My Photo setup

[Mr Ed]

Since I was photographing a table today (see projects) I thought I would show a couple of pics showing how I set up for photos. Would be interesting to know what other people do also.

I use a roll of Sarnafil single ply roofing membrane as a backdrop, supported on a couple of survey tripods. The membrane is smooth and light grey which is perfect for a backdrop. I use my outfeed/assembly table as the working surface, which does mean I have to have the tripod set high as well and I stand on a milk crate to reach the viewfinder!

I then use the shop lighting and a halogen site lamp on a tripod to add extra light. I usually try and wait for a sunny day as I have plenty of windors, but in winter thats not very often going to be possible. I never use flash as I cannot get the colours to work for me - that's probably down to my lack of photo skills but I prefer to see the lighting before I press the shutter.

I use a Nikon D80 digital SLR on P setting, with an 18-135 Nikkor zoom lense. Whilst its not photo perfection, I generally get results I am happy with;

Cheers, Ed

 

[Steve Maskery]

Ed, that's great to see.
Studio shots are always something I've struggled with. Where do you get a roll of that membrane? How much is it?

I learned a great deal about what makes a good woody photo from Pete Martin. When he used to come up and photograph my stuff for GW, he would have me holding a reflector (a broken piece of polystyrene) or a shield (ditto) to get the shadows and highlights just where he wanted them. Many is the time I've been just out of shot, on one leg and bent over backwards so I don't get in the way. I was always amazed at how good he made my work look. After he died, GW sent another guy to photograph some work of a friend's he didn't set up lights or even a tripod. Just point and shoot. There was nothing wrong with the photo, I suppose, but it wasn't alive like Pete's. Pete was a good bloke.

I've recently bought a large piece of green cotton. Unfortunately I couldn't get 3m wide in one go (well, not without paying a fortune) so there is a seam down the middle but the colour means that I can easily remove it in software. It's the same greenscreen technique they use in film and for the weather forecasts etc. I can then replace it with a blank or graded background instead. I've photographed just one piece that way so far, but I'm pleased with the results. I think Nick is going to feature it in the next issue or two.

At the risk of putting you off your Sunday Evening Crumpets:

This was actually taken against a green cloth (think Kermit). The bland background is entirely CG.


The biggest problem is finding somewhere to set it all up.

Great to see your setup. Thanks for sharing.
S

 

[Mr Ed]

The membrane was a left over at the end of a job, so I repatriated it. Its probably quite expensive and you would be paying for properties that aren't really needed for a backdrop. The colour is key - a light grey background works well, as it is not as harsh as white but looks white-ish in the pictures. If you google 'photo backdrop' there's quite a few places selling rolls of paper backdrop - you can then tear off a bit and roll out a clean section when you need it. What I like about the sarnafil is that because its effectively like vinyl you can get it to drape in a nice curve which avoids shadows at the back. I wouldn't know off hand where to buy a small quantity.

Maybe its IT laziness on my part, but I strive to have zero post processing to do on my pictures, hence the time spent on setting up the background.

Cheers, Ed

 

[wizer]

Thanks, this was interesting to read. Steve's comment about space is true. I'd have to setup inside the house somewhere. I'd like to play with product photography. But you have to have a product first

 

[RobertMP]

Nice set up.

The backdrop looks a little glossy as matt is more normal. The reflections stop it having the infinity curve look.

As to flash and colours. You need diffused off camera flash for this type of thing - the pop up on the camera will never look right. You should be shooting in RAW. The camera will have come with raw editing software and one of the big advantages is the ability to alter the white balance. If you take a picture of a neutral grey card (or the inside lining of most camera bags) you can use it to set the white balance then copy the setting to your product shot afterwards. You could also expose for available light as you are doing now but add some fill flash (possibly at reduced power) to soften the shadows.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Ed
I've just looked at the photos. Beautiful work, really excellent.

If I have a criticism it is not of your work it is the reflective properties of you backdrop, there is quite a lot of glare there. I would prefer something rather more matt.

There's just no pleasing some people is there?
S

 

[Mattty]

Great thread Ed. I'm pretty basic at photography so have no comments but will sucking up the advice like a sponge 8)

 

[Mr Ed]

The backdrop looks a little glossy as matt is more normal. The reflections stop it having the infinity curve look.

Yes it is slightly shiny which I agree is not ideal, its best feature is that it was free!

As to flash and colours. You need diffused off camera flash for this type of thing - the pop up on the camera will never look right.

I have suspected this was the case for some time, but I didn't want to spend more money when I don't really know what I'm doing with flashes...is there any tutorial type material on the web anywhere on flash usage and settings?

You should be shooting in RAW.

Interestingly one of the reasons I selected the D80, amongst lots of other things, was the RAW format ability for pictures being published. When I did the first article for F&C after I got the camera I proudly offered them RAW format images and they said they never use them and would rather have JPEG!

Cheers, Ed

 

[Ironballs]

Ed you could try www.nikonians.org lots of lovely Nikon owners on there and they even have a D80 forum. Other than my Nikon compact I've yet to make the leap to digital, preferring film and also partly because I love my Nikon F90X and to get a digital equivalent will cost me a large sum of money.

Much like I hanker after a Holtey plane, I would love to get my hands on a digital backed Hasselblad

 

[RobertMP]

There is loads of stuff on the web about flash and studio flashes. I don't have links to any in particular but you will turn up plenty with google.

RAW files are for your benefit in getting the best picture possible from the camera. Because they are the digital equivalent of negatives someone that wants pictures from you would expect you to have developed them ie adjusted it how you like it then exported/saved it as a jpeg or tiff file.

 

[woodbloke]

I was looking at photographic background material earlier in the week with a view to setting up a similar photo situation to Ed's. I found some proper photographic paper for a background, either White or Arctic White if I recollect...nothing in grey :? Cheapest I could find a roll (2.72x11m) was about £30 or so - Rob

 

[Pinocchio]

To get the colours right you are going to struggle a little as you are using daylight, fluorescent light, then if you use flash aswell, unless you have it gelled with a fuorescent gel you will get a nasty green colour cast.

You could overpower your workshop lights and just use flash to illuminate your table, but then you would need a couple more flashes for your background.

Ideally you want to light the background separately and move the table further away from the background so not to get any spill on it.

Probably the best thing to do is use your halogen lamps, one each side of the background only lighting the background, and maybe mask them with a bit of card facing the camera so no light spills onto the table and then use your flash to light just the table itself.

I might sound complicated, but this will give you a much better look, and will also eliminate the shadows that you are getting on the background.

If I get a chance I will take a couple of demo shots are draw you a diagram to show you what I mean.

Sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but just offering some advise.

 

[marcus]

Hi Rob,

either White or Arctic White if I recollect

I agree with Ed that a pure white is too harsh, as I've found to my cost. A cream can look OK with some woods, or charcoal....

Here are a few photography tips I've picked up through trial and error if they're of any use to anyone:

• Usually it's best to put the camera lowish - the foreshortening effect you get from looking right down on the piece often looks dreadful.
  
  As Roberts says, diffuse light source is essential - there are various gizmos on sale which can help with this, although a bright overcast day can work great too if you have big windows or can work outside.
  
  If you're going to get a flash head or studio light, get the most powerful you can afford, because sooner or later you will need it, and then you won't have to buy another (again something I've discovered to my cost!)
  
  A single light on one side, higher than the camera, and a big white reflector on the other works fine for most pieces
  
  Chairs, and anything else 'skeletal' can look brilliant back lit, but it's a faff to set up. You need some sheets of black paper to stop the lights shining straight into the camera, and two, preferably three lights - not a problem if you can borrow some!
  
  I've found that a polarising filter is a good investment - you can use it to control the specular highlights off a glossy finish, and turning it from position to position can completely change the look of the shot.....

Marcus

 

[wizer]

If I get a chance I will take a couple of demo shots are draw you a diagram to show you what I mean.

Sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but just offering some advise.

Not at all this is good advice, we're all learnin'

 

[Ironballs]

I imagine that you can cure the fluorescent green cast via photoshop etc, but you can also nail it at source by using a filter on the camera. Last time I looked Cokin were doing fluorescent and tungsten filters

 

[Pinocchio]

I imagine that you can cure the fluorescent green cast via photoshop etc, but you can also nail it at source by using a filter on the camera. Last time I looked Cokin were doing fluorescent and tungsten filters

You can correct it in photoshop, but if you have different colour casts its going to be a real pain and very time consuming to correct in photoshop.

Also warehouse express is usually a good place to get photographic suppliers...

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1009036

 

[Ironballs]

I'll second warehouse express, bought a lens from them before

 

[mahking51]

Hi all,
With any table top shoot, large or small, diffuse light is the key.
With lighting the maxim 'less is more' applies most of the time.
Good lighting cameramen eg D Slocombe, Adrian Biddle et al always used ONE key light and ONE smaller fill light wherever possible. Negative fill using black painted poly.
When you see a DOP taking 4-5 hours to light a tabletop he usually does not know what he is at or is egging the job.
Huge exception is car shoots or similar, an absolute nightmare!
Fill is achieved by sheet poly or grey sheet, sometimes colour but not often.
An infinity cyc helps alot and usually a product called colorama is used; white usually or chromakey green if for post roduction uses.
Aim for f stop of around 5.6 or a line either way.
For some jobs a wedge of top light is used to downlight scene and then the key & fill.
I've done several hundred commercials over the years for every concievable product and all the good lighting is simple.
Cheers,
Martin

 

[Mr Ed]

Martin

Can you just explain what negative fill is please and also the bits about fill with sheet poly and also infinity cyc....

You clearly know a lot about this stuff, but I'm only partly managing to keep up.

Cheers, Ed

 

[John. B]

With a D80 you are able to set the colour to any light source by altering the 'white balance'
Two maybe three lights at most. A couple of reflectors made from kitchen foil a couple of diffusers from greaseproof paper.
unless you in pretty much in the deep end of photography stay away from RAW.
JPEG does lose some data during compression but not enough to notice in this situation.
Some pros use RAW many pros stay with JPEG. RAW uses 5 times more memory than JPEG and it only comes in on its own in photoshop.
Essentials are sturdy tripod flat lighting, you need shadow to show depth,
a small aperture for as much depth of field, shutter speed not relevant (its on a tripod)download into something like Picasa III with the few management tools it has you can produce a very good picture.
Have a look at www.kenrockwell.com
You will learn a lot.


John. B