Photography

[Joe]

I am contemplating investing in some studio flash lighting and a digital SLR in order to photograph work for marketing purposes. My hope is that this will be cheaper in the long run than paying a professional to do it, and give me more control over the quality. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How difficult is it to master the basics of studio lighting? Can anyone recommend any books on the subject?

Thanks

Joel

 

[woodbloke]

In this month's F&C there's an excellent article on photography, especially suited to taking shots of furniture - Rob

 

[matt]

What/where are you anticipating using as a studio? That should be your start point. If, for example, you've got an area blessed with a lot of natural light then you could use that with perhaps a reflector to fill shadows and a diffuser for "flattening" intense sunlight.

Perhaps add to that a one or probably two slave flash units such as the Nissin Di622 (which is triggered from an on-camera flash) to fill in shadows. May be better for site work, especially if you bounce the flash of walls and ceilings to give an even light.

Do you need an DSLR? I wouldn't be without mine but then I'm interested in photography. You could find that a compact with manual exposure and focussing could be enough - such as the Canon S90. An absolute minimum requirement for marketing material is sufficiently high resolution and quality to produce prints that are large enough for your needs.

DSLR + studio lights is not wrong but have you considered/priced other options already?

 

[wizer]

Check out this guy on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/prophotolife

He doesn't make videos any more, but there is a wealth of information in the ones he posted and it's all well produced video.

 

[jimi43]

What/where are you anticipating using as a studio? That should be your start point. If, for example, you've got an area blessed with a lot of natural light then you could use that with perhaps a reflector to fill shadows and a diffuser for "flattening" intense sunlight.

1000% agree!

Had a NIKON since the late 70s...swore by them then...swear by them now and the new DSLR I have isn't that bad price-wise and worth its weight in gold to me...it's the D80 and at 10MPixels is adequate for all but technical stuff...plus all my 30 year old lenses fit it!!

If you must go for flash...I would recommend Bowens

You can get some serious professional older kit on FleaBay for a song...

like these

Cheers

Jim

 

[BradNaylor]

I too am looking for a new camera.

In my case I need for one for taking shots of fitted kitchens and other furniture after installation in the clients' house. I have absolutely no interest or expertise in photography and so just want something with which I can point and shoot.

My idea of getting technical is to take one photo with the flash on and one with it off so that I can pick out the best result later. Invariably this the one without flash so a camera which gives good results in indoor light conditions would be great.

Any suggestions?

 

[jimi43]

Panasonic Lumix range....are excellent!

Jim

 

[OPJ]

...Don't forget Photoshop!! :wink:

 

[Vormulac]

You can get a studio lighting package from ebay or a proper camera shop like SRS Microsystems for around the £200-£250 mark and that includes pretty much everything you'd need... assuming of course that *is* what you need. As others have mentioned, there's no substitute for natural light and learning to do studio lighting properly is a big old field.

If you want to find out more about lighting then I recommend a webite called the strobist http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ that covers pretty much everything to do with lighting, but not the basics of photography, the assumption is that you're already fairly comfortable with your camera.

There's a book called 'Flash: The most available light' which is a bit of a marketing exercise by LumiQuest, but it contains a lot of good info on lighting http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flash-Available ... 0974826707 see if your library can source you a copy before you splash out on it.

This sort of thing is pretty flexible if you do decide to go the studio lighting route:

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/4704/K ... h-Kit.html

It really won't matter what camera you get if you go for a modern DSLR from an entry level like the Pentax Kx to something insane like a Nikon D3, they will all do what you want as long as you take the time to learn the basics.

Just remember: under-exposed shots can have a little light added by photoshop, but over-expose and your highlight detail is lost forever.

Happy shopping!!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Panasonic Lumix range....are excellent!

Jim

+1

I have the G1. It takes different lenses like an SLR, but there are plenty of other models, pocket and bridge size, that produce stunning results and are easy to use.

My mate Bob has a Lumix Z7,Excellent. There are now Z10 models, IIRC. If you want a small camera with wide angle for indoor work, look at the Lumix F37.

Cheers
Steve

 

[bugbear]

I too am looking for a new camera.

In my case I need for one for taking shots of fitted kitchens and other furniture after installation in the clients' house. I have absolutely no interest or expertise in photography and so just want something with which I can point and shoot.

My idea of getting technical is to take one photo with the flash on and one with it off so that I can pick out the best result later. Invariably this the one without flash so a camera which gives good results in indoor light conditions would be great.

Any suggestions?

Yeah. Buy and use a tripod. Cheapest and most reliable way to better photos of subjects that don't move I know of.

Hmm. Kitchens. You'll probably be looking for wide angle lenses, unless you want to get into panoramic stitching (which is fun, but techie)

BugBear

 

[matt]

The Panasonic LX3 and Canon S90 both have wide angle lens. And, being a compact, you'll not get dust on the sensor (something that will happen to a DSLR over time (time dependant on variables such as how often you take the lens off etc)). The LX3 and S90 both have fast lenses too, however, for photographing kitchens you'll likely want maximum depth of field so you'll not benefit from these wide apertures. However, for square on shots you could find them useful for quick, handheld, shots. (Basically, you've got flexability). For max depth of field, use a tripod.

Quite often, for on-site shots, you'll find the light is coming from one end of the room (galley kitchens, for example). You'll want a remote flash or reflector or something similar to boost the light levels across the whole scene and reduce shadows. I'd go for the aforementioned Nissin in slave mode. The power is adjustable and it's triggered from the camera flash.

The reason you might want to emply a pro is because he (should...) have sufficient kit to handle all the variables that will present themselves on-site. In a studio you have a lot more control so perhaps less need to employ a pro if you can capitalise (and control to some extent) the available assets (e.g. natural light).

 

[Vormulac]

All true, but in three years of using a DSLR I've yet to get any dust on the sensor (either that or the dust removal system works as advertised!).

I think it depends on how often you need to take these shots? If you get a pro in once a month to take the pictures you are going to very quickly find yourself paying more than you would have done if you just bought the kit and did it yourself.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Don't worry about dust on the sensor (its actually on the low pass filter in front of the sensor) its easy to clean off, they just like to scare you into getting your local camera shop to do and charge you. I have cleaned mine several times its a Nikon D80.

Pete

 

[pablopete80]

I am new to woodwork but not to photography so will try and give some advice. I do alot of work for estate agents and have taken pics of hundreds of kitchens and rooms.

DSLR - my opinion is essential for professional quality images, you can get them second hand off auction sites etc. D80 has been mentioned and that will be easily upto the job (what i started with for many years)

Flash - A decent flash and difuser to soften the light. I will stick to Nikon for advice sb600 or 800 will be good units. Both can be used off camera remotely.

Reflectors - Use natural light as much as poss, its free light and looks best.

Tripod - Essential as well. I often use long exposures and a good tripod (£100 +) is the only way to keep things steady. You will have to use the delay timer on the camera or a remote release to eliminate any camera shake by pressing the shutter realease.

Lenses - Some Compacts and Micro 4 Thirds have changeable lenses but they cost a fortune. DSLR are more readily available, have more choice and are easily saleable. Also you can upgrade to a better camera body and not have to buy new lenses again (to the same brand and sensor type) so you could buy a D80 then upgrade to a D300s and use the same lens.

Lens Type (focal length) - A 50mm f1.8mm for general work will be fine. Maybe a wide lens for small rooms i use a sigma 10-20mm but this will destort perspective a bit. and maybe a macro lens for detail work.

Dust - Apart from WIP photos keep your camera out the workshop and you wont have any more problems than any other user, probably less than the ave holiday snapper changes lenses on the beach etc.

A good book or two on techniques - I am 100% self taught through experience, books and mags. Its all fairly logical once you understand the basics of how to take a picture.

I hope that helps and if you want any advice please ask.

Peter.

 

[wizer]

I guess it's all been said, but with regards to photographing kitchens, might it be an idea to get someone in to snap them? At least for the very special jobs. Might be worth balancing the cost for a photographer for 1hr above getting inferior results because you don't have the right kit or don't want to learn how to use it.

Just and idea.

 

[matt]

Re. dust on sensor - agree re the ease with which they can be cleaned. Just done mine using about £18 worth of kit which will last me for ages. The point about compacts is that you simply do not need to worry about dust which is good in a potentially dusty environment.

DIY v. Pro... Don't forget to factor in the cost of your time.

Much depends on the scale of your business. I know firms (fitted furniture) that employ pros to photograph their work because it provides the best net commercial gain.

 

[bugbear]

Tripod - Essential as well. I often use long exposures and a good tripod (£100 +) is the only way to keep things steady.

If you're using a camera without a mirror, and you're indoors, the cheapest most horrible tripod in the world will suffice, if you use the delay timer .

Outdoors, with wind and mirror slap, yeah, get a decent tripod.

Lens Type (focal length) - A 50mm f1.8mm for general work will be fine. Maybe a wide lens for small rooms i use a sigma 10-20mm but this will distort perspective a bit. and maybe a macro lens for detail work.

Wide angle (going on fisheye) doesn't distort perspective (which is defined by the relationship of objects to each other, and is determined by your point of view).

But wide angle lens do distort the image. Fish eyes have very special distortions, all their own, whilst super-wides tend to have lots of good ol' spherical/barrel distortion.

If (for whatever reason) you need to go that wide to capture the subject, subsequent image processing can correct these geometric distortions.

I think DxO is the flagship product in this area, but a lot of programs can do it to some extent or other.

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

Best for a beginner to keep it simple - but without compromise on the quality. So I'd go for a canon 350d or similar with the one standard zoom lens, a cheapo tripod and a very bright light such as one of these but on a stand (make your own).
The camera works really well in simple automatic mode (just point and press!) or can be controlled in all sorts of ways when you have got the hang of it.

 

[yetloh]

Someone mentioned the F&C article early on but all this amounts to a lot of money. I went on a photographing your work course at West Dean some years ago and this demonstrated to me that it is not necessary to spend a lot on lighting. What the expensive kit does is make it convenient and cooler, but a very professional job can be done with just a couple of tungsten halogen lamps (the type used for security lighting) from B&Q, a plain white Ikea shower curtain as a diffuser and some white painted boards as reflectors and some ingenuity. Total cost; less than 25 quid. This lot is fine for individual pieces although kitchens are another matter.

What I would not skimp on is a decent DSLR and tripod.

Jim