Small Business Product Studio Set Up HELP!

danieloakshott

danieloakshott

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I was hoping I could ask for some advice on a professional product photography set up for a small business so we shoot bits and pieces in-house which are missing product photographs, that would be amazing. I know my way around a camera - just never had experience with product photography or what we would need to get started.

We are aware of the pop-up cube and light kits but want to get something a bit more permanent/professional which will still be useful as our talents shooting products improves.

These are the kind of things I will be shooting:
https://chrisking.com/files/public/...302/product_images/matte_jet_threadfit_30.jpg


http://saddlebackb2b.mypurenet.co.u...b/product-images/rotor/inpower-3d-110-bcd.jpg


http://saddlebackb2b.mypurenet.co.u...u-sidi-wire-carbon-vernice-orange-black-1.jpg


http://saddlebackb2b.mypurenet.co.u...ace9000csg2-stages-duraace9000crankset-g2.jpg

I hope these give you an idea of what we will be shooting. It's mostly smaller bits and pieces like the attached - ranges of clothing will be shot externally as we don't have the manpower in-house to correctly dress mannequins etc.

If you could give me a run down of an ideal studio set-up to meet our needs I would be eternally grateful.

Really appreciate any help with this.

Thanks,

Daniel
 
Daniel, if you want replies I suggest posting the samples as images in your post rather than links - a lot of people will ignore a post where someone expects them to open four new browser tabs to provide an answer.

One obvious question, what space/budget do you have available? - someone will suggest the ideal set-up as requested, but your post suggests you may be looking for the best compromise set-up within the constraints of the available resources. The problem with questions is that people tend to answer the one asked, rather than the one intended.
 
The thing about product photography, like most of life, is it's a matter of diminishing returns, a light tent and some anglpoise lamps can provide great results in skilled hands.

But a step up might be 3 or 4 studio heads, a couple of largish soft boxes and a snoot, std reflector, grids, reflectors, boom arms etc
 
Are you looking for images of that quality? How long are you expecting to spend on each image? Or are you looking for something quick and high throughput?

I think the examples you provide are - on the whole - individually and very carefully lit and processed and you're unlikely to be able to find a one-size-fits-all approach to reproduce those. For example, the shoe looks like a composite image to me.

I've only done a little product photography so will be slower than most experts but I'd reckon on well over an hour per image to achieve those results.
 
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I'd go with Phil's advice and get a basic setup of no less than 3 lights, you can get away with quite rudimentary gear but it's worth understanding that to do it really well takes time and practice. I'm all for practical solutions even if they're perhaps not the truly correct answer, I normally crack out product shots with a 3 head setup not because it's the truly right way to do it but because I'm stuck in a small space and there's never enough time; in other words I compromise heavily but I think it works well enough.

I'm a little concerned by the comment that you "don't have the manpower in-house to correctly dress mannequins etc", is it just space a problem or something else? I'd steer clear of a light tent, yes you'll get things done faster at first and not have to worry about unwanted reflections but the price of that is going to be bland looking products without depth. Skip the middle man and let whoever's shooting learn without one then they can use it if appropriate.
 
Your example shots are simple and can easily be done to a reasonable standard, with minimum time and skill in the right sort of light cube - no professional photographer would do it that way but what you clearly need is a lighting solution, you don't need to become a lighting expert for that.

For your clothing photography you need a lot with 4 lights and just 3x4 m of space. Cost will range between £500 - £1k.

I'm away this week and only have a phone, but if you message me with your phone number I'll ring you when I can - it's hard to ring me, nobody seems to care about mobile phone signals on hill farms...
 
I think quality in-house product photography is beyond the scope of most businesses, simply on economic grounds.

It's not easy, and to do it well you need a lot more than lighting equipment. You also need a suitable and dedicated space, and someone with aptitude and ability who's willing to get trained up and learn fast. And then they need a lot of time to do both the photography and the post-processing. It's not production line type work. At the end of the day, it makes more sense to do a deal with a good local photographer.

Basic product photography is another matter - white background, lightcube etc, that kind of thing takes some skill to do well but is relatively easy and quicker. It gives bland results, but that's exactly what you want for a lot of catalogue type images.
 
I strongly agree with what you say, but there are some highly skilled in house photographers, and they always tell me that they do it in house, not to save money, but because they struggled to find suitable photographers. I accept though that really good in house photographers are fairly rare - if you're good enough to do it, it makes sense to be self employed, not an employee.

And all the people I've trained to do the basic white background stuff have found it really easy.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I strongly agree with what you say, but there are some highly skilled in house photographers, and they always tell me that they do it in house, not to save money, but because they struggled to find suitable photographers. I accept though that really good in house photographers are fairly rare - if you're good enough to do it, it makes sense to be self employed, not an employee.

And all the people I've trained to do the basic white background stuff have found it really easy.
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You may be right Garry. Probably are in fact, though I did say find a 'good' local photographer. Not hard to find a local weddings and portraits snapper, but a good one with knowledge and skill in the studio - and product photography in particular - kind of makes the point that it is a skill, and quite a specialised one that's perhaps harder to get.

The point remains though, that quality product photography is not something that anyone can do, regardless of talent or equipment, in their lunch break. It takes time and skill and that costs much more than a set of nice lights.
 
HoppyUK said:
The point remains though, that quality product photography is not something that anyone can do, regardless of talent or equipment, in their lunch break. It takes time and skill and that costs much more than a set of nice lights.
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True enough but the stated requirement was "something a bit more permanent/professional which will still be useful as our talents shooting products improves" and that sounds like quite an achievable goal even for a novice given a little bit of direction and a good deal of practice.
 
Most of those don't look like light tent shots to me... particularly the shoe image.
To achieve those types of shots I would want 3-4 strobes, *large* modifiers (i.e. 4ft+ softbox/stripbox/silks), small light modifiers (reflector w/ grids, snoots), and a table that can be lit from underneath. Also understand that there is notable editing work done in cutting out and adding shadows.

IMO the "camera work" is the easiest part here... it's the lighting skill/knowledge and the editing skill/knowledge that are going to be the big determinators/hurdles.
It is possible to get away with less and do more compositing of images in post, and it is also possible to do more simple "white BG catalogue" type shots with a much simpler setup (i.e. light tent/dome).
 
juggler said:
Glad you said that - I was starting to question my own judgement.
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They clearly aren't light tent shots, and I did a tutorial on shooting shoes - and a lot of other product tutorials - in the lencarta learning centre - and all with no PP work.

But the whole point is that the OP has asked how to get shots that are adequate for his purpose, he doesn't need to become a lighting professional. And that's where most sellers and manufacturers are at, they can't justify the cost of specialist product photographers and can do at least as well as most non-specialist photographers.
 
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