# Indoor shooting?



## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

Not sure if I'm posting in the right place....  Will be shooting indoors, what kind of lighting should I use to take pictures of products, furniture to be exact. I can't seem to get the color right on the brighter colored ones.

Shooting with a 60d. 50mm 1.8


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## robbins.photo (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> Not sure if I'm posting in the right place.... Will be shooting indoors, what kind of lighting should I use to take pictures of products, furniture to be exact. I can't seem to get the color right on the brighter colored ones.
> 
> Shooting with a 60d. 50mm 1.8



Some form of external flash would probably be a good investment.  With furniture, especially with larger furniture, you probably won't want to shoot at 1.8  as much because you'll be losing a lot of depth of field.  So most likely your best bet will be to invest in some sort of external lighting or at the very least a good external flash.


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## tirediron (Jul 14, 2014)

We'll really need a little more information to best help.  Can you post some examples of the work you've done thus far which you are unsatisfied and some LINKS to images which represent your ideal end-state?  As well, what is your equipment budget, and how much space do you have to work with?  What is your general level of photographic knowledge?


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## cheshirecat79 (Jul 14, 2014)

If you can't afford any extra gear, at the very least you'll need to shoot bracketed tripod shots as interior light leaves a bit to be desired. The 50mm is going to be pretty tight on a crop sensor for interior photography, but it all depends on the space you have to work with along with the subject matter. You're going to want to shoot at higher aperture values due to DoF concerns, as another poster mentioned. 

In an ideal world, you'd have at least one external flash and a wide-angle lens.

Interior and architectural photography is typically not a point-and-shoot type of affair.


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## robbins.photo (Jul 14, 2014)

tirediron said:


> We'll really need a little more information to best help. Can you post some examples of the work you've done thus far which you are unsatisfied and some LINKS to images which represent your ideal end-state? As well, what is your equipment budget, and how much space do you have to work with? What is your general level of photographic knowledge?



Maybe some personal references while we are at it... hmm.. 

lol


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

Im thinking of getting a strobe light, would that be enough?


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## astroNikon (Jul 14, 2014)

I think you'll find if you provide a current example and an example of what you are striving for you'll get much better answers.  Including your current equipment, setup, etc.

Yes a strobe light can help .. but it also depends upon placement.  The subject, which may need, as an example 3 strobe lights for an even lighting .... and it all depends upon what you are taking a photo off.  A wall sized book case where you may not want to show any shadow, or a small file cabinet.

To get the color right you may just need to learn about White Balance control on your camera.

So many possible answers that the pros could give you  ...


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## tirediron (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> Im thinking of getting a strobe light, would that be enough?


Lights are only part of the equation and one on it's own is rarely enough for product photography; generally you need at least 2 and 3-4 are better.  They don't have to be expensive; Adorama's Flashpoint line will get you into a 250 w/s strobe with stand and modifier for <$200.  You can put together a nice setup which should meet all of your needs for ~$750.


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

This was shot using the standard lens that came with the camera, 18-135mm, using 2[FONT=Open Sans, Century Gothic, Verdana, sans-serif] fluorescent soft box lights. [/FONT]


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## tirediron (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> View attachment 79425This was shot using the standard lens that came with the camera, 18-135mm, using 2 fluorescent soft box lights.


And what are the issues you see with this image?


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

color doesn't match...


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## Designer (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> color doesn't match...



Could be somewhat difficult, depending on how much time and money you have for this.  The light on the left is brighter, (closer) and not the same color as the light elsewhere on the unit.  So you may have to get more of the same kind of light to spread them out more evenly.


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

Designer said:


> Could be somewhat difficult, depending on how much time and money you have for this.  The light on the left is brighter, (closer) and not the same color as the light elsewhere on the unit.  So you may have to get more of the same kind of light to spread them out more evenly.



Have plenty of time. Budget 1,000 should I invest in a better lens aswell? Any suggestions?


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## gsgary (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> View attachment 79425This was shot using the standard lens that came with the camera, 18-135mm, using 2 fluorescent soft box lights.




Do people buy those ?


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

gsgary said:


> Do people buy those ?


Yes


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## Designer (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> Have plenty of time. Budget 1,000 should I invest in a better lens aswell? Any suggestions?



If you have a lot of furniture to photograph, you might look into getting regular studio strobes and forget about fluorescent lighting altogether.  BTW: what kind of light is the general room lighting?  If you use strobes, the room lighting can be practically ignored by the proper camera settings.  The strobe flash will illuminate the furniture.  I'd say at least two strobes with large soft boxes or umbrellas, and a few inexpensive reflectors to fill in where the strobes need a little help.  

As to a lens; what lens do you use now?  IMO the biggest problem is the lighting and once you have solved that, you might not need any different lens.


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## tirediron (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> color doesn't match...


Do you mean that the colour of the item isn't consistant across the image, which would be a more light/more diffusion/ larger modifier issue as Designer alluded to, or that the colour of the image doesn't match the original in which case it is a white-balance and/or display calibration issue.


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

Designer said:


> If you have a lot of furniture to photograph, you might look into getting regular studio strobes and forget about fluorescent lighting altogether.  BTW: what kind of light is the general room lighting?  If you use strobes, the room lighting can be practically ignored by the proper camera settings.  The strobe flash will illuminate the furniture.  I'd say at least two strobes with large soft boxes or umbrellas, and a few inexpensive reflectors to fill in where the strobes need a little help.  As to a lens; what lens do you use now?  IMO the biggest problem is the lighting and once you have solved that, you might not need any different lens.



The warehouse has those long fluorescent shop lights, light also floods in from the skylights. I use the standard lens that came with the camera.


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

tirediron said:


> Do you mean that the colour of the item isn't consistant across the image, which would be a more light/more diffusion/ larger modifier issue as Designer alluded to, or that the colour of the image doesn't match the original in which case it is a white-balance and/or display calibration issue.


The last part


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## tirediron (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > Do you mean that the colour of the item isn't consistant across the image, which would be a more light/more diffusion/ larger modifier issue as Designer alluded to, or that the colour of the image doesn't match the original in which case it is a white-balance and/or display calibration issue.
> ...


Read this.


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## astroNikon (Jul 14, 2014)

So he has 3 types of lighting occurring at once:

1 - 2 fluorescent soft box lights
2 -  warehouse has those long fluorescent shop lights
3 -  light also floods in from the skylights


2 types of flourescents, and 1 daylight affecting WhiteBalance in different ways

FYI, each of those flourescents bulbs could be a different color temperature.  I know in my basement the long flourescent ones are.  A couple are yellower and a couple are softer blue.  Even the CPLs in my bathroom are different color temperatures.


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> So he has 3 types of lighting occurring at once:
> 
> 1 - 2 fluorescent soft box lights
> 2 -  warehouse has those long fluorescent shop lights
> ...



correct


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## astroNikon (Jul 14, 2014)

FYI .. i edited my post adding information as 91dope was replying w/quote to it


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## astroNikon (Jul 14, 2014)

Here's an example of your Canon 60d


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## astroNikon (Jul 14, 2014)

I'm sure you Canon is able to set an exact number for White Balance but I couldn't find a video about that.

One issue you have, with sunlight coming in is your WHiteBalance setting will probably change alot as the sun moves across the sky and any clouds, etc impact the amount of sun light coming in and mixing with the Flourescents (which ever color temperature they are).


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## webrotate360 (Jul 14, 2014)

Just having some lightly colored wall or another piece of furniture next to the sofa would produce a color tint as light reflects from it, so you would really want to shield from anything that surrounds your product and doesn't have even color that you can't  fix with white balance / post production.


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## Designer (Jul 14, 2014)

91dope said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> > If you have a lot of furniture to photograph, you might look into getting regular studio strobes and forget about fluorescent lighting altogether.  BTW: what kind of light is the general room lighting?  If you use strobes, the room lighting can be practically ignored by the proper camera settings.  The strobe flash will illuminate the furniture.  I'd say at least two strobes with large soft boxes or umbrellas, and a few inexpensive reflectors to fill in where the strobes need a little help.  As to a lens; what lens do you use now?  IMO the biggest problem is the lighting and once you have solved that, you might not need any different lens.
> ...



O.K., more mixed light.  As I understand this technique, you adjust the aperture smaller to eliminate the ambient light, then use flash to illuminate your subject.  The camera's shutter just needs to be on the sync speed for flash.  Adjusting the flash output or adjusting your ISO to get the proper exposure.


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## 91dope (Jul 14, 2014)

So 2 strobe lights will do the job then? Anybody have any suggestions on a good setup ?


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## Village Idiot (Jul 15, 2014)

Looks like there's ambient bleed from an incandescent type bulb on the front/right portion. With flashes, you could easily overpower the ambient when inside.


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## Village Idiot (Jul 15, 2014)

91dope said:


> So 2 strobe lights will do the job then? Anybody have any suggestions on a good setup ?



Maybe. You'll have to have them back far enough to get a nice even coverage across the whole thing or else you may get brighter portions than in other. For your budget, check out the Adorama Flashpoints.


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## Designer (Jul 15, 2014)

91dope said:


> So 2 strobe lights will do the job then? Anybody have any suggestions on a good setup ?



Depending on the size and complexity of the subject, two should do it, while some folks might say two is the minimum, and three or four would be their preference.  Why not try two with very large modifiers, and see how it goes?  As I wrote earlier, reflectors are cheap and will act as helpers should there be a need for light somewhere in particular.  You can make reflectors from inexpensive materials, and just position them as needed.


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## 91dope (Jul 15, 2014)

Designer said:


> Depending on the size and complexity of the subject, two should do it, while some folks might say two is the minimum, and three or four would be their preference.  Why not try two with very large modifiers, and see how it goes?  As I wrote earlier, reflectors are cheap and will act as helpers should there be a need for light somewhere in particular.  You can make reflectors from inexpensive materials, and just position them as needed.



  Seen these. Any good?

http://www.samys.com/mp/Monolight-S...-Basic-Studio-2-Light-Soft-Box-Kit/53087.html


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## Designer (Jul 15, 2014)

Have you checked Adorama, B&H, and KEH?

KEH deals in used equipment, and I believe the others do as well.


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## 91dope (Jul 15, 2014)

Designer said:


> Have you checked Adorama, B&H, and KEH?  KEH deals in used equipment, and I believe the others do as well.



Are these not good?


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## Designer (Jul 15, 2014)

91dope said:


> Are these not good?


Just seems a little high to me.


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## 91dope (Jul 15, 2014)

Designer said:


> Just seems a little high to me.


I noticed a lot have different wattage. Is the higher the better? What's sufficient for what I need them for ?


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## Village Idiot (Jul 16, 2014)

91dope said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> > Just seems a little high to me.
> ...



For what you're doing, I'd personally use a higher w/s strobe. Usually even 250w/s at the lowest power setting is too high when shooting people in doors, but that's because you generally shoot with a much wider aperture and have the light and modifier close. You have to think though, the closer the light, the greater the fall off and the more uneven the lighting on the subject, so you're going to want to pull the light back. This will decrease the exposure you're getting from the light due to the incerse square law, but will also greatly decrease the fall off, allowing a greater coverage with less fall off from one light. If you stick a modifier in front of the light, subtract about a stop from it's power. When shooting larger objects, you're not going to be shooting at f/1.8 or else you're going to have a sliver in focus and nothing else. In fact, when shooting products like this, you generally want more of it in focus, so f/11 maybe? That effectively means you need more power from your lights as well or else you'll be underexposed.

So, f/1.8 to f/11 is about 6 stops. A modifier is 1 stop. Pulling a light back for greater coverage is probably about another 2-4 stops depending on how far back you go. We'll go with 10 stops more than a portrait shooter. 1 stop is double the light, so someone shooting people with 7.5w/s of power for a person would need about 7680w/s of light to make the same exposure on your furniture.


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## Designer (Jul 16, 2014)

91dope said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> > Just seems a little high to me.
> ...



I was referring to the asking price.


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