Any photographers on here???

[richy]

Just wondering if there are any photographers on here (amateur or professional).

The reason I ask is I was wondering what kind of equipment you'd generally need to take decent photos to put on a website. The pictures need to be of a good quality as they would be being advertised to be sold.

I know a decent camera is one thing but what about lighting. Also how would I go about setting up a 'white room' so the product stands out and you see nothing else.

A big ask I know posing this kind of stuff on a golf forum but you never know

 

[CMAC]

you need a dslr, fast lens, tripod and mounted flash that can 'bounce' the light, I know a reasonable amount but if you want the expert opinion go to talkphotography.co.uk where there is a myriad of information (maybe overkill) on the subject.
Ideally a dslr/fast lens/tripod and natural light is best. Whats the product and it might slightly alter my answer

 

[richy]

It will be clothing and footwear

 

[chrisd]

It would be better with a 25 year old, blonde model, like the girl in the Sky Paddypower adverts - then I'd pop along with my polaroid camera and give some free help and advice!



Chris

 

[RGDave]

I used to be into photography (like, 20 years ago) and loved it. I even won a few prizes.
Oddly, just as the world of possibilities open up (with "proper" DSLRs becoming affordable) I'm not tempted to get back into it.
What I do know though is that indoor stuff with amateur kit is tough to get good. I haven't got one decent indoor photo with a bridge camera, even messing with the manual modes.
You're going to need some good equipment and spend quite a while working out how to get the most of the camera.....a forum seems a good starting place.

 

[markyjee]

Agree with advice by darthvaga, talkphotography is an excellent site, depending on the size of products you might be able to use a lightbox (think thats what they call it) instead of a full room.
If its going to be a one off might be cheaper getting a pro.

 

[richy]

its not going to be a one off, its going to be an on going thing as more stock is delivered. I'll look into talkphotography if you think they could help on camera choices and how to create a pure white back drop.
thanks

 

[Mark_G]

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy...-x-7ft-with-super-white-vinyl-train/p10000578

This would do a treat for single models with back lighting to get your perfect white background, you would still need another two studio lights for front lighting but it would give a very professional result. Remember though to use a grey/white card to set your white balance and also you would need to have your monitor calibrated, as because you are selling from these images they need to be as accurate a possible. To be honest by the time you start adding all these costs up, you would probably be better off finding a tog with the gear and spare time to do it well in a fraction of the time it could take you. I used to do lots of product photography for websites and believe me its not easy to get a white item to stand out on a blown white background, so you may have to have several background options.

 

[SteveF]

Product photography can be tricky, but it's very 'doable' and nothing to be afraid of.

There are many ways to isolate objects on a single colour ( usually white ) background. For things like clothing I would be isolating in the computer after taking a correctly exposed picture on a reasonably clean background. We use clipping paths in photoshop for this sort of work; a bit fiddly but good results.

When isolating very tricky items it's more effectively done with the lighting in the studio. We usually do this when shooting models and are looking for a nice clean 'high key' type image. This is the only option when trying to isolate hair.

I will post an example of both methods when I can find them. We use the clipping path method when shooting for stock sites like Shutterstock and the lighting method when doing studio portraits.

A DSLR is a must, although there is no real need for expensive lenses. I would be perfectly happy using standard kit lenses under studio lights. My favourite protrait lens is a fairly cheap 105mm Sigma macro lens.

We did some bike clothing shots for a friend who was selling on ebay some time back, he had tried it himself and they just looked like a jumble sale. We had somebody wear the item for the shoot and then cut them out using clipping paths. That worked very well.

 

[SteveF]

This is an example of isolation using studio lighting. It needs 2 lights on the background and 1 or 2 on the model, you also need as much separation between the model and the background as possible, we will have had 2-3 metres here. It's very difficult to use this method effectively on products.

 

[SteveF]

This is an example using a clipping path. The object is lit to expose correctly with little attention to the background, you then isolate the item with a clipping path, like drawing a line around it in photoshop. You can have several clipping paths in the same image.

Decent product photography is tricky, but if it's your shop window it's worth getting it right I think.