Beginner in studio lighting in need of help!!

[angelyall]

HI there, I am very much a beginning and have a small photo box kit (the kind you use for photographing items for auction sites). It has two light stands with reflector lamps holding 120v 28w bulbs. I am photographing childrens toys however I can not get the lighting right. Here are a couple of images before I've done any touch up on photoshop, they are coming out so dark and the colours are so dull. These are actually taken with a white fabric background (part of the kit). I am very much a beginner so sorry about these basic technique questions. This is the first time I've done any sort of indoor photography using lights.

I would really appreciate some help, is it the lighting I've got wrong or my camera settings??

Thank you

[Don Kondra]

Geezzz, I would have thought someone would have jumped in by now, sigh...

First of all, are the bulbs you are using rated at 5500k ? That will give you the best color without doing a custom white balance.

If you can't find them locally, go here -

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/...ment_lamps.htm

Second, when you post a question like this it's helpful to know what camera and what lens... and the camera settings.

This site is painfully SLOW and the only way for me to get the exif data is to go to your gallery and quite frankly, that would take me longer than it has to type this message so far.

The first picture looks a little out of focus but the second one isn't bad...

For now I would suggest you shoot in Aperture mode at f 7 - 11 and see if that alone helps.

Oh, and a shot of your set up would be really helpful too, just leave the tripod where you shoot from and take a hand held shot of the set up. Doesn't need to be pretty, just need to see if there can be suggestions on how to improve that too...

Lastly, do not despair

It is a good start..

Cheers, Don

[angelyall]

Hi Don,

Thank you so much for your feedback, you can see not only am I new to using lighting but also to online forums!

Okay for the info. you asked about... the bulbs are 5200k rated...Do I need to upgrade to 5500k or is this much the same?

My camera is a Canon EOS 20D and the lens is Canon 18-55mm, I shot the first photo at aperture f 5.0 and the second photo at aperture f 5.6. So thank you for the tip to shoot between f7 and 11, I will try this and see if it helps.

I've attached a photo of the kit setup I am using to see if you have any suggestions about this, its pretty basic. I've actually been extracting the image using Photoshop and using a different background since I couldn't get the lighting right for the white background in the original photos.

Thanks for providing me some of your expertise, I definetely was starting to despair!!

Angela

[Don Kondra]

Hi Don,

Thank you so much for your feedback, you can see not only am I new to using lighting but also to online forums!

Hi Angela,

I don't mean to diss this fine site but I haven't found much interest in studio lighting here, sigh...

Okay for the info. you asked about... the bulbs are 5200k rated...Do I need to upgrade to 5500k or is this much the same?

That is fine as long as all the bulbs you use are the same rating...

My camera is a Canon EOS 20D and the lens is Canon 18-55mm, I shot the first photo at aperture f 5.0 and the second photo at aperture f 5.6. So thank you for the tip to shoot between f7 and 11, I will try this and see if it helps.

You might even want to try up to f 14, it will just take a longer exposure and there is no movement to be concerned about If for no other reason, shoot a series with an increase of one stop each to see the differences in depth of field and the change in exposure time...

I've attached a photo of the kit setup I am using to see if you have any suggestions about this, its pretty basic. I've actually been extracting the image using Photoshop and using a different background since I couldn't get the lighting right for the white background in the original photos.

I've had more success with a "focus gray" backdrop but you may learn more/quicker by sticking with the white and photoshop.

Some suggestions that shouldn't take long and will help you understand the light...

Add a "roof" of the same diffuser material as the sides and move the lights closer to the "box" so you are aiming them at a forty five degree angle through the sides.

You could also add another light from the top aimed more at the back, see what you think of that.

I do recommend you do these tests before abandoning the box, the diffusion of the sides may not be necessary for these objects because there are no reflections to be concerned about.

The next thing to try would be to use a backdrop at least two feet wide with the objects at least two feet from the back.

Again, you need to do some testing

Try two lights at forty five degrees from camera right and left. Add the back light and see what that does.

Try moving one light closer as a main light and the other farther away and to the side as a fill. This could introduce an interesting shadow.

When I first started lighting studio shots I blasted the objects with light, on my last shot I started with 1900w and ended up getting the best shot with 100w.

You need to "see" how a shadow can give an object dimension, and then decide if it works for you or not

I could tell you to place light A here and light B there but you won't learn a darn thing, I could post links to articles but... I found the best teacher is working through different set ups and noting the changes.

Please post some progress shots through this process and your thoughts on them, hopefully there will be a more positive note in your "voice" :thumbsup:

Cheers, Don

[Don Kondra]

Hi Angela,

Hopefully by now you are well into your experiments...

Couple more things to try.

Lower your camera to the eye level of your subject and see if you like that perspective

Use a remote shutter trigger or the two second timer function to eliminate any camera shake.

Cheers, Don

[angelyall]

Hi Don,

Thank you so much for all your advice, I've been experimenting and so far I've got the attached picture. what do you think? It def. takes a bit of trial and error. I could try the 2 second timer function as I don't have a remote shutter trigger and I will see if that makes it better.

Great, thanks. I'm enjoying the challenge now

Angela

[Don Kondra]

Hi Angela,

It does sound as if you are having fun now !!!!

Couple things, you did mention you were new to forums..

This is a personal thingee with me, I like to size my pic's at 650 x 650 ish so the people with 17" monitors don't have to scroll to see the picture.

I think your crop is a little too tight on this image, not quite close enough for a close up and too close for a portrait ?

Exposure is a little off, try moving your lights back four or five inches before adjusting the settings in camera.

Now this is going to open a whole new can of worms :idea:

Are you shooting in jpeg or raw ?

If you shoot in raw you can adjust the exposure, etc. when you process, in jpeg it's more important that all your settings are right when you shoot.

One other thing to keep in mind, at the size you posted it's much more critical that everything be right. Now please don't take this as an excuse to not try for the best image possible, but..... downsize the image to what you expect to post on auction sites and see what you think.

Gotta run now, looking forward to your next post.

Cheers, Don

Oh, one more thing.

Instead of muti segment metering, try center.

[Don Kondra]

So ????

Progress pic's..

Cheers, Don