With new employment, I have been fortunate enough to venture into product photography.  Armed with new equipment, a lack of knowledge about what the heck I am doing, and the desire to improve on company resources, I jumped into the deep end of the pool.  Well, maybe closer to the shallow end.  Here are my thoughts for those interested in something similar…

First, my new employer is wonderful.  Since I volunteered using my Nikon D80 to take the product photos (I would be the only one using my camera mind you) my boss agreed to purchase some additional equipment for us.  Here is what we ended up with:

1. Impact digital light shed: 24” x 24” x 36” - $179.95
2. Two 1000w Flood Lights with 6′ stands
3. Universal Twin Rail 100 Tripod - $74.95
4. Vidpro padded tripod carrying case - $19.95
5. Sigma 105mm 1:2.8 DG macro lens - $354.95
6. 58mm Hoya UV filter - $14.95

The shooting tent, lights, tripod, and carrying case were all purchased from B&H Photo.  The Sigma lens was purchased from Sigma4Less.com.  The grand total came to $644.75.

The above equipment would be then combined with my Nikon D80 and Nikon Speedlight flash, along with other humble collection of lenses.

Initially, I was unsure of where to start.  All I knew was that while we have a great internal resource for photos, there were still certain items that we needed better photos of.  Also, we outsource all of the photography and by investing a little upfront, we will end of saving by bringing these tasks in-house.  Sorta, killing two birds with one stone type of thing.

With much assistance from my friend and resident photography guru Dave, I prepared a proposal, submitted to my boss, and had it approved.  A week or so later the equipment arrived and this week I was able to give it a test run. 

Our products, or at least the samples that will be photographed, are typically small in size.  So the digital light shed sized at 24” x 24” x 36” was a good size for us to start with.  The accessories that came with it were great as well.  Included I found both a black and white cloth backdrop and also a large white plastic, semi-reflective, base.  I reserved a conference room in the office and setup the tent on the large table.

If you are in the market for a similar setup, do yourself a favor and research where you will be taking the photos.  When I setup the shooting tent and tripod, I had plenty of room.  When I setup the lightstands, I found that it would have been easier to have also ordered an extension cord.  However, everything was shifted without too much hassle.

What lens did I use?
Some of the products required a close up shot, so I used the Sigma 105mm macro lens.  Others required a close up shot, but not on the macro level, so I used the Sigma 180-200mm lens.  I found that both lenses worked very well with the setup and I had no troubles.  OK, I take that back, I had no troubles when I was shooting manual.  Shooting on auto with the macro lens proved a little difficult for me in that I was not able to get the exact results that I wanted.  Plus, my friend Dave doesn’t like it when I shoot on auto. (That last comment was inserted just for him.)

Lighting
I found the lighting more than adequate.  At one point, I even turned off the overhead lighting in the conference room and used just the lightstands.  Depending on their position, I was able to capture some nifty reflections and shadows using various combinations of backdrops and bases.  I also tried shooting with the camera on auto with the Speedlight as well and was pleased with the outcome.

Results
So where are the photos?  Actually, they are not all something that I can publish right now, so please forgive me.  However, I will post one of them to prove that I actually did take a picture!   

The above photo was shot with the macro lens.  I placed the product on top of the semi-reflective plastic base and had the light stands pointing toward the product on each side, but placed slightly behind it.  The only editing done to the final photo was the addition of the gradient overlay and some minor corrections on the product itself (since the black backdrop I used was so new it left some artifacts on the product that I removed digitally).

If I am able, I plan to bring all of the equipment home and do a test run, taking photos as I go along to document the process.  Since I cannot promise such a documented process, you will have to stick with this.

Very few of the photographs required any altering at all.  I could not resist editing a few of them as I cannot seem to leave a photo a photo sometimes.  Out of 34 photos taken (well, there were 34 after I deleted some immediately after taking them), there were only two unusable, so I think the end results worked out in my favor.

I also ended up with great additions to our company resources fully capable to be used and print-ready.  32 files, 65MB, all photos shot in JPG format, 3872 x 2592 @ 300DPI.

For a quick aside, the bulbs put out a slight odor, so be ready for that.  Hopefully that will wear off with the newness of the equipment.

Summary

1. Research where you will be shooting: You might need extension cords, a different table, or some other adjustment in order to have the environment setup correctly.
2. Research what you will be shooting: If you are going to be photographing something very small, then you obviously do not need a large light tent.  Think about what items you are photographing now and what items you might need to photograph in the future and plan ahead to save yourself some money and headache in the long run.
3. Cost considerations: Naturally this was not the cheapest way to start, but it certainly was not the most expensive either.  In my initial proposal I had also included a Nikon macro lens which was double the price of the Sigma.  If cost is a factor for you, but you really want to use a tent, then why not make your own, according to JPG Magazine contributor Jeffrey Bail?
4. Shoot, shoot, and shoot: As any of you who have been taking photos for any amount of time can state with certainty, never be afraid to take multiple pictures of the same image with the same setup.  I personally like to take several because you never know how one might turn out.  If you only take one, then that is it, but if you have 5+ then you will have a better chance of one coming out the way that you want it it.