Beginners guide to Product photography

I use to look at the photographs on e-commerce websites and think who took them? That must be an easy job. You place the object on white paper take photo and that's that. How wrong I was!!

For someone who has photographed gigs, weddings, family portraits, landscape and model portraits. Product photography is by far the hardest type of photography I’ve ever tried. Landscape photography can be hard but that's normally down to location and the elements.

Control the light!  In Product photography lighting is king. Bad lighting the products could have been taken on a smartphone or worse a tablet. The client won't sell their items and the whole point of product photography is to make the item look good for your client. Having used all types of light setups I can say the best way to light an object is full control. You'll need a lighting table or an area where your objects can be placed, with a good few flashes. This allows you to control where each part of the light will hit the product. Control comes with modifiers mainly. Snoots and softboxes are the way forward. What you’re looking for is soft light and highlights on the product. Sometimes softboxes don’t give you the softest of light that’s where you need a scrim. A scrim is basically another diffuser. You don't need to use all the power the flash will give you but it all depends on your product. The best way is to try it out. 

home made light box

light tent

LED light box

Macro lens! When it comes to photographing any product you want to see all the details and you can't reach that without a macro lens. The details macro lenses give you is something you’ll want to look into. If you’re getting a nice tight close up of an item it can bring out all the details your client would need.

Use a tripod! Tripod is a must-have. A tripod will keep the camera stable and allow you to set your scene. It will reduce camera shake more than holding your camera in your hand. Use a tripod.

Lifestyle/In Context! Props can really change a photograph, having little bits can help draw the views eye to the object more than you’d think. Your client might want to see there product in the real world so taking the items out of the studio and having them used in context can really help their potential customers get an idea how a product would look in their hands.

Change the angle! By moving the camera around the object and finding a different angle it can give you a completely different image. Don’t just stick to one potion.

Photoshop Having a basic knowledge of photoshop allows you to clean up your image. Sometimes there can be dirt on your item and with photoshop you’ll be able to clean it up quick and easy. It also allows you to crop the image. This can also as above give you another angle.

Focus stacking! Focus stacking is taking an object and photographing it many times, each time changing the focus point and then with photoshop stitching it all together. There are many ways of stitching your images together but I found Helicon focus is the best. The software stitched every image together giving super sharp images. Helicon Focus also came with Helicon remote, an extra bit of software that allows you to tether your camera to your computer and control how many shots you want to take, what the aperture and exposure will be. You can set it up to shoot from 1 image to 999 images.  Helicon remote also allows you to see which part of the item is in focus. It gives a blue outline around your object when that area is in focus. This allows you to figure out how many shots you will need to use. The best way to use Helicon remote is to set the shot count to 123 and when then software has photographed each section of the product you can stop it with the stop shooting option. Helicon remote also allows you to see the focus points. Giving you a blue line around your object so you know which part is in focus.

Shoot in RAW! Don’t just shot in Jpeg you have less control. Always shoot in RAW. Raw files are much larger than Jpegs but if you underexpose or over with a RAW image it allows you to fix in either Camera RAW or Lightroom.

The Space between

In photography standing out from the millions of photographers is near impossible nowadays. Everyone and their mum is a photographer.  You have to do something different. 

I then searched the web and was seeing great photos but mainly nighttime landscapes. Though they were taken up very tall buildings and well that's not for me. The photos produced look amazing but the portraits were all the same. I get it if you're selling an object and you have a model you don't want some crazy colours distracting from the product. 

I thought I'd try some effects on my portraits and see what happens. The response has been good, I've gotten about 100 new Instagram followers, which I know isn't a lot nowadays but it’s a start. 

I think the new style stands out more and is something that I'll keep doing for now.

Photographing the magic Kingdom

I've just got back from Disneyland Paris and it really is magical. It really is the only place for everyone. I don't know anyone that doesn't like at least one Disney film. I know I'm a fan of most things with Donald Duck in them. Guess it's because he gets so angry at the littlest things.

Firstly the no tripod rule is a real pain. Most of the shots I wanted to get would have needed a tripod. I ended up resting my camera on a bin and hoping it wouldn't move. You then have people looking at you like you're crazy, but I wanted to get the shot so I don't mind people that I will never see again think I'm mad. 

They have loads of different things to photograph from the parade to the closing fireworks display.

Mix things up with your photography, try things different. I'm sure right now someone is taking a photo of Cinderella's castle I know I took about 400 and that's not a lie. The ones I like the most are the ones that are different from the millions of others.  

Go with someone you like, you don't wanna be on holiday and not having a good time. 

Now things cost a lot more than you would think they would here. €39.99 for a towel, no thanks. Food and drink are the real problem. Hot dog and a drink comes to about €20 each. Either bring lots of money or a pack lunch. I know next time I'll be doing a pack lunch. 

Disney land is great for any age. If you take the children you need to know can you control them in a queue. I think I was hit about 5 times while queuing for a ride by a small child that had run away. If you can't handle children screaming maybe Disneyland isn't for you. I know on the train back I had enough and just wanted silence. Luckily we did a first class up grade and it was great. Total silence, well part from Darcey snoring. Think she enjoyed it for her birthday. 

For a beginners guide to Product photography click here

Be Creative

You can be very creative with photography, either in-camera or in post. Long exposures, double exposures, light painting. They are the kind of things you can do in-camera. in post you can do all that in theory and then some. 

This is both light painting and long exposure. Very simple really, just make sure your camera is on a tripod the room is dark. With a touch while the shutter is open light paint. Going over areas you want to stand out more. 

Shot with flash and low ambient light to bring out the subject. I then moved the image into Photoshop and edited in the sparkle effect. You can do sparkles in the camera but that would mean doing a long exposure and overexposing the subject, not the look I was going for. 

In photoshop you can create actions and even purchased action from the website. This image was created by using an image from Unslash.com and the Energy action by Seven Style. You can see and buy more actions by Seven styles by clicking here. With all actions, you can tweak them to your own style, add things and so on. 

Photoshop has changed photography for the better. Be it removing spots to doing extreme things like above. The best photographers now days must be good at photoshop. 

I broke my camera

I haven't really but it has happened. 

So, what if you did, what do you do? Firstly obviously have a little cry and say "why does this always happen to you" once you've gotten over that rubbish you have a few options. First, take it to your local camera store. They normally will be working with a camera repair company that will charge a set rate and they will fix your camera for you after a few weeks. In theory, you can pay twice by doing it this way once to the camera shop and once to the repairers, so the price could add up. You could always go straight to the manufacturer, that's what I did. 

 With any product, you get a warranty. Sadly if the problem is accidental the warranty doesn't normally cover it,  some times they do might as well ask first. That's the same when taking the camera to your local store, if it's in warranty it could be covered. 

Taking it to the manufacturer you are guaranteed the work is done properly and it's not someone who learnt to repair the equipment by watching Youtube videos. I always recommend going to the source. They made it they should repair it. 

Best thing to do is keep your camera safe this way you won't need to go through the repair process. Keep a strap on your camera, always have a bag. it may be weatherproof but keep it out of the water. Safety first. 

What camera should I buy

When you first start in photography it can be a little tricky to know what to buy. Well here are my tips that hopefully make it less stressful for you. Firstly the make does not matter, get that out of your head. If you like Canon you're going to get a Canon if you like Sony you're going to get a Sony. What matters is, does it have a manual mode. Thats it. If it has manual mode great. Firstly if you don't know about photography and modes best thing to do is, put your camera in Shutter priority mode or Program mode and see what the camera's light meter is telling you. Normally the flashing lines will give you the information, then switch it back to manual mode and mess around with the settings. Thats the beauty of digital photography you can change all the setting and keep snapping until you're happy. Photography is a form of art so a really under exposed photo could look great compared to the "correct" exposure. 

 There are lots of things in photography you might need to know at some point but at the start as long as you get a correctly exposed image thats all that matter. It sound be fun not stressful. 

The thing I'd buy if I was starting fresh with photography 

1. Camera with a standard zoom lens say 24-105mm or 70-300mm 
2. Tripod
3. Spare battery 
4. Memory card
5. Bag

That's about it really, you can pick up good starter kits from most camera manufactures, they will give you camera and a lens and I'm sure whatever shop you buy them from they will do you a good deal on spare battery and memory. 

Try SRS Microsystems in Watford,UK. Not only will they help you  on what camera to buy but they will help you set up your camera so you'll have no problems starting out. 

 

Music videos

Any good photographer needs to offer more than just photos luckily most DSLR's and Mirrorless cameras do video and film in 1080p. High definition or HD for short. The newer models are filming in 4k, or UHD.  The more you spend on a camera the better the results. High-end, full frame, 4k cameras can cost a lot. If you're not looking to spend a lot you can get a low budget camera that will give you good results, not the best but way better than the miniDV cameras they use to produce.  I've had the chance to film a few music videos for some musical acts. Most of my video I go for the comedy angle. Stupid and silly, with good music as the key. I've seen far too many videos of bands playing on top of cliffs or in the woods. If you want people to view your videos you have to keep them entertained. That's my opinion and yes there are many good music videos with woods and cliff but I'd mainly stay for the music. I find laughter the way forward. 

Here are some of the videos I've filmed and edited 

Diesel King covering Phil Collins classic 'Easy Lover' Recorded by Steve Sears at Titan Studios, Watford. Video by Lawrence Walters - http://www.lawrencewalters.co.uk/ All music and lyrics by Phil Collins!

Diesel King - Hold The Line Recorded by Steve Sears at Titan Studios, Watford. Video by Lawrence Walters - http://www.lawrencewalters.co.uk/ All music and lyrics by Toto!

Directed by Lawrence Walters Lawrencewalters.co.uk Story by Crystal Deth, Black Mist, Nails, Honey Badger FREE ALBUM - THEHELL.BANDCAMP.COM VIDEOS SHIT JUST GOT REAL - http://youtu.be/bnAoY_UeXSI IT'S THE MOTHERFUCKING HELL YOU DICK -http://youtu.be/Utx8-26jTF4

THEHELLYOUDICK.COM www.facebook.com/thehellthehellthehell THEHELL.BANDCAMP.COM @thehellyoudick Filmed and edited by Lawrence Walters Lawrencewalters.co.uk

official lyric Video for "it's for the motherf*****g KIDS you d**k" FREE ALBUM thehell.bandcamp.com twitter.com/thehellyoudick facebook.com/thehellthehellthehell VIDEOS http://youtu.be/bnAoY_UeXSI - shit just got real http://youtu.be/TrSaxyj_a3I - Step it up

A track we recorded for 'You're Listening To The Hell' on the day that metal hero Jeff Hanneman passed away.

If you're looking for a cheap, simple, funny and fun video for your musical group let me know. 

Watch photography

Now-a-days if you want to tell the time you'd look at your phone. The smart phone has changed everything from taking photos, filming videos, browsing the internet and telling the time and so on. Well, people still wear watches, and people still pay crazy sums of money for them. As a person who doesn't wear a watch but is still fascinated by the repair process, Jewellery and Watch photography are on the same line. They are both small products that need good eye catching images to sell. The more detail in a photo of a watch can definitely increase the potential of selling the item. 

The best way to shoot a watch is on a photography table, having a main light and then a few other lights to pull out the detail. Always find out what background the client wants first. In each shot you need to highlight the brand, making sure it is visible and if you need an extra bit of light and don't have any more lights, then you can use a reflector and if you don't have reflectors a white card will work nearly just as well. All product photographers have white card. It's something you'll use for the first time and think why wasn't I using this all the time. Like all products you photograph you should always focus stack the images. You can use Helicon focus or photoshop. I recommend Helicon Focus. 

I took some shots of a watch repairer, or horologist, to use the proper term. 

Equipment update

As a photographer, you always here gear isn't everything. It's true you can use your phone and get an amazing photo nowadays. Though when you have the right equipment you can get that amazing shot nearly every time. I recently sold my Canon 70-200 f2.8 mkii lens, for a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro as I wanted to concentrate on shooting jewellery and products. I do miss the 70-200mm yes, but I wasnt using it as much as I would have liked. 

The 70-200 is the best portrait lens I've ever used. If you're shooting a wedding its great due to the focal length and the wide aperture. You can be some distance away and get a great portrait. A lot of photojournalist have them to get them celebrity shots. If you're shooting portraits it's definitely the lens you'd want to invest in. Saying that I don't mean only if you shoot with Canon. The new mirrorless systems are taking photography to the next stage. The new Sony A9 which is being focused mainly as a sports camera, would also be great as a wedding camera and with the 70-200 on an adapter you wouldn't miss a shot.  

The canon 100mm f2.8 lens in theory is an  upgrade. Upgraded is a odd word when the cost is nearly half the 70-200mm but this lens does what I want it to do. I'm actually looking to get a wide angle macro as well in the future so I can cover all the products I wish to photograph. You can get such detail with this lens, its 1:1 macro so the whole sensor will be covered. If shooting small objects its something you'd want to invest in. 

Moving forward, an upgrade of my camera body is needed. Having the Canon 5d Mkiii for nearly 5 years now, I feel it is being left behind. Not only by Canon themselves with the MKIV being released earlier this year but also the mirrorless systems. I had looked at the Canon 5DS for more megapixels due to product work but Sony had the A7Rii which has a larger number of megapixels than I'm using now, not as many as the 5DS but it was smaller and had a lot more gadgets built in. I kept hearing bad things about Sony and there battery life and single memory card slot. So I've held off, and mainly because they cost a lot. I don't mean a few hundred, a few thousand. Even with selling all my gear I could maybe afford the body, so no lenses, and a camera with out a lens is pointless and stupid.

Sony then come along and bring out the A9 which is only a few more megapixels than I'm using now, the extras 20 fps, when would I use that? Probably never, unless shooting a wedding or sports event. How often does that happen, not very. Which is sad actually. I like shooting weddings. 693 focus point, my Mkiii has 60ish thats a massive jump. Total silent shooting mode, perfect for golf shots or even weddings. This camera does it all it seems. Dual SD card slots and a battery upgrade and ability to add a grip. Oh, and also no black out. No black out?  On normal cameras the shutter opens and the viewfinder or screen goes black well, with the A9 this doesn't happen, you just keep shooting. The focus tracking is working all that time too. So you're never not in focus. Again why would I need this if Im only shooting products? It's better to have and not use than to not have and need. BUT, a big but there, the cost. £4,499. no lenses. This camera is to compete with the Canon 1Dx and the Nikon D5 both professional sports cameras costing around the £5,000 to £6,500. So the Sony is cheaper. Does a product photographer need one. No. I don't believe they do.  Do I want one, 100% yes, if money wasn't a problem, yep I'd think I'd fully change from Canon to Sony. 

Till then I'm still using my Canon 5D mkiii, with the 100mm attached and when doing some landscapes I have the 24-105 f4.5 and for portraits I use the 50mm F1.8 and the 85 f1.4, though I still miss the 70-200 f2.8 it's still the best lens for portraits. 

Walks

Yeah, this is a very simple one, when you go for walk take your camera with you. I'm not talking about your smart phone, you don't have the control which can make all the difference.  Manual control is what I think all cameras should come with, full control is the way forward. Automatic is only for my car. 

Click image for Walkit.com 

What's better than walking your dog? You both get the exercise you need and you can get some great shots. 

Peak Design

Coming from Kickstarter the crowdfunding website to pretty much global domination in the camera accessory department and doing it with such high quality is quite a feat and in such little time. I believe they raised over $4.6 million on there last campaign which is incredible. 

Peak Design have made your camera easy to grab, to hold and easy to pack away. 

The Capture Pro is a belt or strap clip on device. Which is strong enough to hold your DSLR with a large lens. Clip it's to your bag and attach the base plate to the bottom of your camer and away you go. Fully locked in place but with a click your camera is in your hand and ready to go. Well as long as the battery isn't dead and you have a card or film in your camera. 

The Capture Pro

They also and probably my favourite item is The Slide. A camera strap that is made to Peak Design's high quality standard and so easy to use. The simple latch part makes changing your camera strap length so easy your dog could do it. With the standard clip on attachments that all Peak Design stuff come with it is so easy to take the strap off and attach one of there other products like The Cuff, which would clip on and boom a wrist strap. 

The slide with base plate and clips 

Last year they released  The Everyday Messenger on Kickstarter making it one of the biggest campaigns for a camera accessory. A camera bag that has pretty much all of Peak Design's already great ideas built in and then some amazing new ones. Now I do not have the bag, have never actually seen it in the flesh but from what I can tell it's something I need. I have 3 bags a rucksack that carries nearly everything, a large Think Tank and a medium Think Tank A slingshot 20. I use the medium Think Tank the most as I like things to be small but still have what I need. It's great, tho it doesn't hold my camera grip, my flash and my 70-200mm lens with my standard kit. The Everyday Messenger will do this, it will also change size when you have less to carry. A magnet locking system which is another great idea. This bag could move me from 3 to just 1. The slight problem is the price from £179 to £230 in shops. Should have got in on the Kickstarter from the beginning. Time to start saving.  

The Everyday Messenger click image to see more 

 I have in no way been asked to talk about Peak Design and have not received anything from them tho they have liked some of my Instagram post.