Product Photography Tips?

[faeruithir]

Hey everyone

So I know there are a few photographers on DJTT. I am am being educated as a designer by day, so I often need to take photos of prototypes, models, actual products. Except, I have no idea how to take a decent product photo. Once in awhile one comes out looking pretty good by chance. Most others need a lot of photoshop to fix it up.

Now I've seen some pretty damn sexy photos of gear on the show your setup thread, so I was wondering if anyone has any good tips on product photography?

Thanks!

[photojojo]

Everything on strobist.com is gold IMO.

This might help with shooting some stuff.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07...to-studio.html

You can get away cheap shop lights with different wattage bulbs for stuff like your talking about. Experiment with different bulbs for different colors. You can get some white poster-board and curve it from your shooting surface to the wall behind to get a good seamless background. The biggest secret is in your lighting though.

[faeruithir]

any tips about camera settings or anything?

I know what various camera terms mean, but I have no idea how they relate to the photo being taken.

[Redlight]

any tips about camera settings or anything?

I know what various camera terms mean, but I have no idea how they relate to the photo being taken.

Its all about the lighting. If you can get great light on your subject you will have a great photo.

Your settings will vary greatly based on the type of lighting. There is not really a specific setting that will work in every situation. Just google "product photography". There are plenty of videos with good info on how to achieve a great photo.

+1 for strobist.com

[Ola]

If it's small stuff, buy or build a small light tent. Works wonders if it's catalog style product photos.

And +1 for the strobist site, it's pure gold.

[photojojo]

What camera are you using? What do you find your having to fix up in photoshop?

[BestLegsinHD]

tara chime in!!! AI photography degree on the way lol

[BestLegs]

I think shooting high key always give the product a nice, clean look. When shooting products I'll normally use a seamless white/black background. 1 light for black and 2 lights for white.

What kind of set-up/lights/camera are you using?









The first one was shot with a regular ol' 35mm dslr...and the rest were large format. Large format is always recommended for product shots, but it all depends on budget, equipment, etc...

[ftaudio]

The first one was shot with a regular ol' 35mm dslr...and the rest were large format. Large format is always recommended for product shots, but it all depends on budget, equipment, etc...

35mm digital slr?

large format camera? do you not mean a medium format camera? large format cameras have been out of fashion since the 70s. they're only really used for landscape photography and even that is a rarity. the added resolution you would get over a medium format for product photos is NIL. i would never recommend a large over a medium format camera to a novice because none of it makes sense. it would cost a hydrogen bomb and an iceberg to develop the film and for a lens to do the film justice. most of the large format cameras out there are owned by big name companies and just a handful of big-name photographers.

i'd recommend you practice with a 35mm SLR first and move on to medium format, although that's only if you will get a lot of use out of it. for clean shots, use a 100mm lens (35mm film) or a 60mm lens for more play. there's no right answer (just like midi controllers )

when starting out, play around with the aperture and depth of field. increase the aperture (lower the f-stop i.e. f4.0 should be fine) to attract detail to select parts of the product and do the opposite for greater detail (while adjusting the shutter speed for light balance). once you've mastered that, then begin adjusting areas of incoming light. you could even try using a long exposure and a burst of secondary light focused in a select area for extra fun.

photography is all about experimenting. learn the basics, then experiment

edit:
tbat iphone picture definitely looks like a render to me.

[photojojo]

I think we're getting a little off topic here. Even if you just have a point and shoot camera you can get some good shots with good lighting. I'm still curious to know what your needing to fix in Photoshop. With that info we can tell you what you need to do to correct the image in the camera.