This tutorial is pretty much the steps I went thru to learn about my old and my new camera so I could spend less time editing my photos for posting to my online shops.
Do a little experimentation with your camera!
What you'll do is set up an area (a light box* if you have one) with of a typical piece of your work. Have 2 or 3 backdrops you like and intend to use in ‘live’ shots; in a light box with the lights you will use.
You can do some amazing photos in natural light, but the sun won't stay still, so you'll need to practice a little more, and have more day time available to you than I do. I often take my photos late into the evening so I must use an indoor set up for most of my product photography.
*I’ll post about creating and improvising light boxes in the future.
What you need:
*Camera – I’m using a very basic $125 point & shoot camera
*Lights - I have some spot halogen and a medusa head lamp with 5 positionable bulbs, as well as ambient room lighting.
*Display or light box
*Product
*Backdrops – one white for the experiments and one black/dark, one gray or mid-toned color for additional refining
*Optional: Smaller ‘chips’ of paper one in bright white, dark black, and as close as you can to 20% gray as you can get. (you can use a ColorAid pack if you have one or paint chips from the hardware store)
*Note paper for tracking the photos you take.
To start with:
Make a list or grid or number your note paper to keep track of which setting you used for each photo. In the experiment, you will try to take nearly the same photo each time.
Then:
Set up your display and lights with the white background. Try not to pick fabric or paper that is shiny or with distracting patterns. Place the product in there too!
Distance between Camera & Work:
If you are taking photos of smaller work, or want detailed photos, as I do, first off, find the macro setting on the camera. It is most often represented as a tulip. The marco setting changes the focus length so that you can get up close and not have fuzzy edges – as close as a couple inches on some models. The actual distance is different for each camera, so the first step in close up work it to find the optimal range for your camera model. It may be listed in your owner’s manual, but you can try it out by taking a photo at different distances:
Take the same basic picture at (you don’t need to worry about funky angles yet :D)
2 in (5cm) (too close for most point & shoot models)
5 in – 7 in (15cm) about a hand span – use your hand to measure!
Just for fun turn the macro setting off and take a ‘handspan’ photo to see the difference
12in (30cm) – about a sheet of paper
One last one at about 18in
Upload these to your computer. Find the shot which is clearest with crisp edges. If it’s not perfectly clear, you can refine the experiment again by taking more pics at different distances.
If all of the images are fuzzy and you are quite sure you found and used the macro setting – you might need a tripod to steady the camera. If you don’t yet have a tripod, try resting the camera on a small box, or a riser. I’ve even used the timer option for some shots where I don’t want the camera to tilt when I pushed the button down!
So now you should know how close you can go & how far you need to be from the piece.
Lights Camera!
The cameras light style settings will change the color tone of the product and the backgrounds. No one wants to see yellow or blueish sterling silver - which is my biggest problem.
Keep the white backdrop (white ground will show off the tints best) & product. If you have them: Add the white, gray & black color chips so that they appear in the frame as reference.
On your camera look at your menu options and find the Light Type settings.
Take the same photo for each light setting available on your camera. Many have Natural, Fluorescent, Tungsten, Halogen, Incandescent, Neutral, even Sepia. You may have fewer... you may have more options; take one of each to compare them. Don’t forget: Make a note of which option is which picture.
Upload these photos to your computer and pick the lighting which is most pleasing. This is the light setting you can use for the *lights* and *light bulbs* you have. If you need to change, add, remove light fixtures or even the bulbs you may need to adjust this setting.
This test and setting will help reduce the automatic camera color "correction" & color shifts on your items. It may not be perfect; but the less time you spend on the computer, the better & less manipulation usually makes a better looking picture.
Bright Lights
Very often the image and bright white background will seem gray after you upload the images; it won't matter how many more lights you add; it might still look gray! One tip and one test for this problem.
The Tip:
Digital cameras try to help you take better pictures. One way of the ways they are programmed to do this is by finding a mid point on the gray scale and evening it off. So in close up or product photography where there is the item & the (white) background, the camera automatically makes the white background the midpoint gray. Most of my photos are cropped so introducing a little 20% gray meter paint chip (the white & black ones are great too.) can improve the levels and stop the camera’s automatic "corrections."
The Test:
Another experiment! Find the Exposure settings on your camera. With the white background still, on the light type setting you preferred above, take the same photo after increasing the exposure on your camera by little increments. .5 and 1 are often enough, but you might go as high as 2. Too much + washes everything out. Too little and everything is dark especially the white background.
Select the Exposure which allows your whites to be as bright as possible without washing out the colors of your items. Try this test with your color chips and the other backgrounds to make sure you aren’t going too far!
Upload these to your computer and pick the best one that doesn't get too bright. Make a note of the light type & exposure settings you prefer. This way you can adjust for when you want to take regular snap shots at Grandma’s Birthday party :D
The meter chips help after your testing as well when you wish to use colors and textures in the background AND (topic for a later tutorial) for making edits on the computer.
Last Test
Just a double check. Taking photos of different items to make sure the settings still look OK.
Test it out with different parameters: take several pictures with other types of your products; shiny, big, little, very dark & very light colors.
Try your mid tone and dark backgrounds at this point to see how it looks. Use your white & black paint chip aka meter cards, here too.
Just include the meter card in a corner of the photo frame that you expect to crop out. Make sure the meter card is a little bit visible. Also make sure that the lighting on the item is similar to the lighting on the meter card (don't put it in the shadows.)
What tips do you have for taking product photos?
