't is what separates the pros from the wannabe's. Experience matters, and with more experience comes quicker results. When I had a commercial studio, I had several assistants shooting, but the ultimate decision was mine, as they prepped and got things ready. Simply put, workflow issues and the like are hard enough to establish to a commercial level, learning that on the job on top of learning lighting and equipment is a recipe for disaster, quite likely on the tight time budget shoot that has to be in hand no later than the next day and no time to redo. The equipment and lighting are only a small part of what it takes to be a successful commercial photographer.

 

[jmariemi]

Thank you all for your comments. They have been extremely helpful considering how new I am to all of this. I have had my boss take a look at everything said, and he said that you have all provided some valuable insight.

We came to these conclusions after reading everything:

It would be a good idea to have a professional come in and teach us about commercial photography. c.cloudwalker >> I agree 100% with what you are saying about having a professional photographer come in and teach us the ins and outs of product photography, and how to use the equipment that we have. We have already started looking into it.

I think it would be an ideal situation for us to hire on a photographer full-time, but considering the demand for our product photography isn't to a high point yet (we may do a shoot once a week or so), it isn't something that we would be able to look into seriously. It's also on an as-needed basis, and we don't know if it's really worth it to pay a professional photographer to take a photo of a hair clip that is going to cost $3.99 at wal-mart. We do outsource our important model shots and catalog shots to professional photographers who charge us $60 a shot though.

I am very interested in learning how to take a professional-looking shot myself. I understand that photography is such a technical field that takes years of studying and practice, but I would love to understand a lot more about professional photography so that if i'm ever applying to be an creative/art director one day, I will be well-rounded and capable of making decisions and recognizing good lighting (though I don't intend on dedicating my life to be a professional photographer). It will also bring some of my work to a whole new level by understanding photography more.

I do have a couple more questions though...

We went to pictureline here in SLC and they suggested that we purchase a an Elinchrom strobe kit for $1600 (this one here:ELINCHROM - To Go Sets). But i'm not sure if it's worth it for the retail level product photography that we're doing, and if that's the case, that we should invest in this one: Amazon.com: Fancierstudio 2400 Watt Lighting Kit With Boom Arm Hairlight Softbox Lighting Kit By Fancierstudio 9004SB2: Electronics

Also, I have been playing around a lot with an 18% grey card today to get some good white balance, but it seems like my exposure is getting worse. I brought my exposure as high up as it could go, but it stayed a darker grey the entire time. Am I doing something wrong? Or do I just need to learn more about the aperture and shutter speed?

Thanks again!