Mini Studio Kit.....?

[simplicity96]

Well as all threads relating to this seem very old ill start a new one. I see from previous threads people warn off this one eBay Photo Studio Kit : Tripods & Accessories : Maplin Electronics but what others can you recommend? I need a small studio for taking pictures of smaller items for a reasonable price.

Basically a family member wants to start a website selling small products and when they take pictures with their camera they look crap. They want to borrow my E-PL3 and I suggested one of these mini studios for better lighting etc.

Can anyone suggest a decent one they may have used or come across please? Ebuyer used to do one that seemed very popular but no longer do so that is out of the question.

 

[simplicity96]

There was a reply here what happened to it? I've just come to thank the user and discuss further.

 

[shotokan101]

There was a reply here what happened to it? I've just come to thank the user and discuss further.

There was indeed posted by =adrian= I guess he must have deleted it - I still have the text of the reply if you need it.

Jim

 

[simplicity96]

If you wouldn't mind Jim. Happens to me regular this recently it seems, makes you feel you may have been going a little crazy

 

[shotokan101]

If you wouldn't mind Jim. Happens to me regular this recently it seems, makes you feel you may have been going a little crazy

No problem

The problem with most (if not all) of those light tents/mini studio solutions is that they produce mostly boring and flat pictures.

Product photography is trying to portray a three dimensional product on a two dimensional photograph. One of the main visual clues for creating depth in a photo is tonal variation (ie light areas and dark areas). Light tents tend to produce shadowless photos, ie there is almost no tonal variation. Products usually look flat and uninspiring. And when client makes his buying decisions based on photos alone, they should be at least "good".

Much better solution (though more expensive) in my opinion is a product table and set of lights plus some light modifiers.

Product photography is not as easy as it looks. It is not as simple as placing a product on a white background and blasting it with light from all directions.

Of course, maybe this is not what you/they are after. Maybe in this case a light tent "will do". I have one, bought from amazon, and after using it once I ditched it in the corner and never used again. Money wasted.

I use a normal table + various backgrounds with set of studio strobes plus many light modifiers + reflectors and props. It was all very expensive and it takes a small van to transport (table not included).

This is the one I bought BTW:

BargainUniverse® 80cm x 80cm / 32" x 32" Photo Studio: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

and I can honestly say it is rubbish. As soon as you detach one wall to place the product inside or move it around, the whole thing collapses under its weight. The quality is poor and the backgrounds are too reflective for my liking.

Please excuse my long post. HTH

 

[simplicity96]

Well thankyou to adrian for the reply. As they are planning on hand crafted items I wonder what to suggest to them. Maybe ill be better testing taking a few shots of items using various setups and see what suits better. Id of just thought a small setup like that reasonably good.

Has anyone had much experience with shooting stock for website display?

 

[=adrian=]

Lol Jim, do you save every post on the forum?

Yes. I came back, re-read your OP and decided that my post doesn't really answer your question and because I can't really offer much advice about mini studio kits, I decide to delete the post. There were no replies anyway.

 

[shotokan101]

Lol Jim, do you save every post on the forum?

Yes. I came back, re-read your OP and decided that my post doesn't really answer your question and because I can't really offer much advice about mini studio kits, I decide to delete the post. There were no replies anyway.

Just yours Adrian - just yours - the text of your reply was in the notification email which was still in my gmail trashcan

 

[=adrian=]

Just yours Adrian - just yours - the text of your reply was in the notification email which was still in my gmail trashcan

That's exactly where my posts should be

 

[simplicity96]

But it is relevant adrian to my search as it provides your experience with the item (or similar) im looking at.

I've not had to do something like this before so my assumption was these would be reasonable to use, but thats why I asked.

 

[simplicity96]

Thankyou for your input. Looks like I may have to give this a go and see what results I get maybe go from there.

I appreciate your input and experience on this though but maybe its something you have to start from the bottom up to appreciate the changes you need to make. I might skip the mini tents but we shall see.

Thankyou though. Appreciated