Product Photography
H O P P E R P E D I A ©
-Brian Hammons
June 14, 2010: 8,220 hits
"Amazing product photography starts and ends with lighting"
Lighting
If you don't get consistent light output, you won't get consistently exposed images. Use lots of soft light. (Ex: studio strobes and umbrellas) In post-editing, you want to select and erase the background behind the product with a program like photoshop.
Cleanliness
When you photograph small items at high resolution, you will see every imperfection, fingerprint, smudge and shadow on the computer screen. It's much faster to clean the items beforehand than to retouch them in Photoshop later. Wear nitrile exam gloves to prevent leaving fingerprints. Use microfiber towels to clean and polish the items being photographed. Shooting the items in a clean room will almost guarantee spectacular imagery and headache free post-editing.
Background
Use a pristine white background with no corners or edges visible. Photographers can buy ultra white photography materials online, or manufacture their own background with paper or cardboard as well. Some professional photographers buy or make product photography tents and shoot through a small hole to guarantee pure soft white light.
Camera Lens
A macro lens lets you get very high quality magnification. An itemless than an inch across will fill the highest resolution computer screen. Photographers often use a 105mm macro lens or 70-180mm Macro. You want the item you are shooting to look natural. Use a longer lens because the image will look strange if you have to get too close.
The best sharpness and depth of field are had around f/22~32, and a setup at 250 or 500 W/s. You don't need more power this close. The exposure stays the same which allows you to set the exposure manually if desired. Use a white-card for white balance.
Processing
In post editing, lighting again becomes the biggest issue. You want to immediately remove the background from the item, and then concentrate on adjusting the lighting with filters.
