Product photography hints and tips?

IanC

IanC

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Ian
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Hi all, im after a bit of advice and any hints and tips you peeps can provide me on product photography.the products concerned are mainly office stationery. i have taken a few shots so far and im happy enough but theres always room for improvement.

i understand lighting to be the most important thing, is this right?

thankyou for any help regarding this.

cheers Ian :thumbs:
 
post ya shots, that will help i gaining advice
 
My own feeling is they are cropped too tight and need to be sharper.
 
its the dof thats too shallow use a smaller aperture, this will mean you probably want more light though, are you using natural/house lighting or speedlights too
 
im just using house lighting, primitive but all my budget will allow.
 
I agree, a higher f/stop is needed to keep all in focus. As for lighting, I have no idea about that sort of thing lol.
 
cheers for your help everyone, anyone else got any opinions and tips? :thumbs:
 
You do need more depth of field - you want the entire product to be sharp in shots like this. I'd use ONE light - a large softbox or brolly - high and over the subject - with reflectors if needed for fill - avoid multiple shadows.
 
I think you do could a pretty good job there with one of those light tent things used by ebay sellers. Plenty of them about for under £20.

You need more depth of field to get everything in focus, which means a higher f/number, which means (if you're not using flash) a longer shutter speed, which means you'll need a tripod ;)
 
The first thing I thought was that the images were all a bit dull, are you using a custom white balance?

As these are all static subjects with the use of a tripod you can increase the length of the shutter speed to allow you to use a smaller aperture, although it may well be worth purchasing a cable release or using the self timer on the camera to prevent camera shake.
 
Best advice is get a flat picture, no shadows, super sharp, high Aperture, shoot on a Blue/Green Background and cut the image out in photoshop. I'm regularly taking product shots for various print related material.

You don't need expensive equipment to take good product shots. All these were taken in a bodged up studio consisting of cheap desktop lamps, then cut out in PS, dropped onto a new layer then a new Bkground added in.

These were 3 of around 120 taken for a Pharmaceutical Company Catalogue.

VAKR2.jpg

Prenate12.jpg

Neurofen.jpg
 
HoppyUK said:
I think you do could a pretty good job there with one of those light tent things used by ebay sellers. Plenty of them about for under £20.QUOTE]

could you send me a link for what you mean? cheers
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the examples kaarman, thats provided me with a little inspiration.

i am using a tripod but i have been using a relatively quick shutter speed. i will try to slow it down to get more in focus!:thumbs:
 
IanC said:
Thanks for the examples kaarman, thats provided me with a little inspiration.

i am using a tripod but i have been using a relatively quick shutter speed. i will try to slow it down to get more in focus!:thumbs:
Click to expand...

All those were taken Hand Held, Take around 10 shots of each item once you get a nice flat image, ie. no overly highlights or flash highlights etc, don't worry about any shadows unless they interfere with the product, Your looking for a clean cut out in photoshop, use the Magic Wand Selector or Extract, once your product is cut out and on new layer, adjust using Brightness, Exposure, Contrast etc, use a bit of Sharpening and wack a new Background in. Once you get into the rhythm, you will have a set of Common background templates and it becomes easy.:thumbs:
 
This is typical of ones I have just done for a website and for ebay sales. I used the magic wand tool in CS4 to select the background and used the gradient tool. :)
fer037.jpg
 
IanC said:
HoppyUK said:
I think you do could a pretty good job there with one of those light tent things used by ebay sellers. Plenty of them about for under £20.QUOTE]

could you send me a link for what you mean? cheers
Click to expand...

Here you go. This Interfit jobbie looks quite good for £30, and folds up neat, but there are cheaper on ebay http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/shop/brands/interfit/0/interfit-int-310-folding-photo-box/

I use one of these, £20 from Maplin, with a separate hand held diffuser on top http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=38260 Greaseproof paper works okay.
Click to expand...
 
Grab one of the ebay soft-boxes or tents.
Also get a tripod if you don't have one already.
Reduce your aperture, these things aren't going to run away, so if your exposure time becomes 12 seconds, who cares? Use a remote shutter release of some sort obviously if they do get large.
 
I would reiterate what others have said, you need, pin sharp images, well lit, with 1 directional shadow if you must have one. And you must use product which is immaculate especially the boxes, the worn part of the box on its flap parts just looks cheap and shoddy, everything needs to look crisp.
 
I just want to say thankyou to all of you for your advice, its been really helpful

ps more advice is always welcome! :)

regards ian
 
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