# Hard to find pill/tablet props.



## ziggy3984 (Mar 18, 2013)

Hello all,
I am trying to put together a photoshoot using (colorful) pills, tablets, etc. as props. Is there a place to purchase bulk or cheap items of this sort? I understand there may be ethical issues with a company producing strictly "fake" pills and such, but where do photographers go to get such things?

Any tips?

Thanks.


----------



## tirediron (Mar 18, 2013)

Never had to look for any - I would talk to a doctor or pharmacist.  I'm sure there must be soemthing like that manufactured as a training aid.


----------



## ziggy3984 (Mar 18, 2013)

tirediron said:


> Never had to look for any - I would talk to a doctor or pharmacist.  I'm sure there must be soemthing like that manufactured as a training aid.



That's not a bad idea. My online search has been pretty exhaustive with little to no pay off.


----------



## Light Guru (Mar 18, 2013)

ziggy3984 said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > Never had to look for any - I would talk to a doctor or pharmacist.  I'm sure there must be soemthing like that manufactured as a training aid.
> ...



Any really old person these day will have plenty of pills all neatly organized on a box with spots for the day and time of day?


----------



## Overread (Mar 18, 2013)

Well they make a lot of placebo pills for the market so I suspect doctors will have access to pills that basically do nothing; although they might not be able to give them out. 

That said have a look at the sweets - TickTacs in the UK look just like small white pills as did the short term "middle" mints of Polos (why is it with mints and looking like pills? )


----------



## squirrels (Mar 18, 2013)

You can pick up a pack of "vitamins" or whatever they are selling in those packs near the registers at convenience stores like 7-11. I wouldn't take them though!

EDIT: Sorry, missed you saying bulk. Vitamins still may work for you though


----------



## squirrels (Mar 18, 2013)

So I just found that you can buy bulk empty gelatin caplets. That may be way too DIY for you, but could get you some interesting colors.


----------



## Buckster (Mar 18, 2013)

I get clear empty capsules in bulk to put certain crushed up (nasty-tasting) meds in to make it easier to take them.  I get them from Amazon by the thousand.  You could put any colorful stuff in there to make them colorful.  food coloring and flour or sugar or other powders or sands or something like that would do the trick.  I also have a bulk capsule filler for them that I got from Amazon, so that I can fill 24 at a time easily.  They make and sell bigger ones to do a hundred at a time.

Any white pills, like aspirins and other hard-substance meds in different pill shapes, could probably be colored with food coloring by laying them out and lightly spritzing them (so they don't dissolve) with a mister filled with a mixture of food coloring and water or glycerin or something like that.

You can always make your own hard pills with a pill press: Amazon.com: Single punch manual tablets press machine, pills press machine: Health & Personal Care


----------



## ziggy3984 (Mar 18, 2013)

squirrels said:


> You can pick up a pack of "vitamins" or whatever they are selling in those packs near the registers at convenience stores like 7-11. I wouldn't take them though!
> 
> EDIT: Sorry, missed you saying bulk. Vitamins still may work for you though



This is not a bad idea either. The only reason I say bulk is based on pricing. I don't need 20,000 pills (although that would be cool in a bathtub shoot...DIBS!) I am looking at more like 25-50 different types. I have a reasonable budget. So spending $50-60 bucks on 25-50 different types is acceptable. Spending $5 bucks a pop for each type is not (for me). I am contemplating hitting up a local vitamin shop to see if they have any pills in a discount/clearance bin. I will report back soon.


----------



## ziggy3984 (Mar 18, 2013)

Buckster said:


> I get clear empty capsules in bulk to put certain crushed up (nasty-tasting) meds in to make it easier to take them.  I get them from Amazon by the thousand.  You could put any colorful stuff in there to make them colorful.  food coloring and flour or sugar or other powders or sands or something like that would do the trick.  I also have a bulk capsule filler for them that I got from Amazon, so that I can fill 24 at a time easily.  They make and sell bigger ones to do a hundred at a time.
> 
> Any white pills, like aspirins and other hard-substance meds in different pill shapes, could probably be colored with food coloring by laying them out and lightly spritzing them (so they don't dissolve) with a mister filled with a mixture of food coloring and water or glycerin or something like that.
> 
> You can always make your own hard pills with a pill press: Amazon.com: Single punch manual tablets press machine, pills press machine: Health & Personal Care



Nice! I may experiment with this to see how they turn out. Thanks


----------



## ziggy3984 (Mar 18, 2013)

Buckster said:


> You can always make your own hard pills with a pill press: Amazon.com: Single punch manual tablets press machine, pills press machine: Health & Personal Care



Wooooo! $1280.00!  That's crazy talk. lol


----------



## Buckster (Mar 18, 2013)

ziggy3984 said:


> Buckster said:
> 
> 
> > You can always make your own hard pills with a pill press: Amazon.com: Single punch manual tablets press machine, pills press machine: Health & Personal Care
> ...


LOL!  Guess it depends on how many you want to make and how serious you are about it!  Could always sell it later on eBay (or buy it there first and then sell it afterwards) where they're going for about $800.

There are also the little punch press types that make one pill at a time.  Pretty labor intensive to do one pill at a time like that, but they're WAY cheaper.


----------



## squirrels (Mar 18, 2013)

Kirkland daily multivitains:  5 Tablets & 2 Softgels Per Packette
Amazon.com: Kirkland Daily Multivitamin Pack with Energy Boosting Nutrients, 100 Packets: Health & Personal Care

Okay, I'm done here. Good luck! Be sure to share what you come up with!


----------



## ziggy3984 (Mar 18, 2013)

Okay everyone...I may have come up with a quick solution. At least for a portion of the shoot.
Ebay search: Empy gelatin capsules brings back a variety of options. Many nice colors for $2-$4 bucks per 100.
These come out of china mostly...sooo...

I think I may order some to use for a portion of the shoot.


----------



## imagemaker46 (Mar 18, 2013)

Use skittles, it's what some doctors use in their demo packs that show patients how the days of week packs work.  You could also check in a pharmacy, they do foil packs for weekly or monthly distribution for seniors to use so they don't get anything mixed up.


----------



## pixmedic (Mar 18, 2013)

what kind of a shoot are you doing that requires pills?
a nursing home boudoir shoot?


----------



## runnah (Mar 18, 2013)

Is this a poor attempt to score some pills?


----------

