Product Photography Help

tabs · 12 Oct 2012 at 16:29

Hello

I have lots of products i need to take pictures of, they are all quite small.

Is there any kind of lighted box solution I can buy that i just put the product in, take a picture and it'll be good to go with a pure white background?

I currently pay approx £3-4 per product photo (still, no 360) and due to the number of photos that need to be taken in the next 12 months i think it would be better to spend some cash now in getting my own system.

I have seen something like this: http://www.alphashot.net/make-professional-2d360-degree3d-packshots which is appproximately £5500. This would be cheaper than what i would spend with my photographer over the next 12 months plus it has the benefit of doing 360s which may be necessary later (which i dont know how much the photographer will charge for). The idea is perfect but perhaps there is a DIY way which is just as good with a saving?

I need all equiptment associated with taking the pictures, camera included.

Thanks!

tabs · 12 Oct 2012 at 18:49

I don't really have any photography knowledge and in all honesty don't have so much time to learn. So I am looking for a very user friendly solution.

With that in mind, what specific equipment would be recommended?

Thanks for the help so far.

tabs · 12 Oct 2012 at 18:59

The budget is pretty open in all honesty considering the pricing of the initially mentioned item.

Obviously if I'm going to sacrifice some ease of use by going the DIY route, there should be some other upside e.g a cheaper cost or better quality images etc.

tabs · 14 Oct 2012 at 03:02

I think my problem here is that there seems to be a very wild difference as to what 2 people can achieve using the same equipment, so these set ups are leaving a lot of the finished product quality on the shoulders of the photographer.

Ideally i want a setup that tips the scale largely the other way, i want to be able to do it, have other staff do it etc with very minimal effort. Accurate colour reproduction is also pretty important and i just don't know if i have the time to train up, which is why spending so much on what appear to be very simple solutions was an idea that appealed to me. That is if they are as great as they make out.

It seems perhaps keeping the photographer in work may still have to be considered.

tabs · 14 Oct 2012 at 16:59

I'm in the South East.

There are a wide assortment of products, i have a project coming in the next 2 weeks which requires around 150 items to be photographed, 2 pictures per item so with my photographer thats quite a decent sum right there.

I agree with you on the saving money point and now having thought it through am leaning towards just getting my photographer to keep doing it.

I am going to see the system and a similiar one next week to see if it really is all its cracked up to be.

tabs · 15 Oct 2012 at 23:44

I agree with what you say.

I have a Canon 400d with some sort of macro lens, i might buy some cheaper lightning equipment and give it a whirl to see if i have any interest in learning to do it myself.

tabs · 17 Oct 2012 at 19:57

Could anyone please identify exactly what studio equipment and lighting I would buy if I had a budget of £500?

Also recommendations for a suitable camera plus lens would be great.

I am based in London and if anyone would like to earn some cash for setting all the equipment up and showing a colleague and I a few starting pointers then please let me know.