# Taking pro pictures of guitars



## CFerraro (Apr 13, 2009)

Hi guys I own a vintage guitar company and I need photo hellllppp! I do have a great camera but I have no idea how to shoot photos like this. I need it all back drop, lighting, camera settings. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!  

http://cgi.ebay.com/09-Gibson-Custo...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:10|39:1|240:1318


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## AlexColeman (Apr 13, 2009)

You are asking alot. I think we can give basic recommendations about equipment, but we need to know what you have now.


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## Invictus (Apr 13, 2009)

whats wrong with those photos? they look great?

btw, i play on a Malmsteen sig Fender Strat


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## inTempus (Apr 14, 2009)

Those were shot in a small studio, could even be a makeshift home studio.  My guess would be at least two sources of defused light given the shadows I see.

So, any decent quality camera with manual settings will give you the image quality we see here.  On the low end, something like a Canon SX10 IS or Rebel XS all the way up to the most expensive camera you can think of.

You can do cheap shop lights defused with cloth or tissue paper.  Perhaps $40 investment in lights.  You'll need a backdrop, it looks like they used a background paper or think cloth given the wrinkle you see.  Perhaps another $20 or so for the backdrop depending on where you find it.

This is how I do it:







To get results similar to this:


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## CFerraro (Apr 14, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> Those were shot in a small studio, could even be a makeshift home studio.  My guess would be at least two sources of defused light given the shadows I see.
> 
> So, any decent quality camera with manual settings will give you the image quality we see here.  On the low end, something like a Canon SX10 IS or Rebel XS all the way up to the most expensive camera you can think of.
> 
> ...




Wow that looks absolutely amazing! I have a very good camera its a cannon towards the higher end but the model name escapes me at the moment. Are there any other recommendations you can give me as far as brand/specific types of lights, backdrops, and set ups? That would be very helpful! ROCK ON!
-C


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## CFerraro (Apr 14, 2009)

Invictus said:


> whats wrong with those photos? they look great?
> 
> btw, i play on a Malmsteen sig Fender Strat



They arent mine thats the whole problem lol! I need to know how to do that =D 

Awesome I love them =D If you ever need anything at all ill hook up. 
-C


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## CFerraro (Apr 14, 2009)

AlexColeman said:


> You are asking alot. I think we can give basic recommendations about equipment, but we need to know what you have now.



Alex all I have is a very good canon camera... I need to know how to do it all or at least be pointed in the right direction.. Thanks brother
-C


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## CFerraro (Apr 14, 2009)

updated link 
09 Gibson Custom shop 1959 Les Paul 50TH ANNiVERSARY !! - eBay (item 170321146793 end time Apr-20-09 18:37:35 PDT)


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## inTempus (Apr 14, 2009)

CFerraro said:


> Wow that looks absolutely amazing! I have a very good camera its a cannon towards the higher end but the model name escapes me at the moment. Are there any other recommendations you can give me as far as brand/specific types of lights, backdrops, and set ups? That would be very helpful! ROCK ON!
> -C


Do you have a budget in mind?  Is this something you're going to do a lot or is it just something you're mildly interested in and may not use the lights more than a few times?


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## CFerraro (Apr 14, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> Do you have a budget in mind?  Is this something you're going to do a lot or is it just something you're mildly interested in and may not use the lights more than a few times?



No budget this is my business I will use them almost everyday


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## CFerraro (Apr 14, 2009)

and it is very important you cant see any glare or flash on the guitar


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## Mindy (Apr 14, 2009)

Ohhh a 1D Mark III. But what exactly is this?


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## inTempus (Apr 14, 2009)

CFerraro said:


> No budget this is my business I will use them almost everyday


A good lighting setup for a reasonable amount of money coupled with probably the best warranty service available is offered by Alien Bee.

AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment

You could start off with two AB400 lights (800's are only a little more and will give you more flexibility).  A couple of small or medium softboxes (one for each light), two stands, and you're all set if your Canon has a PC Sync connector for triggering the lights.  If not, you can buy a single CyberSync transmitter and receiver to trigger your lights.  The second light would work as an optical slave (flashes when it detects the firing of your primary light).


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## inTempus (Apr 14, 2009)

Mindy said:


> Ohhh a 1D Mark III. But what exactly is this?


That would be a FNH P90.  It's an ultra modern military small arm (e.g. rifle).   Cool little guy, don't ya think?


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## Mindy (Apr 14, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> That would be a FNH P90.  It's an ultra modern military small arm (e.g. rifle).   Cool little guy, don't ya think?



Cool, yea. What kind of glass is it sporting, and have you gotten any good shots? 

Okay I am going way off topic, sorry. But I couldn't resist!


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## CFerraro (Apr 15, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> A good lighting setup for a reasonable amount of money coupled with probably the best warranty service available is offered by Alien Bee.
> 
> AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment
> 
> You could start off with two AB400 lights (800's are only a little more and will give you more flexibility).  A couple of small or medium softboxes (one for each light), two stands, and you're all set if your Canon has a PC Sync connector for triggering the lights.  If not, you can buy a single CyberSync transmitter and receiver to trigger your lights.  The second light would work as an optical slave (flashes when it detects the firing of your primary light).



Thanks so much! What do you recommend for a back drop?


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## EhJsNe (Apr 15, 2009)

a backdrop could be one of your bedsheets.
However, If you were doing this professionly (for other people, or doing portraits etc), and had a bedsheet thumbtacked to a wall...it wouldnt scream "Hmm....prefesional. He has nice stuff. You would want to get a thing meant to be a backdrop....but a backdrop like that is around 50 dolalrs (according to my B&H Photo Video book in front of me)

I was going to recomend a soft box and a few small flash units or some rather inexpensive studio strobes (such as the AlienBees setup Tharmsen recomended.)


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## GeneralBenson (Apr 15, 2009)

Tharmsen, did you intentionally have the from of the 24-70 out of focus?  I would think with studio heads, you could shoot with a high enough f/stop to have everything sharp.  Same with the p90?


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## inTempus (Apr 15, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> Tharmsen, did you intentionally have the from of the 24-70 out of focus?  I would think with studio heads, you could shoot with a high enough f/stop to have everything sharp.  Same with the p90?


I purposely did that by shooting the angle I chose.  I wanted the focus on the business end of the rifle.


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## inTempus (Apr 15, 2009)

CFerraro said:


> Thanks so much! What do you recommend for a back drop?


I would go with paper backgrounds, but as mentioned muslin or a sheet would work.  If you go with something that wrinkles, you'll want to set your subject far enough away from the background that the wrinkles won't appear.

I'm moving to paper.

background paper

That's for 9ft wide paper, they do have 53" which might better suit your needs.  You'll also want a background stand to hold the paper... those can be had from Amazon for $100 or so.


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## GeneralBenson (Apr 15, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> I purposely did that by shooting the angle I chose.  I wanted the focus on the business end of the rifle.


 
Whoops, type-o on my end.  I meant did you mean to have the from of the 24-70 OOF in the two camera picture?  It looks slightly in front of the focus plane.  Right on with the gun, though.  Is that your gun?  How exactly does one go about getting such a thing?


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## CFerraro (Apr 15, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> I would go with paper backgrounds, but as mentioned muslin or a sheet would work.  If you go with something that wrinkles, you'll want to set your subject far enough away from the background that the wrinkles won't appear.
> 
> I'm moving to paper.
> 
> ...



cool thanks so much


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## CFerraro (Apr 15, 2009)

tharmsen said:


> I would go with paper backgrounds, but as mentioned muslin or a sheet would work.  If you go with something that wrinkles, you'll want to set your subject far enough away from the background that the wrinkles won't appear.
> 
> I'm moving to paper.
> 
> ...



cool thanks so much


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