Complete Beginner - will this set up work for me

dear all,

i am a complete beginner and i own a cannon point and shoot 8Mp camera, off late i have planned to start selling apparels online, i am on a tight budget and i have no other way rather than to go for a complete home setup.


after some search and research i found the following and would like to know if this set up would work. I am using some sample setup which i would like to use as my set up

Settings

3 single tube, 48"fluorescent tube lights ( 6500 k each one)
three stands
mannequin


This is to be my setup

3 lights placed as marked

i am placing the distance between 1 & 2 as 4 feet i would like to know if this is right and what should be the distance between the mannequin and the 1, 2 lights

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i would be thankful if you could help me on this

Do you understand white balance?

Using light that is at 6500K will require using a custom white balance to get the colors of the clothing to be accurate. You can do this in camera, or in post in PhotoShop, but you are creating more work for yourself. For critical color, like in fashion, you really don't want to start this way with lighting.

In a beginner setup, I would suggest you use 5000K regular light bulbs, you can buy them very cheap at Home Depot or Target. They do sell 5000K tube lights for video, but they are very expensive. You will need at least 3-4 bulbs on each side. So the cost to have 8-10 bulbs is the same investment as a cheap strobe light, about $200 each.

You need to start with good lighting. Have you looked at the cost of a beginner strobe setup? If you want to do studio stuff, strobes offer a major advantage. If this is just a quick project, then go with what you have. But if you plan on a career in photography, you need to invest in some gear. You can get a beginner studio kit for about $500.

Does the point and shoot camera you are using have custom white balance, you didn't mention the exact camera.

If this is for selling on Ebay, then just use this setup. But the colors of the items will not match the real fabric colors. How important is that to you, and your potential customers?

I am not sure what your expectations are with your existing setup? Gear costs money. There is real no alternative that is equal.

sir thank you for the reply but i am from India and in a remote village where i am working with a group of native villagers to post their works(hand weaving and handloom) products online and to take their products to every corner in India, so i can not afford studio set up and moreover i have to shift the lighting if it rains since these huts can leak badly.

this is a complete NGO project and i have put all the money i have, to support them. so i can not afford 200usd strobes etc.. i am quite good in photoshop and did some editing in photoshop i am posting some of the shots i took and edited in photoshop

regarding the camera i have Canon PowerShot A495 and NIKON L 21 both have custom white balance and the white balance i perform is i place a white board in front of the mannequin with the lights switched on and WB it


some of the shots i took

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some ideas please

you are shooting in a "hut that leaks rain"... and you want some ideas?

What are you trying to do with the final images. If you were selling clothes on Ebay, I would say they look fine.
Are you shooting to place images on the web, or to print a catalog? Tell us how you are going to use the final images.
How are you going to sell the images?

The samples you posted are fine to show products, but they are not going to win any awards in a fashion catalog.

If you can't buy any new gear, I would suggest to use more white boards to reflect as much light as possible on the subjects.

Your PhotoShop edits of color balance look good enough for the limitations you have... maybe concentrate more on the way you lay the fabric, especially wrinkles and folds.

So PUMA is now manufacturing in remote villages in India?

if you were able to produce those final images with the lighting set up that you described

i think you have done very well and don't need any help making them better

those clothes are mine and not those manufactured ones as i mentioned they are hand looms and not knitted as you see in the pics, i placed some sample of my own kids and took it with the given lighting

thanks for the reply sir

yes they are for sites such as eBay and not for any fashion photography

yes though i am an MBA graduate from a leading business management school XLRI in India i along with my fellow students have decided to go into the villages where the monthly salary of these people are not even 10USD (500Rs). We have been able to achieve more than what we thought by taking their products out of this village and
which has made them see a huge difference, My question of "idea" was related to the set up i showed and if any changes could be made to it.

mam, i shot those products in worse lights than mentioned in my set up but was able to achieve a lot using photoshop

if your camera has a custom white balance then you could just get a grey photo card and adjust it in camera and shoot away.. otherwise you would have ot go into each photo with photoshop and fix it their (assuming you shot RAW)

If I was complete beginner, and for the most part I am, I would just get a simple flash set up. Either Canon Speedlight, Yongnuo, or Vivitar 285hv. Of the three, the the last two are under $100, and all you need is a wireless triggers, Cactus V2s, and a tripod. After all that, you can even spring for a couple accessories.

The images you produced look pretty good to me. The caution with what looks like standard shop lights would be the power cycle. Old florescents are not necessarily all that constant but cycle with the AC cycle. I think here in the US with 60 cycle AC power you can get into issues at shutter speeds above 1/60.

I think the only thing I would really try to add is a tripod.

BTW - I think 6500K is about the same as 'cloudy' for white balance purposes.

sir, i place a white foam board and white balance it using the custom white balance option.

I think 6500K is about the same as 'cloudy' for white balance purposes

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another shot (a used t shirt) just trying out

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