Photography help

[Nsr250NYC]

what do you guys use for background for something like tabletop photography? like for general items like a bottle of vitamins or something. im not talking about professional, just something for homemade shoots. need to get some pictures for my new website. any suggestions you guys have about the background, lighting or anything at all would be great. thanks

 

[jhale]

what are you shooting, what are you shooting with, and what kind of background do you want?

 

[Nsr250NYC]

glass art product. im guessing just plain background that defines the product. maybe black or white. i borrowed a camera so i dont know much about it. i think its a 9mp camera

 

[jhale]

glass objects could be the toughest still life to shoot.
things like jewelry, watches, glassware give the best photographers headaches.

i'd recommend using natural light if possible, try using the light from a window with it hitting the side of the object. the background color will be a personal preference, but without extra lights to hit a white background it will look muddy. so maybe using black is the best bet.

for the camera try setting it on manual and playing around with the exposure. you want the object to light up and the black background to get less light.

 

[Nsr250NYC]

got ya. thanks for the advise. i've been playing with it a little. but i want to know how you guys set up the background and what you use for backgrounds. I looked around online and ppl are charging 400 bucks for backgrounds. is that about right? is there a diy thing that I can do? thanks again

 

[ellebelle]

If you look around online, there are several DIY tutorials for how to make a lightbox, which I have found helpful for shooting jewelry without getting reflections. It shows you how to set up something with diffuse light all around. If you want white background, I've just used white foamboard before. When I shoot on a black background (for my anatomical shots), I use a piece of velvet secured tightly across a board.

 

[coralite]

I would aim for something that is non reflective black. Even if you just lined the inside half or corner of a cardoard box with black velvet you should be good. That kind of product photography should have a short focal range so the background won't even be in focus. A fluorescent light for soft light or a spotlight if you want to show off shine.

 

[Nsr250NYC]

got it. thanks. I just found some diy light boxes online. now im getting a better idea of it. i guess i couldn't find anything before because i was searching the wrong keywords. thanks guy. I will show the web when its done.

 

[ellebelle]

Here's one of my photographs with a velvet background, a tripod, and natural light.

 

[Nsr250NYC]

very nice. im guessing you dont need the light box for that. just the black velvet under the bone(?) lol is that a fossil? anyway, i really like how the black makes the object pop more. thanks for the help

 

[ellebelle]

Nope - just muted natural light and a tripod. Photographing bone is a little different that photographing glass because it isn't particularly reflective, even when there is a patina on the surface.

(It is a fossil. )

 

[Nsr250NYC]

very nice. i will let you guys know how it turns out