'Product' photography help?

Ajf350d

Ajf350d

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Andrew
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Hi, been a while since I posted, but wondered if you could give me some pointers.

Just for fun I have been trying to do what I would call product photos - i.e. catalogue and web type.
I've taken a few photos of my iPhone for a start but can't get the right technique.

I first just tried on my white desk with aperture priority and let the shutter do its thing.
Not too bad but a bit noisy and a few messy shadows and the background becomes uneven rather than 'invisible'

I also have a cheap light tent so I got that out and found my flash.
Few problems here.
I still get very harsh shadows even with low power on the flash and shot from outside the light tent.
Mainly though, it also has the effect of 'blanking' out the screen on the phone so it ends up looking black.

Any general advice please?

The camera is an Olympus E-PL5. The flash is a Yongnou which was bought for my previous Canon. I am having to fire it using the small Olympus flash as a trigger.
 
This is all about lighting, it's a steep learning curve from zero.
To start with, unless you're lucky, you need to think how the light effects every element in the image.

The 2 key principals:
The inverse Square Law - how light falls off over distance
That light reflects like a pool ball off a cushion. 'The angle of reflectance is equal to the angle of incidence'

When photographing reflective surfaces, lighting has to be placed to manage the reflections. But in the case of a smartphone, the screen would be composited back in, because any lighting of the phone will lessen the visibility of the important thing, what the screen looks like lit up.

You've set off from the wrong point, placing your phone where you wanted to work. Start with the light, window light will do, create a setup where you have total control of the lighting.

Books.
Pick up 'the speedlighters handbook' as a start, if you really want to get serious then you should buy 'light science and magic'
 
Thanks both!
I've ordered a copy of Light Science & Magic for a start.
Wasn't sure about the Speedlighters Handbook as whilst it is from a Canon I cannot use it in TTL mode so not sure if I would be able to do much from the book?
Flash has always been an achilles heel for me so hopefully this will help quite a bit as I would like to take quite a few different indoor photos of various types.
I did think of getting lights but decided they were too bulky and expensive for 'fun'.

I did tend to jump into this 'feet first'! I was bored and wondering what to photograph:)
Funny as I am usually 'risk averse' except with photography and I just tend to think lets see what happens!
 
Ajf350d said:
Thanks both!
I've ordered a copy of Light Science & Magic for a start.
Wasn't sure about the Speedlighters Handbook as whilst it is from a Canon I cannot use it in TTL mode so not sure if I would be able to do much from the book?
Flash has always been an achilles heel for me so hopefully this will help quite a bit as I would like to take quite a few different indoor photos of various types.
I did think of getting lights but decided they were too bulky and expensive for 'fun'.

I did tend to jump into this 'feet first'! I was bored and wondering what to photograph:)
Funny as I am usually 'risk averse' except with photography and I just tend to think lets see what happens!
Click to expand...
The speedlighters handbook covers all aspects of lighting with flashguns, there's lots of Canon specific info in it, and it does cover the wireless and ETTL functions. But it is a much more accessible read than LS&M
 
Ajf350d said:
Hi, been a while since I posted, but wondered if you could give me some pointers.

Just for fun I have been trying to do what I would call product photos - i.e. catalogue and web type.
I've taken a few photos of my iPhone for a start but can't get the right technique.

I first just tried on my white desk with aperture priority and let the shutter do its thing.
Not too bad but a bit noisy and a few messy shadows and the background becomes uneven rather than 'invisible'

I also have a cheap light tent so I got that out and found my flash.
Few problems here.
I still get very harsh shadows even with low power on the flash and shot from outside the light tent.
Mainly though, it also has the effect of 'blanking' out the screen on the phone so it ends up looking black.

Any general advice please?

The camera is an Olympus E-PL5. The flash is a Yongnou which was bought for my previous Canon. I am having to fire it using the small Olympus flash as a trigger.
Click to expand...

Look at it as two shots to composite afterwards. Shoot the screen separately.
 
Fair enough, I'll perhaps get a copy of that as well then.
You mentioned in your original reply that the screen would have been composited back in - presumably post processing? - but how would it be photographed in the first place?!
I'm actually wondering if it is the flash effect causing the problem rather than the actual 'light'?
Presumably the flash has a frequency which I wonder is interfering with the screen refresh on the phone? I know if you take photos of TV sometimes half the picture is missing?


Edit:
Jenny, you just replied as I was typing!
 
Ajf350d said:
Fair enough, I'll perhaps get a copy of that as well then.
You mentioned in your original reply that the screen would have been composited back in - presumably post processing? - but how would it be photographed in the first place?!
I'm actually wondering if it is the flash effect causing the problem rather than the actual 'light'?
Presumably the flash has a frequency which I wonder is interfering with the screen refresh on the phone? I know if you take photos of TV sometimes half the picture is missing?


Edit:
Jenny, you just replied as I was typing!
Click to expand...
Just for clarity till you get the book, a flash 'effect' is light! All light behaves to the same rules.

To shoot the screen to composite back in, remove all other light sources whilst keeping the camera and subject in the same positions. Light up the screen and shoot it.
 
Phil V said:
Just for clarity till you get the book, a flash 'effect' is light! All light behaves to the same rules.

To shoot the screen to composite back in, remove all other light sources whilst keeping the camera and subject in the same positions. Light up the screen and shoot it.
Click to expand...
You can also do this as a single "double exposure." Just pop the flashes at the beginning of a long exposure for the screen.
 
sk66 said:
You can also do this as a single "double exposure." Just pop the flashes at the beginning of a long exposure for the screen.
Click to expand...
You could! I'd rather not though, depending on the exact reflection pattern of the light on the screen, it's easier to manage in 2 shots.
 
sk66 said:
Yeah. Compositing eliminates the issue of getting a clean black screen in your lit image; which can be pretty finicky.
Click to expand...
And also allows you to light the phone to show off the non screen components at their best, without having to worry about how that affects the screen.
 
Thanks for the other comments.
The first book arrived today but not had too much of a chance to read it yet!
Should keep me busy for a while though.

I have just been trying various things out and did get close to what was suggested of a longer exposure with flash purely by testing.
Needed some tuning but it started to have the desired effect.

Guess I also need to accept that some pictures are composites/edits so not possible to simply snap away :)
 
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