Trying to set up a Fashion photography studio.. Help!

[ashleyeady]

Hi there,
I'm wanting to do flat shots of my product line, as well as some model shots.

I saw to use softboxes for the flat shots to take any shadowing out, is this what would work best?

As for my model shots, I was looking into some green screen kits. These usually come with 3 soft box lights a couple of umbrellas and the screen and stand.

Are these kits any good?

ashley

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

A softbox 'softens' the light, but it can still create shadows, depending on the angles between the light and the subject and the camera. To get very even lighting, you will likely want two lights.
Keep in mind that flat or even lighting isn't always what you might want. No shadows can also mean that you won't see the texture.

Also, a softbox or an umbrella are just light modifiers....they are not lights. First you have to decide if you want constant lighting (tungsten, florescent, halogen etc.) or if you want flash/strobe lights. You could use either but I'd suggest flash/strobes if you are going to be shooting models (things that move).

As for the backdrop, are you planning on extracting the models from the background, and replacing them onto some other background? If so, why? Or do you just want to have the model on a clean background? Either way, using a green or blue screen may be more trouble that it's worth and really isn't necessary. You can extract a subject from a white, black or grey background pretty easily, as long as you light them to prevent them from merging with it. And if you just want a clean background, then just shoot them on that background and save all the post processing work of extracting them.

I'm guessing that the kits you are seeing, are the cheap ones (only a couple hundred for the whole kit). Like with most things, you get what you pay for....and if you cheap out, you will likely end up with poor results or you will end up paying more for better gear down the road.

Lastly, have you considered just hiring a photographer to shoot your product line? Many successful business people will tell you to stick to your strengths and outsource the things that you can't do as well.

 

[ashleyeady]

Well,
I would hire out for this but...I have to shoot my clothing line every year. I thought if i set myself up with something that I could do the pics that that would be the most cost effective down the road.
For the flat shots, I previously shot my suits on a white plastic board and once input into the computer, I would still have to spend hours removing the background.
The one time I decided to add some lighting, and this seemed to be goodish...my suits looked not true to colour.


As for the model shots...I don't want to put my models into a fake background..ew!
I want to remove the background to be white. So it's just the model.

 

[Big Mike]

The best / easiest way to get a white background is to shoot it that way. It will take proper lighting and some set up time, but it's much better than trying to do it digitally for every photo.

Basically, it's not enough to just have a white surface behind your subject. You need your background to have more light than the subject. You could maybe get away with laying a suit onto a white surface, but with models, that won't work. You need to have them forward from the backdrop and hit the backdrop with lights, probably at least two.
HERE is a popular tutorial on how to shoot to get a white seamless background.

For the suits, by themselves, you could use mannequins and the same lighting as you would use for the models.

 

[ghache]

Where are you located in canada?

 

[ghache]

I wouldnt mind doing a tf* shoot with a clothing designer.

 

[ashleyeady]

Yes that tutorial was very good. That's what I'm for. That white seamless paper is super expensive. why wouldn't white muslin work the same?

 

[Big Mike]

Yes that tutorial was very good. That's what I'm for. That white seamless paper is super expensive. why wouldn't white muslin work the same?

Seamless paper shouldn't be that expensive, but I guess shipping could add quite a bit. Good quality musilns aren't cheap either though.

Paper is nice because it's smooth and seamless. A fabric backdrop won't be as smooth and will likely be wrinkly. You can over come this by hitting it with background lights from multiple angles, but paper is just so much easier.