Simple Studio Light Set Up

[Smithson]

I am setting up a small studio for product photography. The camera is the Canon 650D with the kit lens.

The products are leather, with the largest being suitcase size.

The better the shots look, the better they will sell, so I don't want to skimp on lighting. At the same time, because it's a specific use, I only want to get what's necessary for the job.

I am new to DSLRs. Can anyone offer advice?

[Curt1591]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=DIY+lightbox

Google won't let me link searches directly.

Be sure to adjust your white balance to match the lights used.

Edited January 21, 2013 by Curt1591

[Smithson]

Thanks, reading about light boxes, apparently they have limitations. I really want the products to look as good as reasonably possible. These are items we manufacture, the pictures will be used in catalogs and on websites by distributors.

[Curt1591]

Every situation has limitations.

A light box is little more than a small, self contained "studio". There really isn't too much more you can accomplish outside the box.

You really don't want to "dress up" your items with any props.

[Smithson]

When researching I read there were limitations with lightboxes, I think it had to do with diffusing the light too much and not being able to direct it accurately.

I would not have time to make one, so it would have to be brought. Then I would also need other lights?

I am wondering if I really need to by fancy lights, considering my product size maybe small lamps could to? As I will be photographing the similar products continually, eventually I would like to have very professionalism looking pics.

[FracturedRabbit]

If you want to photograph items as large as suitcase size, you are going to need some reasonably substantial lights. For around 20,000 baht, most of the big camera shops will sell you a kit of three lights, two of which have soft-boxes to diffuse the light. They have adjustable power settings and are triggered by a device that sits in your hotshoe. Armed with these you can photograph pretty much anything.

For a backdrop I use rolls of cheap plastic sheet of different colours, wrapped around blue plastic plumbers tubing for easy storage. Hang the the tubing from the wall and unroll the sheet to form a backdrop. Cheap and easy. If it is something smaller, out comes the blue pipe again and I make an appropriately sized light box and wrap it with white fabric if I need to further diffuse the light. Once you have a setup that works for a particular product, note all the light positions and settings and any extra diffusion used; saves trial and error next time you shoot the same product.

Fix the ISO on your camera to as low as possible for the best quality and use enough aperture for the depth of field you require. Have your camera on a tripod and either use a remote release, or use the self-timer to ensure the shots are not impacted when you press the shutter. Lock the mirror in the upright position to further reduce shutter shake.

[Smithson]

Thanks, a lot of what you've written is the same as I've researched and can be improved through practice. My main concern was buying lighting that would not be suitable.

There seems to be a lot of variables in terms of lighting types, different types of fluro, strobe etc. Are there any that would be better suited for products?

[canuckamuck]

Good advice from Fractured Rabbit, But I would suggest avoiding using color backgrounds for your leather goods. Shoot everything on a white sweep with those soft boxes he mentioned. Get some foam core and use it as reflectors for fill. If you want to display them on color, learn how to close crop in Photoshop and do whatever you want with them. Leather can be a real pain the butt sometimes and having color bleeding in to your blacks or lighter colors, is not going to make it easier.

If you want to give some graduated light to your items adjust the distance of one of your soft boxes to the product. 90 percent of the time though, two soft boxes at 45 degrees and fairly close in will give you a clean, very usable shot. Sometimes just one soft box overhead can be very useful too.