Entry Level product shooting setup recommendations

Fabian Flaa · May 23, 2018

Hi, I'm part of a smaller company that distributes guitars, amps and other instruments in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and now we are creating our own line of guitar and keyboard cases. Because of this, we need to be able to shoot our own product shots for our website, but none of us has much knowledge about what sort of lights we should use among other things. Therefore I wanted to get some input or recommendations from some people who know more about this than we do. The general guidelines are that we need to be able to take pictures of products up to 150cm wide, we would like a white backdrop (ideas on how this should be done are appreciated), we also need appropriate lighting sources. I would also like to know if there is a simple way to have the photos you've taken be sent directly to a computer without having to deal with SD cards. The camera we have is a Canon EOS 550D, do let me know if this won't do the job well enough. On top of this, we are not looking to spend a fortune on this and we are located in Europe, meaning that amazon.com isn't very useful. Thank you!

LaFemmeEnVert · May 24, 2018

12 hours ago, Fabian Flaa said:

Hi, I'm part of a smaller company that distributes guitars, amps and other instruments in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and now we are creating our own line of guitar and keyboard cases. Because of this, we need to be able to shoot our own product shots for our website, but none of us has much knowledge about what sort of lights we should use among other things. Therefore I wanted to get some input or recommendations from some people who know more about this than we do. The general guidelines are that we need to be able to take pictures of products up to 150cm wide, we would like a white backdrop (ideas on how this should be done are appreciated), we also need appropriate lighting sources. I would also like to know if there is a simple way to have the photos you've taken be sent directly to a computer without having to deal with SD cards. The camera we have is a Canon EOS 550D, do let me know if this won't do the job well enough. On top of this, we are not looking to spend a fortune on this and we are located in Europe, meaning that amazon.com isn't very useful. Thank you!

your largest product is maximum 150cm wide and or tall? for white backdrop buy large white photo backdrop cloth or paper or pvc roll. lights buy those that have consistant color temperature because you do not want to mix inconsistant lights. check if your camera can transmit image files through wifi or if you can thether camera with usb to computer

Fabian Flaa · May 24, 2018

It's 150cm wide, but it would be good do have the possibility to shoot products that tall if that were to be needed in the future. Would you mind linking an example of a light with consistant color temperature?

cc143 · May 25, 2018

Another option would be a set of off camera operated flashes and a softbox. I have seen softboxes that are shaped as a cube, you place the product inside and a flash on each side and end up with something of the sort you are looking for.

Also, if you get good quality led panels or strobes, colour temperature can be adjusted individually and gels can be used to make it consistent with other lighting in the site.

But, to be honest, there are many people out there whose job is to do this and would get much better results than you guys, using specialised lenses, higher quality cameras etc, able to perfectly edit and so on. So why not get one of them to come round?

LaFemmeEnVert · May 26, 2018

On 5/24/2018 at 9:47 AM, Fabian Flaa said:

It's 150cm wide, but it would be good do have the possibility to shoot products that tall if that were to be needed in the future. Would you mind linking an example of a light with consistant color temperature?

I mean consistant color temperature between multiple lights if you use more than 1 light. if 1 light has temperture 3000k and another is 5000k they are not consistant between them.

if you want to make the product look lioke it is floating on white space like in this example photo you need to place the product in some way that it is a short distance from the background white like floating on air. the camera angle has to be selected to hide the stand holding the product behind the product or use a very transparent product holder stand

if you want reflection of product you can use a polished acrylic board as a surface

you also need to use enough light to make the background white reflected. look on the internet for tutorials for high key photography

20 hours ago, cc143 said:

Another option would be a set of off camera operated flashes and a softbox. I have seen softboxes that are shaped as a cube, you place the product inside and a flash on each side and end up with something of the sort you are looking for.

Also, if you get good quality led panels or strobes, colour temperature can be adjusted individually and gels can be used to make it consistent with other lighting in the site.

But, to be honest, there are many people out there whose job is to do this and would get much better results than you guys, using specialised lenses, higher quality cameras etc, able to perfectly edit and so on. So why not get one of them to come round?

it is a good idea to hire someone iwth experience to take the photos

if items are 150cm wide it is better to make a custom product photography display stand rather then buy and for products that are 150cm wide or tall they may need to make a display stand that is 2 meters wide/tall