Store furniture photography

[LCTD]

Hello so basically i have to shoot in the store where is literally no space to move around and there is no background all i need is some advice how to shoot photos with green screen some other stuff ? or should i just photoshop

 

[Jeff15]

Hello and welcome, good luck with your furniture photography..

 

[Fujidave]

Hello and welcome, try taking low down angle shots too as your photos need to be able to get the customers in and sell plus best of luck too.

 

[LCTD]

Hello and welcome, try taking low down angle shots too as your photos need to be able to get the customers in and sell plus best of luck too.

Do you recommend green screens or are they pointless? since i have to set up green screens for every single couch individually if so could u recommend green screen itself as well ? thank you in advance ^^

 

[Fujidave]

Hello and welcome, try taking low down angle shots too as your photos need to be able to get the customers in and sell plus best of luck too.

Do you recommend green screens or are they pointless? since i have to set up green screens for every single couch individually if so could u recommend green screen itself as well ? thank you in advance ^^

You could try using green screens, but I`v never shot this sort of thing before.

 

[tirediron]

There is always another option: Walk away. If you don't feel you can execute the commission satisfactorily, there's no shame in passing on it. That said, what is the intent of the images? If it's to advertise the store and its merchandise, than I would simply set up a nice background of furniture a good distance away, such that, when shot with a fairly large aperture, it's well OOF, but still recognizable, and then move the various pieces to it. That way your lighting can stay reasonably static and things should go quickly.

 

[LCTD]

I think i need green screen at least 4-5 meters wide since most of the couches are that size but cant find that size anywhere

 

[LCTD]

There is always another option: Walk away. If you don't feel you can execute the commission satisfactorily, there's no shame in passing on it. That said, what is the intent of the images? If it's to advertise the store and its merchandise, than I would simply set up a nice background of furniture a good distance away, such that, when shot with a fairly large aperture, it's well OOF, but still recognizable, and then move the various pieces to it. That way your lighting can stay reasonably static and things should go quickly.

Its my family s business and intent is to show the furniture to customers and i need those images for facebook and site... do you advise for me to buy additional lights ? since i am new to photographing i only have camera flash and i have Sony a58 camera with 2 lenses

 

[tirediron]

A green screen relies on proper lighting and placement to be effective. Jamming it up right behind the chesterfield (as an example) is only going to make life more difficult. It will throw a colour cast and shadows will make it very difficult to cut out.

 

[tirediron]

Its my family s business and intent is to show the furniture to customers and i need those images for facebook and site... do you advise for me to buy additional lights ? since i am new to photographing i only have camera flash and i have Sony a58 camera with 2 lenses

My advice would be to hire a professional. If you were having a heart-attack, would you call you friend the car salesman who has a first-aid kit so that you could save the cost of the ambulance trip? Unlikely! Photography is a huge (possibly the most important) aspect of commercial product advertising. Getting it right is an investment in your business. There's no reason you can't get it right, but you're clearly not there yet. Learn and practice your photography and in the meantime, call in someone with the skill and equipment to do it right.

 

[LCTD]

Well issue there is in that case we would need full time photographer and they are hard to come by in my country most of the photographers have their own companies and are not willing to work for other businesses. Also photography is huge hobby of mine and i wanted to start using it

 

[dennybeall]

A "Green Screen" does not have to actually be green, just not the color of the item. You can use white if there is not white in the item or black if no black.
You just need to be behind the edges of the item - the rest you can just broad brush away.
You can also use a small green screen and make multiple photos from a tripod, moving the screen each time, then put the parts together with Photoshop.

 

[Designer]

Hello so basically i have to shoot in the store where is literally no space to move around and there is no background all i need is some advice how to shoot photos with green screen some other stuff ? or should i just photoshop

My advice is to leave the backgrounds as they are. Showing furniture along with other furnishings is no sin, IMO. Your store is already set up that way, so why try to hide/eliminate the backgrounds?

Additionally; get more familiar with flash and get a couple of studio flashes, light stands, and large white reflectors. None of these items will be visible in your photographs, but the main subject will stand out apart from the backgrounds by having adequate light on it.

 

[LCTD]

Hello so basically i have to shoot in the store where is literally no space to move around and there is no background all i need is some advice how to shoot photos with green screen some other stuff ? or should i just photoshop

My advice is to leave the backgrounds as they are. Showing furniture along with other furnishings is no sin, IMO. Your store is already set up that way, so why try to hide/eliminate the backgrounds?

Additionally; get more familiar with flash and get a couple of studio flashes, light stands, and large white reflectors. None of these items will be visible in your photographs, but the main subject will stand out apart from the backgrounds by having adequate light on it.

Hmmm could u recommend which ones ? or is there full kit on amazon or something ?

 

[Overread]

Have you got a warehouse or storage area?
You might be able to setup things there and make easier use of a neutral background (such as a white sheet/screen/etc...) which would make it far easier for you to take the photos that you want and have room to setup lighting and other items.

If not then setting up where they are sounds like the only practical solution.
You might want the book "light science and magic (I think its on edition 5 now)" as that will give you a lot of information relating to helping you control the lighting. Flash lighting can be done on the cheap or be expensive; but you've got to have an idea of what you need to make it work. Sometimes you only need one light; other photographers might take 10 or 20. So it can be quite variable.

A simple 3 flash setup might work best, though budget is going to be important. Wireless might be practical as its a store situation and you don't want cables all over the place. That will add to the cost but cuts down a lot on cable issues. Stands and then light modifiers.


Another option is a tripod and use HDR and combine various photos in editing to get the desired exposure. Requires more editing time but cuts down a lot on costs for lighting gear.



Note IKEA and some other stores don't even show photographs any more; its all 3D designs on a set all done in the computer because they've already made the 3D model to design the items. Of course this lets them do whatever they want.