Beginner Advice needed on studio set up for photographing guitars

L

Lozboy

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Name
Lawrence
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Yes
Hi All.
I am not a photographer .I sell guitars and drums .I have been taking photos with a basic canon ixus 95 for years. I finally decided to upgrade the canon to a Sony A65 .
Photos were always taken outside in the same situ.However winter is approaching, so I want to move the operation indoors.I am after some sort of indoor set up.
Drums will still be shot outside.Guitar photos will be of one guitar and case at a time. Photos need to show true condition/colour of the guitar. Not to be some artistic/pro web/magazine type photo.
So what are the essential back drops and lighting I will need ?I would rather buy quality items either S/H or new. I am live in the Midlands UK.LE27QT .If any members are selling feel free to PM.All advise most welcome.
Thanks in advance Lawrence
 
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You'll get more info if you (a) link to an example of the standard of image you want to produce and (b) report this thread and ask a mode to move it to the Lighting & Studio sub forum.

I'll just start by saying the cheap constant lighting kits you can buy on Amazon or eBay really aren't the best tool for the job. Studio flash, a variety of modifiers and a heap of practice will be required.
 
Thanks Simon
I wanted to put a link to my current out door photos.But I was not allowed "NEWBIE STATUS".
Your info is very useful,it told me what I wanted to hear.I have pm'd a few links to my photos.
 
Lawrence, if you haven't asked for this thread to be moved to the Lighting forum (as Simon suggested), please do - there are lots of very knowledgeable people (including Simon) who follow it, and will be able to give you the advice you need (and ask the right questions to make sure it's the right advice)

In the meantime, try browsing the Lencarta learning centre - hopefully some of the tutorials there should help.

https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-blog/
 
Well I cannot find a PM button or a Report thread button.I can see the "Report" icon under comments
 
Lozboy said:
Well I cannot find a PM button or a Report thread button.I can see the "Report" icon under comments
Click to expand...
That’s the button to use to get the thread moved.
And if you click on Simon’s name you can ‘start a conversation’ which sends a PM
 
don't bother asking for the move - I spotted the thread, was interested in the replies, so had a read and realised it needed moving...
 
Good news and bad news, bad news first...
Guitars are exstremely difficult to photograph well, and from past experience I would say that there are very few people who have anywhere near enough knowledge and lighting equipment to do a good job. The reason for this is guitars have vey complex shapes, some convex and some concave, and also have a lot of fine detail that needs to be shown. To get an idea of the problem, take a look at this tutorial https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-blog/controlling-specular-reflections/#.VjzW6ysl-hE I wrote it some time ago, and it's just as relative to guitars as to anything else, except that guitars have much more difficult shapes:)

The good news is that, in order to sell them honestly and show up the faults, so that you end up with happy customers, you actually need to light them very badly, in a way that doesn't emphasise their qualities and their interesting shapes, which is much easier.
Outdoors, in very dull weather that doesn't create horrible specular reflections is probably ideal, and as you need to photograph them indoors you need to create the same, dull lighting conditions.

Some people will advise you to get continuous lighting (this is lighting that's on all the time) but no affordable continuous lighting will reproduce the colours accurately, so you need flash.
Flash is available in many variants, the cheapest (and most suitable for this) is economy range studio flash, and this kit has everything you need. https://www.lencarta.com/all-produc...martflash-4-complete-studio-lighting-kit-600w You won't need the umbrellas, so ask Lencarta to remove them, and reduce the price. There are of course other sellers too.

Make space for the photography and paint both the walls and the ceiling matt white.
Come up with some kind of support that will hold each guitar in the right position, on a covered table or workbench.
Put the camera on a tripod so that every shot is taken from the same position.
Avoid pointing the camera either upwards or downwards, which will distort the shape.
Point one light at the ceiling, so that the light from it bounces off of the ceiling and lights the top of the guitar.
Point the other light at the wall behind you, so that the light bounces off the wall and lights the front
Take a general shot of the guitar, showing all of it
Take a number of detail, closeup shots of the various important features
Make sure that you pay particular attention to photographing any faults or damage
Do not retouch out any faults or damage.

If you're happy to photograph against a black background, get one made of cloth (muslin) and get it as far behind the guitar as space allows. No lighting is needed for this.
If you want a white background, then get one made from either paper or vinyl, you will need another lighting kit just to light the background, and a lot more space.

Feel free to post images or links. If the talk photography software doesn't allow this then PM them to one of us, and we can then post them for you, I doubt whether the mods would get too upset about that.. I'm probably not the best person to re-post them for you because I'm away a lot and only have a crappy smartphone when I'm away.

Hope this helps.
 
To be honest, i'm not 100% sure how many posts are needed before the restriction on posting images disappears (i've not been around too often in the past couple of years truth be told), but i'm fairly sure its something very low (it could even be that you just can't post an image on your first post...) - so, give it another try now - failing that, at worst, send me the links in a conversation and I'll post them for you - images if you've taken them, links to other peoples work...
 
Lozboy said:
Thanks Gary & Big Y
Heres Results with Canon Ixus 95
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Hw2tcMHMdxuyQLT7 Drum Kit (Crappy camedia used on out of focus pics.)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4uZ2rq2Y0gp4CgO52 Guitar

Results with A65 and using zoom to avoid the reflection and sky

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QICqN2HE0AhGkCPg2 Guitar Very plz'd with this in terms of getting wood colour right
Click to expand...
My suggested method will achieve similar results, indoors.
As for your comment about getting the wood colour right, that's actually easy to do.
1. Shoot in raw format
2. Set the camera white balance manually (do NOT leave it on auto)
3. Include a white balance target in your first shot (there are special colour sample targets, e.g. MacBeth for this, but near enough would be a piece of white paper)
4. In Photoshop (or similar) select all of the images shot at the same time under the same lighting conditions, use the white balance tool and click on the colour target, this will change the colour temperature as needed to get it pure white.

NB If you shoot on auto white balance, the colour will be diffferent on every shot, and always wrong.
 
Lozboy said:
Thanks Gary & Big Y
Heres Results with Canon Ixus 95
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Hw2tcMHMdxuyQLT7 Drum Kit (Crappy camedia used on out of focus pics.)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4uZ2rq2Y0gp4CgO52 Guitar

Results with A65 and using zoom to avoid the reflection and sky

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QICqN2HE0AhGkCPg2 Guitar Very plz'd with this in terms of getting wood colour right
Click to expand...

These are the kind of photos I see on eBay a lot (not a criticism but an observation).

First thing first, I would think about the clutter, that I think would make the photos more a professional look beyond anything else so the images where you had it on the black backdrop would be perfect for your needs.

I've only photographed my own guitars in my living room and i do it for fun, not to sell so looking "pretty" as opposed to looking "correct", i found that keep moving it until the light hit it just right helps to show off the contours. Slight angle change will make it look drastically different.

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Ut6AL2d.jpg


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M1XsWpr.jpg
 
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Fair point, but it's those ugly, undiffused specular highlights that make it so difficult without a large space, a lof of equipment and even more specialised knowledge.
Also, selling second-hand items requires honest photos shat shows full detail, warts and all, hence my own advice.
Also, I'm involved with a charity that fundraises by selling vast quantities of second-hand goods, so I know that this approach works.
 
PhilH04 said:
Whilst I agree with you, as a raw file is essentially white balance agnostic, using your suggested method even in Auto white balance would work and would not be a disaster..
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, wherever there is a predominance of any single colour, auto while balance will compensate for it, and get it wrong, both overall and shot to shot, leaving raw images with a white balance marker as the only real option.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Unfortunately, wherever there is a predominance of any single colour, auto while balance will compensate for it, and get it wrong, both overall and shot to shot, leaving raw images with a white balance marker as the only real option.
Click to expand...
I didn't say not to use a white balance card, all I am saying is that it really does not matter if the cameras white balance is set to Auto, as long as you sample that card and apply that same temperature and tint to each file taken under the same conditions they will all be corrected to the same white balance. A raw file is white balance agnostic, i.e. it has no white balance, just a little bit of information in the header.
Of course setting a specific white balance on the camera will make the preview JPEG's more consistent to view...
 
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