Need Help Taking Proper Photos

We are a manufacture of lighting fixtures. I am trying to take photos of our product for both web and print. We do not have a good place to take pictures. At the moment, we are just setting the product down on the carpet in the office. But I am running into several issues.

1) I know absolutly nothing about taking good pictures. I can never get the picture to look like what I see with my eyes. Pictures turn out looking like a totally different color. I need the colors of the product in the pictures to be as close to the color of the product when you pull it out of the box and look at it. I can't have a picture of a bronze light fixture looking one way on the web or in the catalog, but looking like a different color when they receive it.

2) Shadows and reflections. Many times I can't eliminate shadows or reflections. A large number of our items we sell have white or clear acrylic lenses, and the light from the ceiling in the room reflect off the product. This also happens on other items that are made of a reflective metal or something.

We use a Canon EOS Rebel XSI. I know almost nothing about the setting even after trying to read the manual. I have no desire to be a photographer, but I do need to know how to take proper pictures for our marketing media.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lighting fixtures are extremely difficult to photograph..

I'd say hire a pro who specialises in product photography..

I do product photography though not lights. A couple things would help. Post a sample picture so we have something to work from but a couple of tips off the top of my head:
Lighting is important so you might want to use some external light source.
Put in a small wattage bulb so it doesn't overpower the rest of the object.
Set the white balance using a gray or white card or shoot raw and adjust in post.

yogestee wrote in post #8947269
Lighting fixtures are extremely difficult to photograph..

I'd say hire a pro who specialises in product photography..

This was discussed. But in out current finantial situation, this is not an option. We also do not have a sample of the whole product line. So, coordination with a pro would be very difficult.

You need to invest in some proper lighting gear. You could probably get a pair of manual flashes/lightstands/tr​iggering system/umbrellas for around $500. Do you have the budget for this?

Check out http://www.strobist.co​m for some information. http://www.mpex.com is a good source to buy "cheap" lighting gear.

The Xsi (along with the 18-55mm kit lens which you probably own) is more than sufficient for this task. It's the lighting that you are going to have to nail down (and spend money and lots of time figuring out)

It may very well be more affordable to hire a pro.

The other question you had was how to get accurate color in your shots of the sample fixtures. Here's some info. that may be helpful for that piece (and luckily this should cost very little to implement):
http://www.cambridgein​colour.com/tutorials/w​hite-balance.htm
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=599057
http://edufire.com …ng-a-custom-white-balance

egordon99 wrote in post #8947737
You need to invest in some proper lighting gear. You could probably get a pair of manual flashes/lightstands/tr​iggering system/umbrellas for around $500. Do you have the budget for this?

Check out http://www.strobist.co​m for some information. http://www.mpex.com is a good source to buy "cheap" lighting gear.

I followed the link for the gear, but all that lighting is completely foreign to me. Why type of lighting setup should I look for? I am going to review the first link now.

DivineLightingMfg wrote in post #8947904
I followed the link for the gear, but all that lighting is completely foreign to me. Why type of lighting setup should I look for? I am going to review the first link now.

That's why the suggestion was made to consider hiring a pro. You're hiring more than a camera and lights - you're hiring someone who is intimately familiar with them and knows how to use them, how they interact, how to manage light in product photography, etc.

If you insist on doing this yourself and want pro results, expect to spend some money on gear and lots of time learning and experimenting.

And no, I am by no means a pro and am not suggesting I'm up to this task.

And don't forget, "time is money..."

Think of what you could do with all the time you saved by hiring a pro

This doesn't sound like it would be very expensive for a pro to do either. You find someone who does product photography all the time so he's already set up for it. You drop the products off at his studio, he takes some picture, and you select the ones you like.

Absolutely hire a pro that's experienced with product photography. The savings in headaches & frustration alone will be worth more than the expense of a pro. You'll thank us all for this suggestion later.

Remember, An excellent photo can sell your product, but a poor photo can help sell your competitor's product........tw

Find a pro to barter with. I trade my time in shooting products for the actual products. It just happens to be something I use.

The whole point of the exercise is that if you are relying on photographs to sell your products you have to get it right..

If your product shots look amateurish it could be a seen your products are amateurish..

yogestee wrote in post #8949760
The whole point of the exercise is that if you are relying on photographs to sell your products you have to get it right..

If your product shots look amateurish it could be a seen your products are amateurish..

This reminds me of a line on the show Pitchmen where they were filming a commercial and Anthony said something to the effect that "We have to nail this shot because it's the difference between selling a million units and selling 50k." Not exactly an occasion to try to fake your way through it yourself.