Beginner Mini studio setup for vintage items

[waring192]

Hello,

Recently I inherited from my late mother a vast amount of vintage designer clothes/shoes/boots (Vivienne Westwood etc), handbags (Loewe etc), thermos flasks, jigsaw puzzles (all c1880-1940), perfumes textiles etc. Items such as Howard sofas and footstools are going to Christies Auction House, again, not all, just ones which have not been used for some time.

I have no intention of selling it all as some I have memories of but a lot of it has been kept in storage in one of our barns for years and years, 95% of the items my mother collected have never been used and are boxed with with tags. Im fairly confident she didn't know half of the stuff she had!

I have started itemising the items on a spreadsheet and looking at prices on Etsy and various other websites. Items I cannot find a rough value for will be sent up to London.

For taking photos of the items such as handbags I want to get the best photos. I don't mind splashing out on a budget DSLR such as a Canon 1200D which my ex girlfriend had but what I'm looking for is some advice on lighting.

I looked on amazon etc and found some 80cm x 80cm x 80 light box's with daylight lamps (most come with two but I was thinking three would be better) for taking the photos so they look like they are floating on a white background. I don't want to mess around with Photoshop.

Can someone point me in the right direction regarding which ones to go for? If my iPhone 7 with Camera + would be good enough in a Lightbox I might as well skip the DSLR as I won't use it much after going through all this.

Many thanks

 

[troutfisher]

See if you have a local Camera /Photography Club, your local library should know.
Contact the sec and see if any of the members ( you might get a retired pro) would do the job for a few quid pocket money.
Probably be cheaper, better and a lot less hassle

 

[waring192]

See if you have a local Camera /Photography Club, your local library should know.
Contact the sec and see if any of the members ( you might get a retired pro) would do the job for a few quid pocket money.
Probably be cheaper, better and a lot less hassle

Thank you for your reply. It might be worth a shot (sorry for the pun!) or at least to get me going on how its done. It not a small task in the slightest, to give you an idea, this is about 1/4 of the jigsaws, there are over 350 of them and after speaking to the UK jigsaw club they estimated on the few I grabbed at random that the average value of each one is around £85-£95:

View media item 12804

 

[troutfisher]

Thank you for your reply. It might be worth a shot (sorry for the pun!) or at least to get me going on how its done. It not a small task in the slightest, to give you an idea, this is about 1/4 of the jigsaws, there are over 350 of them and after speaking to the UK jigsaw club they estimated on the few I grabbed at random that the average value of each one is around £85-£95:

View media item 12804

In that case spend a few bob and get the job done properly, if any of the stuff goes in an auction catalogue they will probably need decent photos anyway.
On the jigsaws alone on your figures you could be looking at £2-2.5K, add on the rest of the stuff and its the pictures that will sell it.
It really is not worth skimping to save a few bob when you would probably return the cost many times over

 

[waring192]

In that case spend a few bob and get the job done properly, if any of the stuff goes in an auction catalogue they will probably need decent photos anyway.
On the jigsaws alone on your figures you could be looking at £2-2.5K, add on the rest of the stuff and its the pictures that will sell it.
It really is not worth skimping to save a few bob when you would probably return the cost many times over

More like around £25K+ on jigsaws!

I dont want to skimp at all. Im just looking for some advice on what lighting equipment to purchase for taking photos of shoes etc. A website of a good online shop, how many lights etc.

I also mentioned if the iPhone isn't good enough for it I would purchase a Canon 1200d as I have used one in the past before. I don't need the WIFI so not interested in the 1300d.

 

[simonbarker]

I looked on amazon etc and found some 80cm x 80cm x 80 light box's with daylight lamps (most come with two but I was thinking three would be better) for taking the photos so they look like they are floating on a white background. I don't want to mess around with Photoshop.

You'll not get that done well without a little bit of messing in Photoshop. The world has no shortage of flat lighting with blown highlights from light tents.

If I was dead set on a white background I'd probably get a shooting table and accept I'll have to do some minor post to get that perfect white but I would have thought for vintage items they'd look a million times better if you put them alongside some vintage furniture? A nice wood table for the smaller items like handbags, shoes, jigsaws etc, besides the benefit of looking at home you can also light it however you please, a single flash and softbox/umbrella could give you results you'd be pleased with while the white background isn't as simple to do well as a little off white looks wrong.

I also mentioned if the iPhone isn't good enough for it I would purchase a Canon 1200d as I have used one in the past before. I don't need the WIFI so not interested in the 1300d.

You could take photos with the iPhone but for the sake of a couple of hundred quid why compromise? Anything made in the last ten years should be fine for your needs, something like a 40D with a EF-S 60mm? Should be able to give as good as you'll want.