Product and clothing photography equipment

millymash12

Hi

I work for a clothing company which currently have terrible photography. I want to set up a simple pop up studio and take better quality photographs of clothing. I am thinking about buying these to get me started.

Photography Backdrop, frame and lighting Here

Tripod Here

Nikon D3200 Camera Here

Nikon 17-55mm F2.8G\AF-S DX IF-ED lens Here



Any advice? I have a budget of about 1,500 - 2,000 euros.

Ben D Bus

Everything below is very much IMHO! I'd be very interested in other peoples opinions as studio portrait/fashion photography (on a budget!) is a bit of an interest of mine.

How will the images be used? Internet only? Brochures? Big advertising posters? And we're talking about catalogue type clothing shots?

Will you be photographing a model wearing the clothing?

I don't know anything about continuous lights.

The 17-55 f/2.8 is too wide and you don't need f/2.8 for studio portraits of clothing assuming you want the whole item in focus and are shooting against a plain background. You should be shooting at f8 or f11. You'd be wasting €1000 buying it. Great lens I'm sure but not appropriate to catalog fashion photography.

If it's just internet images you're after then you can pick up this kit for less than €300 http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5599523/Trail/searchtext%3ED3100.htm

You don't need VR for studio shoots under bright light as you'll be using a fast shutter speed.

That will leave you over a grand for a nice telephoto with a bit more reach to cover everything from full length to close-ups of garment details. For Internet only, I think you'd be fine with this http://www.connscameras.ie/nikon-afs-18105-f3-55-6g-ed-vr-dx-lens/p-4960759025630pd.html

If you've more to spend then something like this http://www.connscameras.ie/nikon-afs-2485mm-f3-54-5g-ed-vr/4960759027627pd.html

Or even this http://www.connscameras.ie/nikon-afs-24120mm-f4g-ed-vr/18208021932pd.html although it's quite pricey and probably overkill.

The sky's the limit when it comes to spending on glass. But with an entry-level DSLR there comes a point where you're not going to benefit much without getting a more advanced body too.

But in order to get the range you need and avoid distorted images, you'd want to be working in the range of 24mm for full length shots to 80ish and beyond for close ups. This is on a DX sensor camera which the D3*00 bodies are.

For information I use a Nikon D90 with a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 but shoot at f/8 with speedlights.

Ballyman

The tripod, camera and lens are fine.

The lighting and background are rubbish though. What kind of clothing and how will it be modelled?

If its going to be on a model/mannequin then a Lastolite Hilite (7*5 model) would be perfect. You will either need 2 lights (1 x Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit) and a bit of Photoshop editing or 4 lights and no editing.

I would also budget for a photographer to set it all up day one for you so its done right the first time and you can then just swap the clothes and you shouldnt have to change any settings/lights.

If you need any more info you can PM me if you wish.

Ben D Bus

Ballyman wrote: »

The tripod, camera and lens are fine.

Really? A 17-55 f/2.8 is the best use of €1000 for clothing photography on a mannequin or live model? Genuine question btw, in case it sounds like a sarcastic 'Really?'

melekalikimaka

get a decent nikon flash, google 'strobist', by a backdrop, or better still and nice wall, plain backgrounds arent essential, a background with a little action in it can be nice and alot of lines are going down that route anyway. So really, 350 - 400 and you have all you need

Ballyman

Ben D Bus wrote: »

Really? A 17-55 f/2.8 is the best use of €1000 for clothing photography on a mannequin or live model? Genuine question btw, in case it sounds like a sarcastic 'Really?'

I never said it was the best did I? I said it was fine. If the op had any idea of photography then they would be able to pick out the proper equipment themselves so simple is best.

What I recommended is simple to setup and use for a non photographer. You could get a similar setup for <1k but it will involve a reasonably high knowledge of photography and editing.

The OP is a business so I doubt they have time to be priking around when they can purchase an option that pretty much works out of the box. Time is money

gloobag

If you want good results, don't bother with any of that equipment. Just hire a decent professional photographer to do it for you.

Owning that equipment won't guarantee you good results, in fact judging by the low standard of gear you've chosen, I'm guessing you don't really know that much about photography (and that's fine). But, you could end up doing your business a dis-service by having your products represented by low quality images.

You could easily afford a good local fashion photographer to shoot a lookbook for you for about €1k or less.

If you're fully intent on doing the images yourself, my advise would be to buy something like a secondhand 5DmkII, an 85mm f/1.8 lens and some cheap big silver reflectors. Then shoot the clothes on people in natural light. If this doesn't work out for you, you could easily sell that gear on again.

I would advise against shooting just the clothing on its own in a sterile studio setting. People want to see the clothes on a person, that's why lookbooks are so popular with the big high street stores these days.

Splinters

Couldnt agree more with the above advice. By all means get all the kit and learn how to use it, the camera, the lighting, the post production etc...it would be a good long term investment. But having that equipment without proper knowledge of how it all works is next to useless useless. Its honestly not something you're going to master in a few weeks.

If you want an immediate jump up in standard for your catalogue, do the sensible thing and hire a professional to do it right. You might even find somebody who will let you shadow them while shooting it and explain what they are doing to achieve a certain look and why.

millymash12

gloobag wrote: »

If you want good results, don't bother with any of that equipment. Just hire a decent professional photographer to do it for you.

I hear you, but I don't think this job requires a photographer, we only need to photograph 2,000 products (front, back, sides, close up detail) for our website / catalogue. Then at a later date we will hire a photographer to do more advanced photography like scenario imagery and models wearing the clothing. I am looking to achieve something like this this and this

gloobag wrote: »

I would advise against shooting just the clothing on its own in a sterile studio setting. People want to see the clothes on a person, that's why lookbooks are so popular with the big high street stores these days.

Gotcha, I agree, in the short term we just need the clothing, at a later date definitely get the clothes on the person.

Thanks for your feedback and advice.

millymash12

Ballyman wrote: »

If its going to be on a model/mannequin then a Lastolite Hilite (7*5 model) would be perfect. You will either need 2 lights (1 x Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit) and a bit of Photoshop editing or 4 lights and no editing.

That looks pretty cool, where's the best place to buy one? Looks quite expensive on Amazon.

Ballyman wrote: »

I would also budget for a photographer to set it all up day one for you so its done right the first time and you can then just swap the clothes and you shouldnt have to change any settings/lights.

Yes, that's what I was thinking.

Ballyman wrote: »

If you need any more info you can PM me if you wish.

Done.

millymash12

Splinters wrote: »

By all means get all the kit and learn how to use it, the camera, the lighting, the post production etc...it would be a good long term investment. But having that equipment without proper knowledge of how it all works is next to useless. Its honestly not something you're going to master in a few weeks.

I agree, we are not really looking to 'master' photography, I just need to improve the current photography. At the moment the business is using a combination of competitors images, stolen images from the web, badly scanned stolen images from catalogues and badly photoshopped images as well as complete blurs of things. Seriously, my camera phone on a blurry night on the piss would be better. :P [/QUOTE]

Splinters

In that case it does sound like a situation thats needs to be rememdied fairly quickly.

I still think you're crazy for not considering getting a professional in. Sure you'll see yourself when you start taking your own shots and they more then likely won't match your expectations. I guess it depends on how much the company value the product shots, possibly not at all if they were previously using stolen images etc. Its just that age old argument is a job better done badly or not at all. Sorry, thats not a personal remark by the way, everybody is bad when they start. Thats why companies pay professionals in the first place.

millymash12

Splinters wrote: »

I still think you're crazy for not considering getting a professional in.

I hear you, I have got a cost of a professional to come in and photograph front, back, side and close up details of each of the 2,000 products/garments and the cost per photo is a bit too much. I think we are better off to do a DIY job on just the product images yourselves, and get a pro in later in the year to snap the clothes on models and do scenario photography. Getting lighting, poses and looks right for the models and scenario's is definitely worth getting a pro to do it.

Thanks again for your feedback and advice.

Splinters

Totally your call. As I said it just comes down to how much you value the job looking right.

Worth bearing in mind.....

condra

My 2 cents..

Working with people is an art unto itself. If you're only doing isolated clothing shots, I think some good kit and a bit of practice will get you 95% there, assuming you have some motivation and creative flair.

A used 5d mark 1 for around 500 quid would be a superb affordable option in my opinion. Couple it with a Canon 40mm 2.8 lens for high quality optics, at an affordable price (200 quid)

Down the line, when you're doing shots with human models, you could get an 85mm lens (longer lenses are more flattering and isolate the subject very well) or indeed, hire a pro if you can afford it.

For isolated clothing, a big window (no direct sun!) and a large reflecetor could get you great results in terms of good soft lighting.

Shoot at middle apertures for best image quality.
Use a tripod to avoid camera shake.
If they're being cut out in Photoshop, make sure it's done properly.

Let us know how you get on!