@shilohphotography
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I always recommend buying new and from a source that offers some type of warrantee or that has a good reputation unless you’re buying used from a friend ;). Buying used from criagslist or similar sites has it advantage as you save a bit BUT you really don’t know what type of “trama” or misuse the camera has been through with previous owners. To date, I’ve owned 6 dslr cameras and I’ve found B&H has always been fantastic to work with!
Hope this is helpful!!@melaniethomsen Love the elements you chose to enhance the product and promote the season. 🙂 Lovely job!!
@jamesstaddon Thank you! Those links are very helpful. I’ll see if I can’t get it unjammed! 🙂
Though Adobe Bridge isn’t free, it’s worth the small investment… especially if you are dealing with large raw files and need to be able to sort/order photos efficiently. I purchased mine 5 years ago and it’s serve me well!
@JamesStaddon Really helpful advice. Thank you! The example photos are great too. Shows the difference between focal lengths nicely.
I visited Estes Park, Colorado! It is beautiful mid-September as the aspens are changing color which offers many lovely photo opportunities. A “Long-distance” hike for me is a 14 mile mountain hike… which perhaps isn’t “long-distance” for most?! If you ever make it to or near Estes Park, I’d definitely recommend you hike up to Lawn Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park! It’s an all-day hike and at times a bit rigorous but the mountain top lake and view at the top are well worth the effort. The trail follows the alluvial fan and the views are extremely gorgeous! A few of my siblings and I have taken this hike 3 times and I enjoyed it more and more each time I took it!
@Dan-Cope I’m shooting with a full frame so the info you gave is very good to keep in mind! Thank you. 🙂
@dan-cope Thank you!! I never would have thought of using a zoom of 12-24mm but I could see where it would be a good lens to carry!
@SarahLeePhoto Thank you, Sarah! God gets all praise for any “fantasticness” in the photo. It’s His beautiful creation! 🙂 Yes, I was thinking the 70-200 too as I always rent it for weddings or events but knew the weight would be completely impractical…..@JamesStaddon Well, that is an idea! 🙂 @SarahLeePhoto is doing a good job of trying to talk me into it…. 😉
@sarahleephoto Thank you, Sarah. 🙂 With your writing skills, I would need you come visit and help me write it! 😉
No, I hadn’t thought of that. I’m not extremely gifted in the area of writing and feel I still have so much to learn personally in this area of photography…. Maybe one day down the road if the Lord opens the doors! 🙂
Good, I’m glad it’s helpful! 🙂
No, strangely not many have dedicated themselves to teaching the art of product photography 😉 so I haven’t found any teaching material that has been helpful in this area of photography. So far for me product photography has been leaned (I still have a lot to learn) through lots of prayer and personal & practical application/experience! I do find that looking at product magazines/catalogs and seeing how professionals style and photograph product is really helpful. It’s good to see what angles and aspects they are capturing!
I’ve yet to find the perfect lights for the lightbox. But seeing I don’t have much of an occasion to use the lightbox, I haven’t extensively researched lighting!
I generally try to re-purpose/reuse props as much as possible which helps avoid the massive prop build-up but there will usually be a new element added per season so something new will enter the prop collection a few times a year. The props used most really vary with the product I am photographing so it’s hard to give a list of those used on a “regular basis”.
Really, set-up is 95% of product photography in my opinion. It takes 5 times longer to create the desired “scene” than it will take to actually snap the picture! If I were to photograph goat products such as bar soap or lotions I would want to provide 1 set of lightbox photos and a set that will be visually appealing and artistic. I would find props with an earthy element to enhance the natural goat theme while still maintaining a clean a “serene” feel to the photos. Burlap, twines(I use a lot of jute twine or bakers twine for example), and the natural elements found in the soap(like lavender, rosemary, mint etc.) to add color. I’d work on accenting the product with these element but keep the background clean. This would be my personal photography style and this is what I would find attractive from a consumer’s point of view. I attached 3 inspiration pictures that seem to have the same feel as I’d like to achieve if I were doing this job. Hope this is helpful! 🙂
Image 1 would be beautiful as long as a couple of the bars contained the actual logo/label to push the branding of the company.
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Thank you! All glory goes to God.
Well, I only use prime lenses so I have quite a few things to learn about zoom. 🙂
Yes, actually product photography is the main portion of my business at the moment. Since the companies I photograph for tend to desire a more “organic” feel to the product photos, I haven’t had to use a lightbox in quite some time. You might try doing a “homemade” lightebox to see if you like to look before buying the full set-up. You can google “DIY photography Light Box” and find quite a variety of helpful tutorials. I still have a lot to learn in this area but 2 tips I usually give is make the photo visually appealing without “photo clutter” and taking the attention away from the subject/product. And always keep it really focused(obviously.) You want to draw the consumer’s eye to the product instantly and capture the attention of the consumer with a beautiful crisp photo!
Props are found in various places. It’s good to think outside the box when purchasing the props as you can save money and usually find something unique. For example, the lavender was from a local lavender farm, I used Mica gold dust and dried fall leaves for a fall photo shoot purchased from an online craft store, and I keep my eyes open for old crates from thrift-stores or garages sales(I’ve attached 2 images to demonstrate how I have incorporated these into a product photo). Hope this is somewhat helpful. Enjoy the product photography, it’s a fun challenging job!
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@JamesStaddon I usually don’t shoot any lower than 2.0 or 2.5 for portraits but from my own personal experience the Canon 50mm f/1.4 has a better quality/smoother bokeh and image saturation + depth compared to the 1.8! The 50mm was my main portrait lens for several years but at the moment I use a Canon 35mm 1.4 for 95% of my work(it’s a beautiful lens that produces a crisp clear image). I will use the 50mm for food or product photography. Yes, it can be tricky getting the desired focus with an even smaller DOF but I do a lot of manual focus so it never has been an issue for me!
I attached a couple images for reference. Cupcakes were shot with a 50mm and portrait was taken with 35mm!
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