devon_mccarroll

George, I think you've answered your own question--you don't have the experience or the equipment to do this. For white backgrounds, you need a lot of light, meaning at least two studio monolights to get pure white. The example images also indicate a hair light being used, which is essential if this is to feature hairstyles, plus a main light, and a reflector or possibly a fill light as well. Plain and simple, you aren't going to be able to do this without the proper equipment and experience. Is there a reason they're asking you to do this? Did you make it clear that you aren't set up to handle the job at this time?

+1 for hiring a pro, because there is a lot more to this than you're ready for. Not only do you need to know how to use your camera in full manual mode, you also need to be able to adjust your settings and lighting on the fly for things like light skinned vs dark skinned subjects, people with glasses, dark hair and light hair, things like large facial features vs petite, etc. etc. All of these will require lighting adjustments, and you won't have time to be fiddling around and figuring it out if you have an entire staff to photograph. There is nothing wrong with saying that you're not experienced enough for the task. I've been there. People seem to think that if you have a digital camera and do photography as a hobby that you can whip together properly lit portraits. You could always offer to assist a pro if they bring one in, and maybe learn some things along the way, but lighting itself involves a steep learning curve, even if you know the technical aspects of your gear inside and out.

John, on your home photos, it looks from the overhead shot like the sandwich is below the level of the windowsill, so you need to get it up higher. Try putting your window light at the 10:00 position as I mentioned before, and use a much larger white bounce (I use a 24x36 foamcore from the local craft store) opposite, so around the 4:00 position. I assume you're shooting in RAW, which will give you much more latitude in post processing. The blue tint in the plate on the restaurant shot is probably due to the fact that it was cloudy. Also, I see a speedlight in your home setup, which you shouldn't try mixing with the window light. The lenses you have are fine for the work you're doing. Food photography is one of the most difficult genres to master, so it will take some time.

John, I do food photography (advanced hobby and several classes), and food can absolutely be shot with either natural light or studio strobes. Natural light is harder to control since it changes frequently, and a north-facing window is indeed the best light, although an overcast day can provide good light through any window at times. Do you have a food stylist, or is the restaurant styling the plates/food for you? Because first and foremost, the food has to look good, and that means the most perfect piece of lettuce, perfect bread, etc. along with the appropriate plating and props. Beyond that, if you have good window light, try positioning your light at around the 10:00 or 2:00 position (as you're facing the subject, think of the top edge of the plate as 12:00), and then try a white reflector opposite. If you need more "punch", switch to a silver reflector. I use a white foamcore board with shiny silver wrapping paper glued to the other side, so I have 2-in-1 and it's cheap to make. Beyond that, feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to help you out via email.

Regarding reflectors, for children or head-and-shoulders portraits, a white foamcore board works great, and I use them all the time. For couples or multiples, one of the five-in-one reflectors is wonderful, especially since you also have a diffusion panel in those. Either works great to bounce light from an off camera flash. And in that regard, an off camera flash/umbrella/reflector combo is a great way to start with lighting. In regards to lenses, the 70-200 2.8 is a heavy lens, and the crop factor on your camera may make it too long for portrait work. A 50 or 85, IMO, would be better. What is it about the 35 1.8 that you don't like? As for monitor calibration, I don't know how old your monitor is, but the calibration tools out there won't work well on aging monitors, which I found out when I called one of the companies regarding the old one I have, so that's something to look into. There are some good online classes, and lots of free stuff out there for learning. Keep doing what you're doing, follow the fantastic advice that people have given you here, and have fun! And I agree with you about the wonderful people on these forums, who have also helped me in many ways over the years.

Ashley, every camera model has a different sync speed, and some are lower than 1/250. You should check your camera's manual to see what yours is to be sure.

Christal, I do have a boom stand, the Avenger baby boom. Be sure with all stands, but especially with boom stands, that you read the weight ratings in the specs to make sure that it's rated to hold your gear. A boom stand will have two different ratings listed--one for when it's not extended, and another for fully extended. They are able to hold less weight fully extended, so that's the rating you want to pay attention to. I've also learned from experience that it's really helpful to have an extra set of hands when setting up a boom, because it's tricky when you're putting a counterweight on one end and a light and softbox on the other.

Hi, and sorry I just saw your question back to me--I've been off for a bit. Buff stands have a reputation for being a bit flimsy. There are many quality stands out there and everyone has their favorites. I like Avenger. Good stands aren't cheap, but they need to hold up expensive gear so they're worth it. As far as the softboxes fitting the stands, softboxes don't attach to the stands, they attach to the lights, and the lights attach to the stands. Stand mounts are pretty universal. One thing to note--if you buy a different brand softbox than the brand of lights, for instance Buff lights and Profoto softboxes, then you need to make sure that a speed ring is available from that softbox manufacturer that will fit your brand of lights.

Buff lights are great, and for occasional use you might be fine with Alien Bees, but the Einsteins are a lot better for consistent temperature throughout their range, from what I understand. Buff's stands are their weak point, but I love their folding softboxes. If you don't have education in using studio lighting, start small, because there is a huge learning curve. One light and a white foamcore board for a reflector is a good start, then build from there.

And let's not forget the obvious here--your safety and your life are worth more than any stuff you own.

I'm going to try the Codec Pack and see if it does what I need. Thank you!

Very cool! Thanks for pointing it out!

Also, if they have window views they want to incorporate, you'll need to shoot from a tripod and expose the first shot for the room, expose the second shot for the window view, and then combine them in post.

<p>I wouldn't go any slower than a constant f4 lens (like the Canon 70-200) for low light, and it really depends on how low the light is. The 70-200 2.8 lenses are very heavy, but I've also seen posts from wedding photographers that say the extra stop has really saved them in a few situations. </p>

Sam, regarding sync speed, every camera has a maximum shutter speed that can be used with flash, usually around 1/200 or so (your manual will tell you what your camera's max sync speed is). If you set your shutter above the sync speed, you'll get a blacked out section in your photos, because the shutter can't fully open and close in sync with the flash duration.

Matt & Charles are right. You need to spend some time learning before jumping headlong into this. Jewelry photography is very, very challenging. No matter what camera you get, you need to understand the technical aspects of photography and lighting. Lighting reflective objects is difficult to do properly. I noticed that nobody asked what your purpose for the photography is. Are you planning to sell the jewelry? If so, the images need to be very professional.

Start with natural light and a reflector. For photographing your little one, the reflector can be a white foam core board from the local craft store, which will only cost a few dollars. If you haven't learned how to use your camera in full manual mode yet, as in setting your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc., that's the first thing you'll need to know for working with lighting down the road. Spend time outdoors when you can, and near a window when you need to be indoors, using the reflector as fill (opposite the main source of light). Pay attention to how the light changes with the time of day, sunny vs. cloudy days--which offer beautiful soft light--and what happens when you move the reflector around. As you practice, take time to read about portrait lighting, first with natural light, then with one light. When you get to that point, try investing in a speedlight and learn to use it off camera with the reflector. You see where I'm going--start simple, with inexpensive things, and learn gradually. If you buy too much gear up front, it will overwhelm you. Lighting involves a huge learning curve. And beautiful portraits can be taken with natural light!

I loved my Mazda Tribute for hauling gear, and that's been replaced by the CX-5, which has lots of room and drives really well. And if you like Honda, the CR-V specs indicate that it has about as much cargo capacity as the Element did.

What kind of product, and what gear and lighting do you have? Need a bit more info to help.

What camera do you have? I have the 5D Mark III and found a full tutorial on Lynda.com, which happens to be free through our library system here. BetterPhoto.com has some camera classes for certain cameras as well, for a fee, and you submit photos during the class, but you have to make the time to devote to the class.

If you have some good Nikon lenses already, then I would stick with Nikon. But when you say that you need to create a lot of video, how much do you mean? If you shoot for long periods of time, it's my understanding that it can really heat up the sensor, and most cameras limit the time you can shoot. Otherwise, if you're talking about short videos, many of the modern DSLRs will do that. You'll need big cards with lots of memory. It also depends upon your budget. You could get a Nikon D610, which is fairly lightweight and a full-frame DSLR. If you opt for a crop sensor camera like the D7100 (also lightweight), keep in mind that you can use FX (full frame) lenses on a DX (crop sensor) body, but you can't use DX lenses on an FX body. On the other hand, if you don't have many lenses or are planning to upgrade your lenses anyway, then you would be fine with either Nikon or Canon. On the Canon side of things, the 6D is much lighter than the 5D Mk III. Depending on what you want to photograph besides doing video, lenses can add a lot of weight to an already heavy camera.

Thanks all for the responses! I forgot to set this up to get email when people responded and totally forgot I posted it...ah, the aging brain :-) In any case, I do use Bridge, but the thumbnails are so tiny I can't even see them, compared to CS3 where they were easy to see. I may revert to CS3 because I found it much easier to work with. And I despise Win 7, but that conversation is for another day! Saving my pennies for a Mac at some point.

You can find many posts with this question on the forums, but the basic questions to you are these. What size is the room? And more importantly, have you worked with lighting before? If not, then you need to be aware that there is a steep learning curve, and you need to know how to operate your camera in manual, meaning understanding how to set your own aperture, shutter speed (keeping in mind the top sync speed you can use with studio lights), lighting ratios, etc. The cheap kits like you've referenced are just that...cheap. You will be throwing good money after bad since they don't hold up, and that kit is way underpowered. I would suggest--assuming you've not worked with lighting before--that you start with one off-camera speedlight and an umbrella, along with a white reflector for fill. Assuming you have a Canon or Nikon, their speedlights work well off camera. Practice with family and friends, study up on lighting, and really understand your gear and lighting until it's all second nature before you even consider charging for your work. It takes time to understand all of it, and starting small is the best way to go.

<p>Is there a way to open a group of RAW images as thumbnails, or in a way that I can scroll through and view them? I've only figured out how to open one at a time, and they take a bit to fully load, so going through a card full of images takes forever! I must be missing something...I'm running Windows 7 and Photoshop CS6.<br> Thanks for any help you can give!</p>

If you continue to the bottom of the site you linked to, they talk about how to change the background to white in Photoshop, so they're not getting pure white without post processing. Fluorescent lights are too weak for the job--actually most jobs--in my opinion. Strobes with good softboxes will give you better lighting and less post processing work to do, as long as you do a proper custom white balance, but when you're not lighting the background separately, you're still going to have some work to do in post. Are you shooting in RAW? You really need to do that in order to have the most control over your post processing to adjust any color shifts, etc.