Product Photo's

[preciousbags]

I seem to be having a lot of difficulty getting good photos onto my site.

The products come out to dark or too dull, blurry. I want detail and superb lighting.

I recently bought a tent from eBay and two lamps with white lights (as near to white i could find)

Still no luck

I am using a samsung digital camera that is 10mpx and cost me 100£ a year ago.

I am using Macro mode but it still isnt doing the trick.

Any advice is really appreciated

Thanks

 

[akirk]

three different issues here...
two linked to the same - lighting...

one is that the camera is potentially not getting enough light into the sensor, therefore too dark / blurry / etc.

the other is the way you are lighting it - to get a crisp white background you have to light the background separately from the object...

light a white wall with very strong lighting (e.g. work lights from a DIY store) so that you blow the exposure out...

then light the object several feet in front of the wall (so that the light for the wall doesn't bleed into the object's area) - light it correctly - instant perfect high-key background...

you can not get that white background without lighting the two differently.

looking at your photos there is another (3rd) issue - because you are shooting in macro mode the DOF (depth of field - the amount which is in focus) is very shallow - leaving the rest out of focus...

- ditch the macro mode
- ditch the light tent
- set up a roll of white paper in the distance behind
- blow it out with lots of light
- set up the product on the end of the roll (having unrolled the white paper - giving you a continuous curve of paper) - no edge behind
- put the camera on a tripod - gets rid of any danger of blurry images
- light the object

- press the button

my studio lights are 500w each and I would prob. use two for the product, through softboxes, and then 3 - 4 to blow out the background - it takes a lot of light! Studio lights are usually 500 / 750 / 1000w

hope that helps

Alasdair

 

[Astaroth]

The use of macro mode itself wont cause the shallow depth of field. Being close to the object will do that, the macro mode simply allows you to be that close in the first place.I would also go back to first principles, do your supplier/ manufacturers/ distributors not have stock images of the items you can use rather than having to try and take your own?

 

[akirk]

The use of macro mode itself wont cause the shallow depth of field. Being close to the object will do that, the macro mode simply allows you to be that close in the first place.I would also go back to first principles, do your supplier/ manufacturers/ distributors not have stock images of the items you can use rather than having to try and take your own?

can do the way in which compact cameras work is that on many models the lowest dof / widest aperture is reserved for macro mode... can depend on the model. agree though that distance also influences it...

it is worth seeing if suppliers have photos, but it always amazes me how often they don't have - we have a number of retail outlets as customers and many struggle to get photos from their suppliers...

Alasdair

 

[OhSoCherished]

Hire a professional!!

It's the best investment you can ever make when having an online store.

That's just my opinion!

Sarah

 

[MikeJ]

Try portrait mode. If you do go down the tripod route (which may help) use either a remote control or a timer. That removes another element of "shake" from the equation.