p.2 #1 · Have product photography (clothes/merchandise) lighting questions
thank you soo much all for you help..
I am sorry if I am asking silly/repetitive questions..but I am TRULY learning something new from each post...
I appreciate it all!
Ok here is ANOTHER silly question....if I don't have access to a translucent tabletop..can one shoot "flat" down on a seamless paper? How would I light the "background" shooting flat? Don't laugh at me here! ha ha
p.2 #2 · Have product photography (clothes/merchandise) lighting questions
Tobycat,
What part of the country are you in? If you've got a good rental or retail store around, they might be able to help you a bit more with figuring out what/how to use equipment (that they'd want to sell to meet your needs).
If not, maybe you could 'hook up' with some FM'er for some hands-on. Most FM'ers enjoy sharing things, but from where you're at, you'd probably be well served with some one-on-one if you can find it. Maybe, even a post in CL to help locate someone to help assist you. I say this because I assume you've got a timeline to meet and it could significantly improve your "learning curve" ... along with some help from your FM friends of course.
BTW, your question are not "silly" (business is serious) ... but they do show where you're learning curve is and it might help to seek out some hands-on mentorship/guidance in addition to the cyber-realm for such a gig that you're trying to fulfill. It could be a wise endeavor in your plight. Looking forward to seeing your work.
p.2 #3 · Have product photography (clothes/merchandise) lighting questions
Thank you Rusty Bug...
I live in Kansas....
I don't have a strict timeline...we are not going to start this until March...the college is setting up the website and shopping cart system first...so no...I can take my time with this!
While they didn't give me a strict budget per se...I don't want to be frivolous with their money! I would like to buy the basics I need to get started and then add from there! I want to spend the money wisely..but it is hard as I don't know what will or won't work for our needs...
Yes..it would be great if I could find someone to walk me through this "one on one"..I eager and willing to learn and I like a good challenge for myself! What is the "CL" forum? sorry
p.2 #5 · Have product photography (clothes/merchandise) lighting questions
tobycat wrote:
...if I don't have access to a translucent tabletop..can one shoot "flat" down on a seamless paper? How would I light the "background" shooting flat?
Easy peasy, as the (old) expression goes: lay the seamless on the floor or table, tape down the corners, and lay your clothing on the seamless. You can light this with one overhead softbox and one hard skim light near floor/table level.
Set your exposure and flash output manually based on an incident flash meter reading; or use your camera's reflected light meter plus the histogram, and do a test shot of a neutral gray card that fills as much of the frame as possible. Then don't move the lights and don't change the camera settings as you move your different products in and out of the scene.
Since you won't be lighting the BG separately you'll need to use Photoshop, Elements, PaintShop, etc. to remove the background, but starting with white seamless will make this pretty easy.
On another note; if you're not doing any shooting until March, you have lots of time to study and practice. See if the school has a photography program or at least an art department; there may be studio space on campus that you can use, and they may have all the lights and other equipment you'd need.
p.2 #6 · Have product photography (clothes/merchandise) lighting questions
tobycat wrote:
...I also have access to a very cool...exposed raw brick/stone wall in a building..that I thought also would be cool as a "backdrop" .....to stage the sweatshirts, tshirts on a "headless" mannequin.
This might be okay for one "cover shot" or overview, maybe with a table that has lots of product stacked on it, and the mannequin with the flagship product (a letterman's jacket or other "school colors" item, for example). I wouldn't use it for more than one shot though; you don't want a busy background competing with the colors and textures of the products.
As was mentioned above, look through lots of magazines and catalogs, and visit other similar Web sites to get some ideas. You can also learn a lot by closely examining their photographs and trying to "reverse engineer" them in your mind.
p.2 #7 · Have product photography (clothes/merchandise) lighting questions
tobycat wrote:
if I don't have access to a translucent tabletop..can one shoot "flat" down on a seamless paper? How would I light the "background" shooting flat? Don't laugh at me here! ha ha
Using a largish softbox overhead on a boom stand. If the background isn’t white, then there isn’t a problem. Manfrotto/Avenger Boom Stand
If you have something that isn’t too tall resting on white seamless, then correctly exposing the object will give you a white background. It will be paper white, not #FFFFFF, but it will be close. If you want #FFFFFF from it, then providing the object isn’t white, a simple adjustment with the levels tool in Photoshop will do that for you
You will have a slight shadow, how slight depends on how large your light source is. And the shape of the object is also a determining factor too. A spherical object will have a shadow, as will anything that has overhang. A pyramid, for example, would have no shadow, but most objects will have some minor shadowing unless you light from below. A t-shirt wouldn’t be a problem.
Small sheets of transparent Lexan are available from most large hardware stores. You raise the plexi on four corners with tubes or blocks about the size of the cardboard core in toilet paper. Then use one light at an acute angle to the sheet so that its light shoots though the transparent sheet and bounces from the white seamless to the underside of the object. Larger sheets will sag if just resting on four corners, so need some system of holding it under tension. Or you can use glass – it isn’t expensive.
Small shooting tables aren’t that expensive: SV Table
But 24 inch tables are only good for very small products, like mugs. With anything much bigger you need to shoot with a tele lens, or you end up with the edges of the able in the shot. (I would also budget for a macro lens). Bigger shooting tables are much more useful, although vlearly more expensive: Manfrotto Large Table
