Product photography with 1 580EX II

[timecube]

Hey guys,

I am trying to figure out how to arrange my product photography setup.

I am waiting on a couple of things to arrive but I will have:

Canon 7D
17-55mm Canon 2.8 Lens
580EX II
Lightstand + 43" White Westcott Shoot Through Umbrella
43" White / Black / Silver / Gold Reflector

And I am going to purchase some seamless white background paper and background stands.

I'm an absolute noob when it comes to flash photography and I will be taking photos of shoes primarily.

I am wondering how to correctly expose the shots. Will I need to light the background independantly? Or will the 580EX II positioned directly overhead be enough to properly light the background and the shoes?

How far should I place the product from the background paper?

What kind of settings should I use on the camera / flash for this type of shot?

I have been using this photo for inspiration, the background isn't entirely white but I would love to be able to replicate it or better it:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3753566814_bf48e919fb.jpg

He stated that he just used the following:

Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 - Speedlite 580EX II + Umbrella (above)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Savphoto]

Try using bounce flash, and place the shoe maybe 2 to 3 feet from the back. Or you can do what the user did, umbrella directly overhead of the camera. Ideally, a boom with a softbox would be used ove rthe shoe.

[timecube]

Hey man,

Well I was hoping to position the westcott umbrella + 580ex ii facing down towards the shoe on the lowest angle I can and as overhead as I can .. I don't have a boom, position the reflector on the otherside so it fills in all the shadows?

But I was reading about exposure compensation etc, just don't know how to get that right when using a single flash, so I can get the background bright white and still have correct exposure on the product i.e. not blown out.

Thanks.

[timecube]

Bump :S

[timecube]

Can someone please help with my setup :o

[gonzogolf]

Can someone please help with my setup :o

Doing product photography with a single light is sort of like playing volleyball by yourself. You can get hints, but nobody can really tell you how to do it right. The shot you want to emulate is devoid of shadows with a totally white background. Your best bet is to put the light almost directly over the top of the shoe, and slightly forward of the camera and hope you can keep your shadows behind the shoe and let some light spill on the background.

[dave sparks]

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Lighting_Lessons/index.html

There are sections for product photography here. Lots of set-up photos included to help give some ideas. Also have a look at B&H. They have quite a few light tents for well under $100. Might be worth a look.

Also a long thread here about building your own light box cheap. Have a look.

Dave....

Duh, add the link Dave, add the link:http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=281524

[tim]

How do you plan to trigger your flash? Skyports (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/505381-REG/Elinchrom_EL_19360_EL_Skyport_Universal_Radio_Slav e.html/BI/2312/KBID/3114) are one option, another is a sync cable which is much cheaper. You'll probably manage with one light, but you might want a 2nd light for the background or for fill some time.

Don't forget that when things stay still a tripod and longer exposures are another option. I'd probably use a tripod for every shot if I was doing product photography. Oh, and a macro lens.

[timecube]

Doing product photography with a single light is sort of like playing volleyball by yourself. You can get hints, but nobody can really tell you how to do it right. The shot you want to emulate is devoid of shadows with a totally white background. Your best bet is to put the light almost directly over the top of the shoe, and slightly forward of the camera and hope you can keep your shadows behind the shoe and let some light spill on the background.

Yep I understand, i'll definitely try that setup thanks. I just wanted to get some advice before I get into it in case I make a fatal mistake lol.

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Lighting_Lessons/index.html

There are sections for product photography here. Lots of set-up photos included to help give some ideas. Also have a look at B&H. They have quite a few light tents for well under $100. Might be worth a look.

Also a long thread here about building your own light box cheap. Have a look.

Dave....

Duh, add the link Dave, add the link:http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=281524

Thanks Dave, I will check those links out. I currently have a light box but I was using it for video work. I chose to go the flash / umbrella / background way for photos as I think it might give me some more freedom.

How do you plan to trigger your flash? Skyports (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/505381-REG/Elinchrom_EL_19360_EL_Skyport_Universal_Radio_Slav e.html/BI/2312/KBID/3114) are one option, another is a sync cable which is much cheaper. You'll probably manage with one light, but you might want a 2nd light for the background or for fill some time.

Don't forget that when things stay still a tripod and longer exposures are another option. I'd probably use a tripod for every shot if I was doing product photography. Oh, and a macro lens.

I plan on triggering the flash with the inbuilt wireless function on the Canon 7D. Hopefully it will be able to talk to the flash when it's inside the umbrella?

Canon state that the flash needs to be in this position, but my hot shoe / umbrella / flash mount doesn't swivel like that so I don't know what i'll do if it doesn't.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2013/flash20with20umbrella20.jpg

Also this is my proposed setup, however I am just taking a wild guess any C&C would be appreciated.

580EX II + 43" White Shoot through umbrella right
43" Silver Reflector left
White Seamless Background
Canon 7D

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3246/lightingsetup.jpg

[tim]

Inside the 7D internal flash as master should be ok inside, though it may not be 100% reliable as you want direct line of sight between the master and the slave. You have line of sight, but the spread of the internal flash might not hit the sensor directly, so you're relying on bounce - which should be ok.

Use it on manual, it's more consistent than ETTL. If it's unreliable go for a sync cable.

[apersson850]

Provided you room/studio isn't too big, the remote flash will trigger from bounced light, reflected from walls, backgrounds etc.

[tetrode]

Depending upon what it is you're shooting, you should be able to produce good results with a single 580EX II and 43" umbrella.

By way of example, here's a shot taken with a single Nikon SB-800 firing through a 30" Westcott shoot-through umbrella positioned directly above and in front of the subject. The SB-800 was triggered by the D300's on-board flash unit using CLS:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/4012170976_1c19f370c1_o.jpg

And, with a touch of Photoshop curves applied if you prefer added contrast:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/4011404989_5c428cab45_o.jpg

One light is not going to give you a pure white background if that's what you're after. The subject in this photo was sitting on a shooting table with a translucent Plexiglas sweep. For a white background, I'd use two additional lights: One above and behind the subject firing down on the sweep and one below the table firing up.

Same shooting table, three lights as described above:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2448/3769852339_2fd18b9157_o.jpg

The grey background happens to work well with the white sneaker so a single light was sufficient.

Dave F.

[timecube]

Inside the 7D internal flash as master should be ok inside, though it may not be 100% reliable as you want direct line of sight between the master and the slave. You have line of sight, but the spread of the internal flash might not hit the sensor directly, so you're relying on bounce - which should be ok.

Use it on manual, it's more consistent than ETTL. If it's unreliable go for a sync cable.

Provided you room/studio isn't too big, the remote flash will trigger from bounced light, reflected from walls, backgrounds etc.

Okay excellent i'm hoping that will be the case, will give it a test tomorrow night if everything goes to plan :cool:.

Depending upon what it is you're shooting, you should be able to produce good results with a single 580EX II and 43" umbrella.

By way of example, here's a shot taken with a single Nikon SB-800 firing through a 30" Westcott shoot-through umbrella positioned directly above and in front of the subject. The SB-800 was triggered by the D300's on-board flash unit using CLS:

And, with a touch of Photoshop curves applied if you prefer added contrast:

One light is not going to give you a pure white background if that's what you're after. The subject in this photo was sitting on a shooting table with a translucent Plexiglas sweep. For a white background, I'd use two additional lights: One above and behind the subject firing down on the sweep and one below the table firing up.

Same shooting table, three lights as described above:

The grey background happens to work well with the white sneaker so a single light was sufficient.

Dave F.

Hi Dave,

I am hoping that the 580EX II will be able to achieve somewhat of an all white background like the near perfect photo above, the grey areas around the edges I will most likely crop out in post production and recompose. I am hoping to fill most of the frame with the product and employ this tactic.

I have some older terrible photos from my lightbox showing hard shadows and generally bad lighting, I managed to save a few of them in lightroom by using the exposure brush at like +4 but I should probably learn how to use masking in photoshop so I can just increase the entire exposure on the background is that correct?

I am hoping I don't have to do many exposure changes in lightroom/photoshop with my new setup.