Equipment help please

Snapper67

Snapper67

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Dougie
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Hi All,

I'm going to be doing some product photography soon and need to get a photo table / tent , lighting / softbox etc best suited for the job.

The products are mainly cosmetics / home / beauty products e.g. hand cream, diffusers, candles, soaps etc mainly in clear reflective packaging.

I currently have 2 Nikon SB800 I can utilise for off camera flash which I can trigger remotely along with a basic umbrella kit :-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01ABFSAPU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can someone advise on a high quality photo table with a non reflective white background and whether my current kit is suitable for the job ?

I've seen some mention of recommended softboxes but am not sure if these would fit my current kit.

Really need something in stock, lencarta kits all seem to be out of stock or pre-order status.

Dougie.
 
Snapper67 said:
I'm going to be doing some product photography soon and need to get a photo table / tent , lighting / softbox etc best suited for the job.
Click to expand...
I would advise against a photo table/tent for this, totally unsuitable.
A light tent won't give you the control of lighting that you need, and a photo table that's backlit/underlit won't allow you to get the colour saturation and contrast that you need. These things do have their uses, but digital photography makes it so easy to cut out backgrounds to produce pure white when required that, 99% of the time, it's better/quicker not to use one. Any workbench or table will be better.
Snapper67 said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01ABFSAPU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...
That's just junk


[QUOTE="Snapper67, post: 8243934, member: 85994"
Really need something in stock, lencarta kits all seem to be out of stock or pre-order status.
[/QUOTE]
The Lencarta SmartFlash is the obvious choice for this (you will also need other bits and pieces) and if it's pre-order then your best bet is to wait - but my advice would be to give Lencarta a ring, I was told only a few days ago that everything is in stock, and I've noticed that the website isn't what it used to be and sometimes contains wrong info, so giving them a ring to find out the current stock position is probably the way to go.

Typically, you'll be photographing everything both in and out of its packaging. There are few things worse to photograph than cosmetics inside shiny cellophane packing, the trick is to open the box, rip off the cellophane and then just stick the contents back into the box. If you really want to, you can re-introduce the cellophane in PP, but severely toned down:)
 
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Ahh... some of what I wrote isn't showing at all, and the quote function has gone awry on some of the stuff that did appear - trying again...
[QUOTE="Snapper67, post: 8243934, member: 85994" The products are mainly cosmetics / home / beauty products e.g. hand cream, diffusers, candles, soaps etc mainly in clear reflective packaging.
[/QUOTE]
That's quite a wide range, some will be transparent, some translucent, some solid, and mostly reflective. Some will need to be backlit, some will need to use Brightfield Lighting, some will need fairly large softboxes to control specular reflections
To a large extent, care and knowledge can reduce the need for equipment, however to do justice to the full range, you're going to need a minimum of 3 flash heads, 2 of them with softboxes and one with a honeycomb, for backlighting and to highlight any textured surfaces that you need to reveal.
[QUOTE="Snapper67, post: 8243934, member: 85994"
I currently have 2 Nikon SB800 I can utilise for off camera flash which I can trigger remotely along with a basic umbrella kit :-[/QUOTE]
Sorry, totally useless for this, you need studio flash.However, small flashguns can often be used to direct light into hard to reach areas, and as effect lights.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I would advise against a photo table/tent for this, totally unsuitable.
A light tent won't give you the control of lighting that you need, and a photo table that's backlit/underlit won't allow you to get the colour saturation and contrast that you need. These things do have their uses, but digital photography makes it so easy to cut out backgrounds to produce pure white when required that, 99% of the time, it's better/quicker not to use one. Any workbench or table will be better.

That's just junk


[QUOTE="Snapper67, post: 8243934, member: 85994"
Really need something in stock, lencarta kits all seem to be out of stock or pre-order status.
Click to expand...
The Lencarta SmartFlash is the obvious choice for this (you will also need other bits and pieces) and if it's pre-order then your best bet is to wait - but my advice would be to give Lencarta a ring, I was told only a few days ago that everything is in stock, and I've noticed that the website isn't what it used to be and sometimes contains wrong info, so giving them a ring to find out the current stock position is probably the way to go.

Typically, you'll be photographing everything both in and out of its packaging. There are few things worse to photograph than cosmetics inside shiny cellophane packing, the trick is to open the box, rip off the cellophane and then just stick the contents back into the box. If you really want to, you can re-introduce the cellophane in PP, but severely toned down:)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that Garry.

Would you mind giving me a list all the other bits and pieces you think I’ll need ?
 
No problem.
Boom arm, to get a light above the subject
Low level lighting stand, essential for most product photography, avoids the need to tilt the light down when the stand is too high, and allows much better control of the light
Honeycomb reflector, allows up to 2 honeycombs to be fitted and used in combination
2 x 20 degree honeycombs. These fit inside the honeycomb reflector and can be used either singly or combined. When combined, they produce an incredibly tight honeycomb, used either for backlighting of small subjects or to reveal texture.
5 in 1 reflector. This reflects 'spare' light and can often be used instead of an additional light. Sometimes, you'll need much smaller ones too, easily made from a sheet of folded paper.

I usually mention, when linking to Lencarta goods, that similar products are available elsewhere. In this case though, this is true of only some of them, the low level lighting stand, honeycomb reflector and matching honeycombs are unique.
 
Thank very much for your help Garry.

I've put together this on the site :-

have I missed anything for a full product photograhy setup ?

Cheers,
Dougie.
upload_2018-8-23_16-35-51.png
 
You're welcome.
Please feel free to post your results, once you're up and running.
There are specialist product photographers on here who can help you with any problems
 
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