product photography help

Elaine

This is my first attempt at any sort of product photography. I've made myself a DIY light tent such as found at strobist.

For this shot, I used my Canon 100 2.8 macro (on my 40D). Is that a good idea or would a different lens be better? This shot isn't as sharp as I'd like and I'm not sure why. My settings were f/8, 1/5 sec, ISO 200 set with a 2 sec delay on a tripod. I have two regular lamps shining down into the top of the box, as well as a flash set to camera right, shining through the side (all through diffusing material...vellum).



In post, I did have to raise the exposure as the white background wasn't white enough. Do I need more light shining onto the background? Should I use a different lens? I have a 17-55 2.8 IS, 85 1.8, 50 1.4. Should I turn it so there is more light on the front of the cup?
I'm open to any and all suggestions! Thank you!

jeffreaux2

Hey Elaine!!

The 1/5 shutter speed and 100mm lens as a combination may be at the root of your softness....despite using the timer on a tripod. Before I pulled my hair out trying a gazillion different things Id duplicate all this but instead switch to the shorter lens.

Ideally, you would use multiple flashes instead of the lamps. You could use the ratios on your STE2 to have the BG flash put out a different amount of light than your main light....to your own tastes. Then you could be shooting at an even smaller aperture and at 1/60 or even faster.

Another thing to try would be to add weight to the tripod.

FWIW...at this size, your shot looks nice....and I like the side lighting. A piece of plexiglass on the floor of your tent would add a nice reflection of the cup. A poster frame(the cheap ones) at Walmart might be a good doner for the plexiglass.

Elaine

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Hey Elaine!!

The 1/5 shutter speed and 100mm lens as a combination may be at the root of your softness....despite using the timer on a tripod. Before I pulled my hair out trying a gazillion different things Id duplicate all this but instead switch to the shorter lens.

Ideally, you would use multiple flashes instead of the lamps. You could use the ratios on your STE2 to have the BG flash put out a different amount of light than your main light....to your own tastes. Then you could be shooting at an even smaller aperture and at 1/60 or even faster.

Another thing to try would be to add weight to the tripod.

FWIW...at this size, your shot looks nice....and I like the side lighting. A piece of plexiglass on the floor of your tent would add a nice reflection of the cup. A poster frame(the cheap ones) at Walmart might be a good doner for the plexiglass.

Hi Jeff!

I'll try the 17-55 and see if that works better for sharpness. I do have an STE2 but I only have one flash. Many sites I looked at in preparing my light tent endorsed the use of lamps and/or flash. So, I'm using what I got. Off to try again and will report back.

Thanks much!

Miguel Delinquento

I've used lamps successfully along with fill flash. Your shot seems very acceptable to me, so I think your lens choice is pretty good, though it may be too far away for some uses. For beverage product shots I use a 35mm macro.

One thing you do need is some kind of gradient background to offset the white-on-white effect. Pretty easy to do in Photoshop.

M

Elaine

OK...I switched to the 17-55 and got a much, much sharper shot. Yay! I also moved my flash to camera left, but this time I'm not getting the right WB. I've gotta run out right now, but I wanted to see if the fill on the left was preferable to the right.

EXIF embedded

Cygnus Studios

What I do for commercial products is to place the flash slightly behind the product (near the left side wall) facing the back of the tent. Set it pretty high to blow out the entire backdrop. Grab a piece of poster board and angle it in the back of the tent so that the flash hits the board and bounces up to the center of the tent.
Place the regular lamps on the bottom of the front of the tent crisscrossing the product as close to the lens as possible.
Shoot at F8 to F10 to get as deep as you can. Adjust your shutter to taste.

Try this DIY box

Don Kondra

Are your lamps 5500k ?

If not, that will throw off your WB.

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/replacement_lamps.htm

My personal preference is to use flash or continuous lights but not together.

Cheers, Don

jeffreaux2

Elaine,

To get a consistant WB with the mix of light you will probably need to gel the flash to match the lamps. It doesnt appear to be off by much. A 1/8 or 1/4 CTO oughta do the trick. When I am mixing flash with ambient at events, I typically shoot a white target under the ambient light. This image will appear very orange. Using that as a guide, I select a CTO that matches that image in color....and typically settle for the next darker CTO. Then set the white target image you shot for a CWB....and you should be good to go.

It's possible that you could set a CWB based on the mix of light in your tent, but my guess is that it wont be a perfect match across the BG and subject.

I liked the key light at right better.....but that is up to you.