Problem with studio lighting for website photos

[mbourkewhite]

Hi,

We have been selling on here steadily for about a year and having been basically "making do" with quick product photos for our website with our digital cameras - a Canon Powershot A75 and Powershot A85. If objects are outside - no problem. Inside, it is a different story. We have invested in professional studio tungsten "hot lights" and a white paper background. Somehow we are not able to get the lighting right. We take photos with and without a flash. Using a tungsten setting and without. We use a tripod sometimes and sometimes not. The two main problems are the background looking "pink" and the objects looking "fuzzy." This also occurs when using a tripod. We are mainly shooting furniture, by the way.

We have learned to keep all overhead lighting off. We have learned how to fiddle with Photoshop to try and correct some of these problems, but getting one photograph to look ok can take an hour!

Does anyone know what we might be doing wrong? Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

[malum]

post an example of what you have done

[pristic]

Hi,

We have been selling on here steadily for about a year and having been basically "making do" with quick product photos for our website with our digital cameras - a Canon Powershot A75 and Powershot A85. If objects are outside - no problem. Inside, it is a different story. We have invested in professional studio tungsten "hot lights" and a white paper background. Somehow we are not able to get the lighting right. We take photos with and without a flash. Using a tungsten setting and without. We use a tripod sometimes and sometimes not. The two main problems are the background looking "pink" and the objects looking "fuzzy." This also occurs when using a tripod. We are mainly shooting furniture, by the way.

We have learned to keep all overhead lighting off. We have learned how to fiddle with Photoshop to try and correct some of these problems, but getting one photograph to look ok can take an hour!

Does anyone know what we might be doing wrong? Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Sounds like a white balance issue to me.
Read up in your manual about custom white balance and shoot just the paper (no product) with your lighting setup and set that as your white balance. Should make a huge difference.

As mentioned, post a sample with as much EXIF data as you can then people can really help.

Peter.

[chtgrubbs]

It may be time to hire a pro, unless you want to spend the time to learn to be a studio photographer. Shooting furniture is not easy, this photo took about 3 hours to set up, light, and shoot.v

[PhotosGuy]

I suggest you forget about the cams AutoWB. Look at what happened to the colors here, especially the gray patch in the 2nd pic:
Gray card: Why your meter may be lying to you! I started out to check one thing & learned about another.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54281
We use a tripod sometimes and sometimes not. The two main problems are the background looking "pink" and the objects looking "fuzzy." This also occurs when using a tripod. Which? "pink" or "fuzzy."? If "fuzzy", are you using a release to fire the shutter? Or the self timer?
Do you focus & then put the lens on "M" (if you can?) Shooting furniture is not easy, this photo took about 3 hours to set up, light, and shoot. I suspect that you're using your tungsten "hot lights" directly on the furniture. When you have time, try to add some bounce lighting to your "bag". ** IMPORTANT LINKS: Studio Lighting **
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=138912