I´ve thought that they´re simply amazing and look very professional so I suggested her that I take photos of them. She could use them for her portfolio and I try different genre of photography.
As you surely know I´m not a product photographer (and won´t be, working with people is bigger fun for me) and because of that I don´t have proper equipment for this kind of shooting. So I made an improvised studio which suits great for these photos. I would like to share it with you in this article.
To make a cheap product studio you´ll need:
- window with curtain,
- white wall,
- white clothing,
- glass,
- awesome products to shoot.
Endless White Background
Most of the product photos are shot in endless white background. It means that you don´t see transition between floor and wall. To achieve the same effect you can use big white carton and gently bend it.I chose different option (quicker because I knew it´s just for one shooting) - I shot on white clothing against white wall. And because I use very shallow depth of field (f1.8) the transition was very soft, light and blurred. After shooting while post processing I made the transition even lighter with Levels adjustment layer.
Creating the Reflection
I wanted to have reflection of things I photograph. I solve this demand very easily by puting glass under the products.Lighting Setup
For lighting I decided for a very quick and easy solution again. I used diffused light from window. It was cloudy day so light was already nicely soft and I made it even softer by using diffuser (= curtain). This type of lighting wouldn´t be good for shooting glass or metal because of the unwanted reflections but for this type of products works just fine.
Post Processing
Post processing was even easier. I shot everything in RAW and only correct the exposure little bit in Camera Raw. Photos were bit underexposed and I wanted to have the background purely white.Other thing I did was to lower the saturation little bit to achieve the same color the actual products have.
In some photos I also made the transition in background bit lighter with using of the Levels adjustment tool.
More DIY
As I mentioned my sister makes very nice stuff. Expect those shown above she also make bags, pen cases etc. If you want to see more I truly recommend you to visit her fresh new blog on tumblr.
Conclusion
I believe that this article could be useful for everyone who is ocassional product photographer - who e.g. wants to shoot his DIY project or projects of their friends.On the setup I described I like the cleannes (is it correct word?) which is caused by white background and underground and also by the reflection.
Do you have any good tips for cheap shooting of product photography? I would love to see them in the comments section below!
Have a beautiful Monday!
