Saturday, May 10, 2014

Product Photography, Hawaii 50

Aloha friends,

Anyone need some tips on photographing product? I've recently got into the business of Product Photography. I've been testing some lighting combos, speed lights vs. mono-lights. It really comes down to if your working out of a studio. How much do you want to carry while traveling?

Here's what you need, a DSLR camera. With proper natural lighting shooting in manual you could stop right there. If you want professional images adding soft light gives it that extra oomph.

This is my choice lighting setup, but on the go I'll switch out monos for speed lights. The layout however stays close to the same.
The light on the left is my main, the light on the right is the back light. The speed light I'm using is the Sigma 610 DG super. I'm only using this flash to trigger the mono lights. The light tent is a Phottix 32 inch. The gain in using a light tent is that you can control the environment. The light that goes in bounces all over creating the endless white background.

Want to take this to the next level? Add a third light. Having one more light above the box will eliminate shadows. (coming soon a review on the Cactus v6 wireless transceivers and RF60 flashes).

Here are 2 examples of what the 2 light set up would get you. One mistake I made was not cleaning the product before taking the pictures. You can never get it 100% clean, so there is always a bit of Photoshop needed in post.

Another option is to ditch the light tent. I like using a glossy base for reflection. You can get some epic eye catching shots with a nice creamy bokeh background... Ok hold on I'll grab my camera and show you!







In this shot I'm using my 5Diii, Sigma 70-200mm, and the Sigma 610 DG super flash. Bouncing the flash off a white wall to illuminate the 7D without effecting the reflection. Other than that I put the camera on the floor right were the fan is in the first picture.

Side note: the lens on the 7D is the Sigma 17-70mm it's a great alternative to kit lenses. A lot better quality for someone looking to upgrade from a 18-55mm without going to a "Pro priced" lens.

Shootz,
Bill

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