How to avoid objects casting shadows when taking pictures of products?
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
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I am starting my own business and need to take photos of my products. However, the lighting in my apartment is not that great and it is also cloudy and rainy outside, so no sunlight in here or anything. The only thing that remotely works is the flash on my camera, however in most cases it alters the color of my products.
I just took a picture of a headband (without flash) and the shadows looks so bad. The flower casts a huge shadow on the headband. I know I can't edit it in Photoshop either.
I am on a budget so I can't afford any fancy equipment. All I have is an iPhone camera and a white tablecloth to use as the background.
Any suggestions?
lighting product-photography shadows
New contributor
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
I am starting my own business and need to take photos of my products. However, the lighting in my apartment is not that great and it is also cloudy and rainy outside, so no sunlight in here or anything. The only thing that remotely works is the flash on my camera, however in most cases it alters the color of my products.
I just took a picture of a headband (without flash) and the shadows looks so bad. The flower casts a huge shadow on the headband. I know I can't edit it in Photoshop either.
I am on a budget so I can't afford any fancy equipment. All I have is an iPhone camera and a white tablecloth to use as the background.
Any suggestions?
lighting product-photography shadows
New contributor
If you have aluminium foil, you can create a few simple reflectors
â PlasmaHH
11 hours ago
What is your budget, exactly? The types of suggestions to you are quite varied already but could be much more helpful if we knew exactly what you can afford to spend to accomplish this goal.
â Hueco
11 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of How do I properly do shadowless product photos?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
1
Related: How to reduce shadows on product photos when there is no room between the subject and the background? and How can I inexpensively create the white backdrop look? and Why can't I get a decent white background with product photography?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
I am starting my own business and need to take photos of my products. However, the lighting in my apartment is not that great and it is also cloudy and rainy outside, so no sunlight in here or anything. The only thing that remotely works is the flash on my camera, however in most cases it alters the color of my products.
I just took a picture of a headband (without flash) and the shadows looks so bad. The flower casts a huge shadow on the headband. I know I can't edit it in Photoshop either.
I am on a budget so I can't afford any fancy equipment. All I have is an iPhone camera and a white tablecloth to use as the background.
Any suggestions?
lighting product-photography shadows
New contributor
I am starting my own business and need to take photos of my products. However, the lighting in my apartment is not that great and it is also cloudy and rainy outside, so no sunlight in here or anything. The only thing that remotely works is the flash on my camera, however in most cases it alters the color of my products.
I just took a picture of a headband (without flash) and the shadows looks so bad. The flower casts a huge shadow on the headband. I know I can't edit it in Photoshop either.
I am on a budget so I can't afford any fancy equipment. All I have is an iPhone camera and a white tablecloth to use as the background.
Any suggestions?
lighting product-photography shadows
lighting product-photography shadows
New contributor
New contributor
edited 17 mins ago
Andrew T.
1115
1115
New contributor
asked 14 hours ago
Ghazal
262
262
New contributor
New contributor
If you have aluminium foil, you can create a few simple reflectors
â PlasmaHH
11 hours ago
What is your budget, exactly? The types of suggestions to you are quite varied already but could be much more helpful if we knew exactly what you can afford to spend to accomplish this goal.
â Hueco
11 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of How do I properly do shadowless product photos?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
1
Related: How to reduce shadows on product photos when there is no room between the subject and the background? and How can I inexpensively create the white backdrop look? and Why can't I get a decent white background with product photography?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
add a comment |Â
If you have aluminium foil, you can create a few simple reflectors
â PlasmaHH
11 hours ago
What is your budget, exactly? The types of suggestions to you are quite varied already but could be much more helpful if we knew exactly what you can afford to spend to accomplish this goal.
â Hueco
11 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of How do I properly do shadowless product photos?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
1
Related: How to reduce shadows on product photos when there is no room between the subject and the background? and How can I inexpensively create the white backdrop look? and Why can't I get a decent white background with product photography?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
If you have aluminium foil, you can create a few simple reflectors
â PlasmaHH
11 hours ago
If you have aluminium foil, you can create a few simple reflectors
â PlasmaHH
11 hours ago
What is your budget, exactly? The types of suggestions to you are quite varied already but could be much more helpful if we knew exactly what you can afford to spend to accomplish this goal.
â Hueco
11 hours ago
What is your budget, exactly? The types of suggestions to you are quite varied already but could be much more helpful if we knew exactly what you can afford to spend to accomplish this goal.
â Hueco
11 hours ago
1
1
Possible duplicate of How do I properly do shadowless product photos?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
Possible duplicate of How do I properly do shadowless product photos?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
1
1
Related: How to reduce shadows on product photos when there is no room between the subject and the background? and How can I inexpensively create the white backdrop look? and Why can't I get a decent white background with product photography?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
Related: How to reduce shadows on product photos when there is no room between the subject and the background? and How can I inexpensively create the white backdrop look? and Why can't I get a decent white background with product photography?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
up vote
8
down vote
I'm chiming in to introduce you to: the tub trick.
Tubs are great:
- they're white
- they're shiny
Combined, you get a place to set things that'll bounce around the light and provide for a mostly white background.
Here's my tub complete with window lighting:
And here's the shot, placing the item on the rail and cropping out the rest:
I did use the Snapseed App to slightly brighten the whole image and to do the crop. As you can see, shadows are soft (go window light go!) and the tub made for a decently white background.
More work and different technique will be required if you want the uber-white background type of product photo.
1
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
Let's assume you have no equipment at all & are not going to be able to get any right now - then a cloudy day is the best you can hope for.
A sunny day will make hard shadows, cloudy days don't.
Cloudy days are also a 'good white'. Artificial light is a bit of an unknown factor, which your camera will have a harder time guessing at, especially if you use more than one light source.
If it's not actually raining, then take your setup outdoors, where there will be almost no shadows at all. If you can't do that, then get as close to the window as you can.
'Broad light is good light'.
If your window has net curtains or similar, use those to further diffuse the light from outside.
Orient your backcloth & product so that any minimal shadows fall behind the product, rather than across it.
This was taken on an iPhone, next to the window. Not perfect, but an improvement on shadowing.
Two minutes in photoshop & the happy chap is ready to go...
If your product is on your backcloth & you have no controllable light source, you are never going to be able to knock it out easily, but you can work with it.
The trick to knocking out to white is to have your backdrop lit from behind - which you're not going to easily be able to do without more equipment - & also to get it to blur you need to elevate the product on something clear, so the product is in focus, but the backdrop is not.
[very] quick attempt at knockout, you could do far better with more care & attention than I took...
The bear was too big for this one - this little guy is only about 8cm [3"] tall
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
1
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
4
down vote
Construct an omnidirectional chamber. This can be a tent constructed using a bedsheet or a rectangular cavity constructed using snow-white Styrofoam sheets from Home Depot or white poster paper. You place the object to be photographed under the tent on inside the cavity. In your case, a tent might be better. You then purchase several R-30 reflector flood bulbs with pin-up fixture. Light the tent from the outside. The tent disperses and diffused the light. Such a lash-up can exclude shadows.
One flag on the field: For the most part, photography is a 2-dimention media. Often shadows are necessary as they provide an illusion of depth.
1
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Product photography is an independent and broad field of photography so if you want to achieve profesional results you should invest in learning how to do it, a camera that can control an external flash and couple of flashes with umbrellas and tripod.... or pay someone who knows and have the equipment to do it.
However, you may try two tricks and could be good enough for a small online shop:
1st: Take your products to your local printing / xerox shop and ask the clerk to scan them. Depending on the size of the product and the width it can render very nice results with soft and uniform light and strong defocus towards a black background. Google it to see samples.
2nd: Get a flashlight that gives you a white light. Any cheap one works, just try to get one that has white light like a the ones with a led bulb. Download a camera app for your iphone that allows you to take slow shuter pictures, meaning pictures that last for at least 5 sec. Check in the app store, there are plenty of them that are free.
Place your phone over something that holds it on the top while your product is on the bottom so you dont hold the iphone with your hands, like a shoebox or the border of a table, being your phone at the edge of the table with the camera over it and the product in the floor.
Then turn off the light of the room and be sure to be in darkness.
Set the exposure in the camera app at 5 sec, press the shoot button and turn on your flashlight and move it during the 5 sec over the top and sides of your product. Move your flashlight all the time around the product.
Experiment with different shutter speed setting, try lighting the product from different angles and distances from the flashlight to the product.
This is a field of photography named flashpainting and it is fun, so enjoy it!!
Good luck and... share samples of the pics! :)
New contributor
2
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
-1
down vote
Macro ring light, or large ringlight, depending on the size of your product. A ring light makes object setup easier than a ring flash. A macro ring flash is sort-of required for live-animal (such as insects and other arthropods) closeups since a ring light stresses the animals out, leading to no useful shot. But for product placement, constant bright illumination is great and helps you set up the scene. Use a product that can run off the mains in some manner rather than batteries.
If you want to use your existing flash, there are diffuser boxes for strong flashes which also help to avoid hard shadows. They are of little use for popup flashes, though.
Here is an example mostly without hard shadows (but some shading) using a macro ring light:
To put this into context, old superzoom camera for this photograph was bought for EUR25, used macro ringlight for about EUR15, preowned macro lens for EUR20. You want to start a business. All you have is an iPhone. What does an iPhone cost?
The intellectual challenge of getting by without using any suitable equipment is nice, but at some point of time you'll do a whole lot better getting old equipment intended for that sort of thing from the scrapyard of brutally fast "outdated" technology than trying to fudge your way along with much more expensive unsuitable equipment.
If you run all your business through photographs, they are your entry card into the business.
New contributor
1
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
8
down vote
I'm chiming in to introduce you to: the tub trick.
Tubs are great:
- they're white
- they're shiny
Combined, you get a place to set things that'll bounce around the light and provide for a mostly white background.
Here's my tub complete with window lighting:
And here's the shot, placing the item on the rail and cropping out the rest:
I did use the Snapseed App to slightly brighten the whole image and to do the crop. As you can see, shadows are soft (go window light go!) and the tub made for a decently white background.
More work and different technique will be required if you want the uber-white background type of product photo.
1
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
8
down vote
I'm chiming in to introduce you to: the tub trick.
Tubs are great:
- they're white
- they're shiny
Combined, you get a place to set things that'll bounce around the light and provide for a mostly white background.
Here's my tub complete with window lighting:
And here's the shot, placing the item on the rail and cropping out the rest:
I did use the Snapseed App to slightly brighten the whole image and to do the crop. As you can see, shadows are soft (go window light go!) and the tub made for a decently white background.
More work and different technique will be required if you want the uber-white background type of product photo.
1
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
8
down vote
up vote
8
down vote
I'm chiming in to introduce you to: the tub trick.
Tubs are great:
- they're white
- they're shiny
Combined, you get a place to set things that'll bounce around the light and provide for a mostly white background.
Here's my tub complete with window lighting:
And here's the shot, placing the item on the rail and cropping out the rest:
I did use the Snapseed App to slightly brighten the whole image and to do the crop. As you can see, shadows are soft (go window light go!) and the tub made for a decently white background.
More work and different technique will be required if you want the uber-white background type of product photo.
I'm chiming in to introduce you to: the tub trick.
Tubs are great:
- they're white
- they're shiny
Combined, you get a place to set things that'll bounce around the light and provide for a mostly white background.
Here's my tub complete with window lighting:
And here's the shot, placing the item on the rail and cropping out the rest:
I did use the Snapseed App to slightly brighten the whole image and to do the crop. As you can see, shadows are soft (go window light go!) and the tub made for a decently white background.
More work and different technique will be required if you want the uber-white background type of product photo.
answered 13 hours ago
Hueco
8,91632143
8,91632143
1
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
1
1
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
That's pretty good, I'd have never thought of that one! Of course, my bathroom is so dark that I've unloaded a partially exposed roll of film in there and had no fogging, so there's that...
â FreeMan
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
@FreeMan I know how you feel, my last place had the bathroom in the middle w/ no windows. Pretty easy to light though - get some directional lamps and bounce them off the walls or use the bathroom lights w/ sheer fabric between them and the tub to soften the light.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
Let's assume you have no equipment at all & are not going to be able to get any right now - then a cloudy day is the best you can hope for.
A sunny day will make hard shadows, cloudy days don't.
Cloudy days are also a 'good white'. Artificial light is a bit of an unknown factor, which your camera will have a harder time guessing at, especially if you use more than one light source.
If it's not actually raining, then take your setup outdoors, where there will be almost no shadows at all. If you can't do that, then get as close to the window as you can.
'Broad light is good light'.
If your window has net curtains or similar, use those to further diffuse the light from outside.
Orient your backcloth & product so that any minimal shadows fall behind the product, rather than across it.
This was taken on an iPhone, next to the window. Not perfect, but an improvement on shadowing.
Two minutes in photoshop & the happy chap is ready to go...
If your product is on your backcloth & you have no controllable light source, you are never going to be able to knock it out easily, but you can work with it.
The trick to knocking out to white is to have your backdrop lit from behind - which you're not going to easily be able to do without more equipment - & also to get it to blur you need to elevate the product on something clear, so the product is in focus, but the backdrop is not.
[very] quick attempt at knockout, you could do far better with more care & attention than I took...
The bear was too big for this one - this little guy is only about 8cm [3"] tall
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
1
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
7
down vote
Let's assume you have no equipment at all & are not going to be able to get any right now - then a cloudy day is the best you can hope for.
A sunny day will make hard shadows, cloudy days don't.
Cloudy days are also a 'good white'. Artificial light is a bit of an unknown factor, which your camera will have a harder time guessing at, especially if you use more than one light source.
If it's not actually raining, then take your setup outdoors, where there will be almost no shadows at all. If you can't do that, then get as close to the window as you can.
'Broad light is good light'.
If your window has net curtains or similar, use those to further diffuse the light from outside.
Orient your backcloth & product so that any minimal shadows fall behind the product, rather than across it.
This was taken on an iPhone, next to the window. Not perfect, but an improvement on shadowing.
Two minutes in photoshop & the happy chap is ready to go...
If your product is on your backcloth & you have no controllable light source, you are never going to be able to knock it out easily, but you can work with it.
The trick to knocking out to white is to have your backdrop lit from behind - which you're not going to easily be able to do without more equipment - & also to get it to blur you need to elevate the product on something clear, so the product is in focus, but the backdrop is not.
[very] quick attempt at knockout, you could do far better with more care & attention than I took...
The bear was too big for this one - this little guy is only about 8cm [3"] tall
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
1
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
7
down vote
up vote
7
down vote
Let's assume you have no equipment at all & are not going to be able to get any right now - then a cloudy day is the best you can hope for.
A sunny day will make hard shadows, cloudy days don't.
Cloudy days are also a 'good white'. Artificial light is a bit of an unknown factor, which your camera will have a harder time guessing at, especially if you use more than one light source.
If it's not actually raining, then take your setup outdoors, where there will be almost no shadows at all. If you can't do that, then get as close to the window as you can.
'Broad light is good light'.
If your window has net curtains or similar, use those to further diffuse the light from outside.
Orient your backcloth & product so that any minimal shadows fall behind the product, rather than across it.
This was taken on an iPhone, next to the window. Not perfect, but an improvement on shadowing.
Two minutes in photoshop & the happy chap is ready to go...
If your product is on your backcloth & you have no controllable light source, you are never going to be able to knock it out easily, but you can work with it.
The trick to knocking out to white is to have your backdrop lit from behind - which you're not going to easily be able to do without more equipment - & also to get it to blur you need to elevate the product on something clear, so the product is in focus, but the backdrop is not.
[very] quick attempt at knockout, you could do far better with more care & attention than I took...
The bear was too big for this one - this little guy is only about 8cm [3"] tall
Let's assume you have no equipment at all & are not going to be able to get any right now - then a cloudy day is the best you can hope for.
A sunny day will make hard shadows, cloudy days don't.
Cloudy days are also a 'good white'. Artificial light is a bit of an unknown factor, which your camera will have a harder time guessing at, especially if you use more than one light source.
If it's not actually raining, then take your setup outdoors, where there will be almost no shadows at all. If you can't do that, then get as close to the window as you can.
'Broad light is good light'.
If your window has net curtains or similar, use those to further diffuse the light from outside.
Orient your backcloth & product so that any minimal shadows fall behind the product, rather than across it.
This was taken on an iPhone, next to the window. Not perfect, but an improvement on shadowing.
Two minutes in photoshop & the happy chap is ready to go...
If your product is on your backcloth & you have no controllable light source, you are never going to be able to knock it out easily, but you can work with it.
The trick to knocking out to white is to have your backdrop lit from behind - which you're not going to easily be able to do without more equipment - & also to get it to blur you need to elevate the product on something clear, so the product is in focus, but the backdrop is not.
[very] quick attempt at knockout, you could do far better with more care & attention than I took...
The bear was too big for this one - this little guy is only about 8cm [3"] tall
edited 13 hours ago
answered 13 hours ago
Tetsujin
7,13221842
7,13221842
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
1
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
1
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
As for blurring the background, did portrait mode make any difference?
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Interesting thought, but I don't have a dual lens iPhone, only a 6S, so not an option unfortunately. Would be interesting to see what one could do, though, if anyone has access to a dual lens, a cloudy day & a small soft toy on a cheap photographer's backdrop laid on the sofa ;)
â Tetsujin
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Yea me neither. My wife does though...I'll have to see if it makes a diff. And yea, living in the pac nw this time of year...I've got clouds for days
â Hueco
13 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
Windows work great on bright, sunny days too, as long as you have one that doesn't have sunlight directly streaming into it... AKA "north lighting".
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
1
1
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
@junkyardsparkle even direct sun through a window can be softened with a simple white sheet. No reason to get the architects involved in the solution. :-)
â Hueco
9 hours ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
4
down vote
Construct an omnidirectional chamber. This can be a tent constructed using a bedsheet or a rectangular cavity constructed using snow-white Styrofoam sheets from Home Depot or white poster paper. You place the object to be photographed under the tent on inside the cavity. In your case, a tent might be better. You then purchase several R-30 reflector flood bulbs with pin-up fixture. Light the tent from the outside. The tent disperses and diffused the light. Such a lash-up can exclude shadows.
One flag on the field: For the most part, photography is a 2-dimention media. Often shadows are necessary as they provide an illusion of depth.
1
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
Construct an omnidirectional chamber. This can be a tent constructed using a bedsheet or a rectangular cavity constructed using snow-white Styrofoam sheets from Home Depot or white poster paper. You place the object to be photographed under the tent on inside the cavity. In your case, a tent might be better. You then purchase several R-30 reflector flood bulbs with pin-up fixture. Light the tent from the outside. The tent disperses and diffused the light. Such a lash-up can exclude shadows.
One flag on the field: For the most part, photography is a 2-dimention media. Often shadows are necessary as they provide an illusion of depth.
1
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
Construct an omnidirectional chamber. This can be a tent constructed using a bedsheet or a rectangular cavity constructed using snow-white Styrofoam sheets from Home Depot or white poster paper. You place the object to be photographed under the tent on inside the cavity. In your case, a tent might be better. You then purchase several R-30 reflector flood bulbs with pin-up fixture. Light the tent from the outside. The tent disperses and diffused the light. Such a lash-up can exclude shadows.
One flag on the field: For the most part, photography is a 2-dimention media. Often shadows are necessary as they provide an illusion of depth.
Construct an omnidirectional chamber. This can be a tent constructed using a bedsheet or a rectangular cavity constructed using snow-white Styrofoam sheets from Home Depot or white poster paper. You place the object to be photographed under the tent on inside the cavity. In your case, a tent might be better. You then purchase several R-30 reflector flood bulbs with pin-up fixture. Light the tent from the outside. The tent disperses and diffused the light. Such a lash-up can exclude shadows.
One flag on the field: For the most part, photography is a 2-dimention media. Often shadows are necessary as they provide an illusion of depth.
answered 13 hours ago
Alan Marcus
23.5k12755
23.5k12755
1
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
1
1
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
To add to this: PVC is pretty cheap and can be a quick and cheap way to build a more rigid structure, if you need it.
â Hueco
12 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Product photography is an independent and broad field of photography so if you want to achieve profesional results you should invest in learning how to do it, a camera that can control an external flash and couple of flashes with umbrellas and tripod.... or pay someone who knows and have the equipment to do it.
However, you may try two tricks and could be good enough for a small online shop:
1st: Take your products to your local printing / xerox shop and ask the clerk to scan them. Depending on the size of the product and the width it can render very nice results with soft and uniform light and strong defocus towards a black background. Google it to see samples.
2nd: Get a flashlight that gives you a white light. Any cheap one works, just try to get one that has white light like a the ones with a led bulb. Download a camera app for your iphone that allows you to take slow shuter pictures, meaning pictures that last for at least 5 sec. Check in the app store, there are plenty of them that are free.
Place your phone over something that holds it on the top while your product is on the bottom so you dont hold the iphone with your hands, like a shoebox or the border of a table, being your phone at the edge of the table with the camera over it and the product in the floor.
Then turn off the light of the room and be sure to be in darkness.
Set the exposure in the camera app at 5 sec, press the shoot button and turn on your flashlight and move it during the 5 sec over the top and sides of your product. Move your flashlight all the time around the product.
Experiment with different shutter speed setting, try lighting the product from different angles and distances from the flashlight to the product.
This is a field of photography named flashpainting and it is fun, so enjoy it!!
Good luck and... share samples of the pics! :)
New contributor
2
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Product photography is an independent and broad field of photography so if you want to achieve profesional results you should invest in learning how to do it, a camera that can control an external flash and couple of flashes with umbrellas and tripod.... or pay someone who knows and have the equipment to do it.
However, you may try two tricks and could be good enough for a small online shop:
1st: Take your products to your local printing / xerox shop and ask the clerk to scan them. Depending on the size of the product and the width it can render very nice results with soft and uniform light and strong defocus towards a black background. Google it to see samples.
2nd: Get a flashlight that gives you a white light. Any cheap one works, just try to get one that has white light like a the ones with a led bulb. Download a camera app for your iphone that allows you to take slow shuter pictures, meaning pictures that last for at least 5 sec. Check in the app store, there are plenty of them that are free.
Place your phone over something that holds it on the top while your product is on the bottom so you dont hold the iphone with your hands, like a shoebox or the border of a table, being your phone at the edge of the table with the camera over it and the product in the floor.
Then turn off the light of the room and be sure to be in darkness.
Set the exposure in the camera app at 5 sec, press the shoot button and turn on your flashlight and move it during the 5 sec over the top and sides of your product. Move your flashlight all the time around the product.
Experiment with different shutter speed setting, try lighting the product from different angles and distances from the flashlight to the product.
This is a field of photography named flashpainting and it is fun, so enjoy it!!
Good luck and... share samples of the pics! :)
New contributor
2
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Product photography is an independent and broad field of photography so if you want to achieve profesional results you should invest in learning how to do it, a camera that can control an external flash and couple of flashes with umbrellas and tripod.... or pay someone who knows and have the equipment to do it.
However, you may try two tricks and could be good enough for a small online shop:
1st: Take your products to your local printing / xerox shop and ask the clerk to scan them. Depending on the size of the product and the width it can render very nice results with soft and uniform light and strong defocus towards a black background. Google it to see samples.
2nd: Get a flashlight that gives you a white light. Any cheap one works, just try to get one that has white light like a the ones with a led bulb. Download a camera app for your iphone that allows you to take slow shuter pictures, meaning pictures that last for at least 5 sec. Check in the app store, there are plenty of them that are free.
Place your phone over something that holds it on the top while your product is on the bottom so you dont hold the iphone with your hands, like a shoebox or the border of a table, being your phone at the edge of the table with the camera over it and the product in the floor.
Then turn off the light of the room and be sure to be in darkness.
Set the exposure in the camera app at 5 sec, press the shoot button and turn on your flashlight and move it during the 5 sec over the top and sides of your product. Move your flashlight all the time around the product.
Experiment with different shutter speed setting, try lighting the product from different angles and distances from the flashlight to the product.
This is a field of photography named flashpainting and it is fun, so enjoy it!!
Good luck and... share samples of the pics! :)
New contributor
Product photography is an independent and broad field of photography so if you want to achieve profesional results you should invest in learning how to do it, a camera that can control an external flash and couple of flashes with umbrellas and tripod.... or pay someone who knows and have the equipment to do it.
However, you may try two tricks and could be good enough for a small online shop:
1st: Take your products to your local printing / xerox shop and ask the clerk to scan them. Depending on the size of the product and the width it can render very nice results with soft and uniform light and strong defocus towards a black background. Google it to see samples.
2nd: Get a flashlight that gives you a white light. Any cheap one works, just try to get one that has white light like a the ones with a led bulb. Download a camera app for your iphone that allows you to take slow shuter pictures, meaning pictures that last for at least 5 sec. Check in the app store, there are plenty of them that are free.
Place your phone over something that holds it on the top while your product is on the bottom so you dont hold the iphone with your hands, like a shoebox or the border of a table, being your phone at the edge of the table with the camera over it and the product in the floor.
Then turn off the light of the room and be sure to be in darkness.
Set the exposure in the camera app at 5 sec, press the shoot button and turn on your flashlight and move it during the 5 sec over the top and sides of your product. Move your flashlight all the time around the product.
Experiment with different shutter speed setting, try lighting the product from different angles and distances from the flashlight to the product.
This is a field of photography named flashpainting and it is fun, so enjoy it!!
Good luck and... share samples of the pics! :)
New contributor
New contributor
answered 14 hours ago
sergio
111
111
New contributor
New contributor
2
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
add a comment |Â
2
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
2
2
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
Unfortunately, most LED flashlights give very poor color rendering, which may be important for the type of products in question...
â junkyardsparkle
11 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
-1
down vote
Macro ring light, or large ringlight, depending on the size of your product. A ring light makes object setup easier than a ring flash. A macro ring flash is sort-of required for live-animal (such as insects and other arthropods) closeups since a ring light stresses the animals out, leading to no useful shot. But for product placement, constant bright illumination is great and helps you set up the scene. Use a product that can run off the mains in some manner rather than batteries.
If you want to use your existing flash, there are diffuser boxes for strong flashes which also help to avoid hard shadows. They are of little use for popup flashes, though.
Here is an example mostly without hard shadows (but some shading) using a macro ring light:
To put this into context, old superzoom camera for this photograph was bought for EUR25, used macro ringlight for about EUR15, preowned macro lens for EUR20. You want to start a business. All you have is an iPhone. What does an iPhone cost?
The intellectual challenge of getting by without using any suitable equipment is nice, but at some point of time you'll do a whole lot better getting old equipment intended for that sort of thing from the scrapyard of brutally fast "outdated" technology than trying to fudge your way along with much more expensive unsuitable equipment.
If you run all your business through photographs, they are your entry card into the business.
New contributor
1
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
-1
down vote
Macro ring light, or large ringlight, depending on the size of your product. A ring light makes object setup easier than a ring flash. A macro ring flash is sort-of required for live-animal (such as insects and other arthropods) closeups since a ring light stresses the animals out, leading to no useful shot. But for product placement, constant bright illumination is great and helps you set up the scene. Use a product that can run off the mains in some manner rather than batteries.
If you want to use your existing flash, there are diffuser boxes for strong flashes which also help to avoid hard shadows. They are of little use for popup flashes, though.
Here is an example mostly without hard shadows (but some shading) using a macro ring light:
To put this into context, old superzoom camera for this photograph was bought for EUR25, used macro ringlight for about EUR15, preowned macro lens for EUR20. You want to start a business. All you have is an iPhone. What does an iPhone cost?
The intellectual challenge of getting by without using any suitable equipment is nice, but at some point of time you'll do a whole lot better getting old equipment intended for that sort of thing from the scrapyard of brutally fast "outdated" technology than trying to fudge your way along with much more expensive unsuitable equipment.
If you run all your business through photographs, they are your entry card into the business.
New contributor
1
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
-1
down vote
up vote
-1
down vote
Macro ring light, or large ringlight, depending on the size of your product. A ring light makes object setup easier than a ring flash. A macro ring flash is sort-of required for live-animal (such as insects and other arthropods) closeups since a ring light stresses the animals out, leading to no useful shot. But for product placement, constant bright illumination is great and helps you set up the scene. Use a product that can run off the mains in some manner rather than batteries.
If you want to use your existing flash, there are diffuser boxes for strong flashes which also help to avoid hard shadows. They are of little use for popup flashes, though.
Here is an example mostly without hard shadows (but some shading) using a macro ring light:
To put this into context, old superzoom camera for this photograph was bought for EUR25, used macro ringlight for about EUR15, preowned macro lens for EUR20. You want to start a business. All you have is an iPhone. What does an iPhone cost?
The intellectual challenge of getting by without using any suitable equipment is nice, but at some point of time you'll do a whole lot better getting old equipment intended for that sort of thing from the scrapyard of brutally fast "outdated" technology than trying to fudge your way along with much more expensive unsuitable equipment.
If you run all your business through photographs, they are your entry card into the business.
New contributor
Macro ring light, or large ringlight, depending on the size of your product. A ring light makes object setup easier than a ring flash. A macro ring flash is sort-of required for live-animal (such as insects and other arthropods) closeups since a ring light stresses the animals out, leading to no useful shot. But for product placement, constant bright illumination is great and helps you set up the scene. Use a product that can run off the mains in some manner rather than batteries.
If you want to use your existing flash, there are diffuser boxes for strong flashes which also help to avoid hard shadows. They are of little use for popup flashes, though.
Here is an example mostly without hard shadows (but some shading) using a macro ring light:
To put this into context, old superzoom camera for this photograph was bought for EUR25, used macro ringlight for about EUR15, preowned macro lens for EUR20. You want to start a business. All you have is an iPhone. What does an iPhone cost?
The intellectual challenge of getting by without using any suitable equipment is nice, but at some point of time you'll do a whole lot better getting old equipment intended for that sort of thing from the scrapyard of brutally fast "outdated" technology than trying to fudge your way along with much more expensive unsuitable equipment.
If you run all your business through photographs, they are your entry card into the business.
New contributor
edited 8 hours ago
xiota
6,64821246
6,64821246
New contributor
answered 11 hours ago
user78355
1
1
New contributor
New contributor
1
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
1
1
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
OP has a phone & no additional equipment or budget.
â Tetsujin
11 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
@user78355 register your account so you don't have to worry about losing cookies in the future.
â xiota
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Ghazal is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Ghazal is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Ghazal is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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If you have aluminium foil, you can create a few simple reflectors
â PlasmaHH
11 hours ago
What is your budget, exactly? The types of suggestions to you are quite varied already but could be much more helpful if we knew exactly what you can afford to spend to accomplish this goal.
â Hueco
11 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of How do I properly do shadowless product photos?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago
1
Related: How to reduce shadows on product photos when there is no room between the subject and the background? and How can I inexpensively create the white backdrop look? and Why can't I get a decent white background with product photography?
â Michael Clark
9 hours ago