# Some questions about product photography



## emanuelparedes (Jan 3, 2014)

Hey guys,

Sorry about my weak english, I'm portuguese 

So... I work at a company that sells clothes and shoes, and we're going to begin selling them online. 

The websites are already under development, but I have to know how to take great product photos.

Something like this: Netshoes - Tênis Nike Shox Deliver

The photos in this website are great, I think (any opinions are welcomed). 

I already have a Nikon D90, I don't know if that's useful, or if there's a "machine" (something like a lightbox, connected to a laptop, that does everything automatically) to do this job.

Does this work only with small products? Because I've to photograph stuff like pants, hoodies, etc.

Thanks.


----------



## tirediron (Jan 3, 2014)

Welcome to TPF; you're English is 1000x better than my Portuguese, so please don't apologize!  Shooting products like that isn't terribly difficult, but it does take some knowledge and lighting equipment; this type of photography is ALL about the lighting.  First off, buy this book.  It is the bible of lighting, and will tell you how to light everything from people to peanuts!  Next you will want to invest in some lighting hear and forms/mannequins.  Clothing always looks better on a model, even if it's only a plastic one.  Next, you will need some lights and a background.  Since you're outside of North America, shipping and local availability may be issues for you, but ideally, I would look into something like this light (you will need at least 4), a background stand, and roll of white seamless background paper and a remote trigger.  All of that should come in well under $1000 USD.  That, plus a week or so of reading the book and practice should set you up for success.

Good luck.


----------



## Ihatemymoney (Jan 3, 2014)

emanuelparedes said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Sorry about my weak english, I'm portuguese
> 
> ...




Product photography.

Do you know the total number of products that you are going to be photographing ?
What is your budget ?

I am sorry but The more I learn about flash photography the more I hate the 60 inch photo tent that I cannot get folded back up.

Large clothing in a large light tent in my opinion would be limiting to say the least.

I really have a tough time suggesting economy lighting, there is a good chance some of the equipment will break just putting it together.

Without knowing your budget is like sending everyone on a wild goose chase.
I am not trying to be rude but there is more info needed. 
One of which where do you plan on setting up your studio. 
Need to know how much room you have to work with?


----------



## emanuelparedes (Jan 3, 2014)

tirediron said:


> Welcome to TPF; you're English is 1000x better than my Portuguese, so please don't apologize!  Shooting products like that isn't terribly difficult, but it does take some knowledge and lighting equipment; this type of photography is ALL about the lighting.  First off, buy this book.  It is the bible of lighting, and will tell you how to light everything from people to peanuts!  Next you will want to invest in some lighting hear and forms/mannequins.  Clothing always looks better on a model, even if it's only a plastic one.  Next, you will need some lights and a background.  Since you're outside of North America, shipping and local availability may be issues for you, but ideally, I would look into something like this light (you will need at least 4), a background stand, and roll of white seamless background paper and a remote trigger.  All of that should come in well under $1000 USD.  That, plus a week or so of reading the book and practice should set you up for success.
> 
> Good luck.



Thanks for your help. What I really want it's somethink like this:

Photosimile 5000 - Automated 3D Product Photography Studio

But the only problem is that... This one costs $22000 USD.

I want to find an alternative to this. Something that I could connect to a PC/laptop, and everything else is "automatic".


----------



## emanuelparedes (Jan 3, 2014)

Ihatemymoney said:


> emanuelparedes said:
> 
> 
> > Hey guys,
> ...



Budget? Around $6000 USD. I'm going to photograph approximately 5000 products/year.

I don't have a studio, maybe I'll tell my boss to build one, but that depends on the equipment that I'm going to buy.


----------



## tirediron (Jan 3, 2014)

emanuelparedes said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > Welcome to TPF; you're English is 1000x better than my Portuguese, so please don't apologize!  Shooting products like that isn't terribly difficult, but it does take some knowledge and lighting equipment; this type of photography is ALL about the lighting.  First off, buy this book.  It is the bible of lighting, and will tell you how to light everything from people to peanuts!  Next you will want to invest in some lighting hear and forms/mannequins.  Clothing always looks better on a model, even if it's only a plastic one.  Next, you will need some lights and a background.  Since you're outside of North America, shipping and local availability may be issues for you, but ideally, I would look into something like this light (you will need at least 4), a background stand, and roll of white seamless background paper and a remote trigger.  All of that should come in well under $1000 USD.  That, plus a week or so of reading the book and practice should set you up for success.
> ...


That's going to be very difficult to achieve, and pretty much impossible for your stated budget, which is MORE than adequate to equip a really nice product studio.  The 'auto studio' you've linked to would be fine for small products, but it would NOT work well for larger items, and is going to be problematic for items of differing colour values/reflectivity.  If all you were doing were shoes, it would be okay, but for a wide range of products, not so much.  

Trust me, in the long run, you will be a LOT better off with traditional studio gear.


----------



## Ihatemymoney (Jan 5, 2014)

6k budget.
That should cover a used full frame camera body some extra batteries and a couple of good lenses a tripod and lunch.
with maybe 500.00 $ to 1500.00 bucks left.

Studio lighting.
I would go with 3 mono lights with medium to heavy duty light stands and a large white backdrop.

I am not saying you need to buy these exact mono light or strobes, but I have had some great service from the Paul C Buff company photography lighting gear.
3 ab/1600 strobes with soft boxes and lights stands and at least one boom = about 2100.00 to 2500.00 bucks.

lap top to shoot tethered and Light room 5 software to photo shop, a couple of extra CF memory cards 1200.00 and up.

You need tables and a vacuum cleaner, a room that you can set your studio up in and block out all outside light. 
I would also have a desk in there because as you are working there will be items that you will have to photograph over.

You will need to do 25 to 50 items per work day. 

I think your boss needs to up the budget by at least 2 k.
There is tons of little things you will need , clamps , props reflectors and stands .
It is possible that you are going to spend a month or 2 just figuring out the right angles to set the light and camera.

I would buy the book Light science and magic. this will save you hrs, days, and months of trying to figure out what you are doing wrong.
It will also teach you what equipment, so you are not buying stuff you don't need or use.


There is some problem in this list, If your camera , or camera lens or strobes or even a lap top or desktop computer breaks down
.
Now you could be weeks behind schedule .

One last suggestion is sand bag down all of your light stands.
Tape all of your cords down so no one will trip over them.

Your boss is not going like you tripping on a cord and pulling a light down on the camera destroying 2 to 3000.00 dollars of equipment 

Something like a 2 to 3 car garage would be enough room to set a up a studio and office.

PS if you have 3 mono lights there is little reason to use own or have lite tents and continuous florescent lighting.

There are some photo studio lighting companies that sale cheap studio kits.
Some of these kits the lighting stands break on the very first time you try to use them.
I suggest that you don't waste your time and money.

Good luck


----------



## Helen B (Jan 5, 2014)

You've already got some good answers and there is not a lot I can add. I use one large softbox (4 ft x 4 ft, 1.2 m x 1.2 m), on a big boom, and silver reflectors for almost all my product photography. Most of the time I use continuous light, with exposures around 1/2 second. I use a studio stand instead of a tripod, but I probably have different requirements from someone shooting clothes and shoes - you may not need the versatility and ease of use that a studio stand provides, and it would eat up your budget. They are good for straight down vertical shots.

Because the issue has been brought up, always run cords from a light under one of the lightstand legs. This means that if the cord is pulled accidentally the pull will be at the bottom of the stand and it probably won't tip the stand.

Speaking of cables, get some kind of cable clamp if you are tethering the camera to a laptop etc (I use a Mac Mini with a calibrated Eizo monitor). I use an RRS L-plate with the cable spacer clamp. $6000 doesn't go very far, but it should be a decent enough start.


----------



## emanuelparedes (Jan 6, 2014)

Ok guys, thanks a lot for the tips, I'll talk to my boss and see what he thinks about all this.

If I'm going to do this manually, it's going to be very hard, because we're talking about editing almost 20.000 photos per year (5.000 products x 4 photos).


----------



## Ihatemymoney (Jan 6, 2014)

emanuelparedes said:


> Ok guys, thanks a lot for the tips, I'll talk to my boss and see what he thinks about all this.
> 
> If I'm going to do this manually, it's going to be very hard, because we're talking about editing almost 20.000 photos per year (5.000 products x 4 photos).



No expert, I have made my own CNC, I find your response odd or different from what I expected.

I am surprised because I shoot in raw + jpeg and never use the Jpeg file.
In other words all of my photos are processed.
I also own robotic equipment.
It seems to me that you are willing to give up allot of photo quality in your products.
Almost like the pictures are not important.

I give all of my products my best................. I also have 100% customer satisfaction after selling on line for years.
And at this point and time I don't think I could mount a camera on any of my robotic machinery and get quality product photo's just because of lighting and reflection . 
This company might be able to help you


----------

