Product Photgraphy

[jamesev]

Whats a good setup to photgraph products for an online shop?

I'm guessing tripod and some sort of background. I was thinking something like a 50mm lens a la portrait.

Any advice / tutorials?

[douglas]

Depends upon how big the subject will be. I f about the size of a DSLR, then a simple light box (described somewhere in dps) and a tripod. In addition I would suggest a remote...or use the self timer.
An example

[gturner]

Here is a pretty good site that gives an idea of what you can use

Product photography - how to improve your product photos

[i speak in math]

depends on what you are going for. Background, where the lights are placed, the ratio of the light intensities and many other things go into product photography. If you are just shooting one type of object, find 1 good way to light it and do them all that way. If you have many different subjects, you will have to do each one on their own; Get the lighting right for each object.

White says: This is what you are going to get. It looks just like this. Boring but informative. White is easy to do and easy to duplicate. Great for online shopping, boring for ad work.


You can use black too. This image makes the view want to know more about the object. Its edgy and dark and hidden. I want it. Great for ads


Gray can look a little classier. More sophisticated, but still informative. It says, this item is expensive and needed special attention. Good for ads on online shops


And you can show objects in the surroundings they will be used. This says, this is how others use this object. They like, and you will too. See how useful it is? If you buy is, you will use it. Great for ads

[mad editor]

Check out this link on strobist:
Strobist: How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio

[CharlieJ]

I found something like this on sale for $19 awhile back.
HiRO 24-inch Portable Photo Studio with Two 50W Lights | Overstock.com

It works great for photographing small items. Here's a shot of one of my wife's grandmother's handmade Christmas ornaments - shot in the box:



If you want to see more shots from the box, go here:
Christmas Ornaments - a set on Flickr

I hope this helps!

[RecurrentNerve]

I made a DIY light tent just yesterday that worked really well. Just take a cardboard box, put it on its side, cut holes out of the sides and top (3 altogether), tape muslin cloth or greaseproof paper/tracing paper over the holes, then stick a piece of white/black/grey board inside so that it has a curve to it, and you're done.

Stick some lights around it (i used my bedside lamp) and you're laughing.

[spazoid1965]

You don't have to spend alot of money to get good results. The most important thing will be deciding what type of lighting. Some products look good with soft light other will need harsher light to bring out the highlights in the product. Shiny objects will look duller in a light tent. Here are to photos I took the other night of a "Johnny Lightning" toy car. It's the same size as a "Hot Wheels" car. The set up was very simple and CHEAP. The backgrounds were just a sheet of construction paper. A black and a off white one. I placed a book under one end of the paper to allow it to curve up in the rear. The lighting was just 2 bare 40watt compact flouresents end table lamps. Each place about 45 dgrees from the object just slighly the lens. They were only the same plane as to about 1 inch higher than the toy car. This allowed light to get under the toy to deuce the shadows under and beside the object. These two bulbs weren't exactly the same color. You can see a slightly different color tinge in the shadow area beside the toy. A third light was just the 60 watt comact flousent overhead kitchen light. So you can get decent results wit homemade light lights. And the bare bulb method also. It just depends on the product and the look you want. What size products will you be shooting the most? What type of products?