Portable Photo Studio - I am impressed

[Vigilante]

Over the last 18 months, we have spent a lot on getting professional product images taken. $10 per image is what we have been paying for professional product shots. We should have done even more photography. Photography sells products. We should be putting several images up on each listing.

So... I found a cheap photo box on eBay, and thought it would be fun to take some photos with my iPhone 5 and see what happens. Total investment? $30.99

This lighting kit including the following

(1) Studio Photo Tent 16" X 16"

(4) Backgrounds (Red, Black, Blue, White)

(2) Studio Light Stand w/ Photo Bulb

(1) Mini Tripod

So... consider that this kit will pay for itself if I use just THREE images from it.

Here's the listing on eBay. Julius Studio Table Top Photo Box Tent Kit Photography Lighting Kit Mini Tripod | eBay

I was amazed and surprised. Since I have nothing else to do (!) I set it up in the office today, and was taking a few test photos. Absolutely serviceable. Maybe not perfect, but for our purposes this will work perfectly.

It's very rare that a product meets my expectations, much less exceeds it. For those of you who attended B&P, I talked about "ruthless expense reduction." Using this, I think we will take significant costs out. If we use 500 images from this in the next 12 months, I just pocketed $5k in savings.

Note that the height of the photo box is about 16"... works great for smaller products. There are professional photographers on the forum that are probably going to bar-b-que me for this, but for anyone from the casual hobbyist to the start-up eCommerce importer... this is a viable solution for small scale operations and small product images.



(Note that I did not have the lights on in the image... thus the shadows.)

 

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[DavidofMN]

Vig - I bought and use the exact same one as that! Good for small things and easy to set-up, take down.

 

[JAJT]

Looks very similar to my quick DIY setup (which cost basically the exact same amount!)

I was taking amazing shots with my similar setup in just seconds after setting it up. It makes anyone look like a pro!

 

[JasonR]

Nice, let's see some product shots!

 

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[GPM]

That is great Vig! I am currently messing around with some things to make a home studio set-up, this will make it so much easier! I am in the process of moving my girlfriend in and I live in a small 1000sq-ft place that was built in the 50's (ie, no storage space) so this should fit my needs perfectly.

 

[DavidofMN]

Here's one product shot:
My color is a little off. No post picture editing has been done

 

[JAJT]

David - what are you shooting on?

I was getting similar shots until I changed the white balance on my camera to "indoor" or "incandescent" or whatever the settings was.

 

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[Vigilante]

Jason... I will post a few as we take them over the next several days.

 

[Vigilante]

Has anyone screwed around with shooting in the HDR mode on the iPhone 5?

 

[JAJT]

Jason... I will post a few as we take them over the next several days.

Too many Davids, I was talking about the photo that DavidofMN posted

Anxious to see your shots as well though. I'll post some of the shots I took on this kind of setup tomorrow as well.

 

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[1PercentStreet]

Have you thought about creating a product out of this? (Re-branded or white-label)
Selling for $49.95 with a guide on how to alter your camera settings to take better photos.

 

[JasonR]

Vig/Dave - I've used the HDR mode on the iPhone 5, but not for product shots. If you have GOOD lighting, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to take good photos with the iPHone as long as you have a tripod (or stand of some sort).

If you want to take a couple, and shoot them over to me, I'll see if I can work some PS magic to limit your post process time.

DavidofMN: What's your end/web-ready photo look like?

Edit: $10 per shot isn't bad, especially if there is some sort of post processing work done. If you don't have a lot of products to shoot, dropping the coin on a high dollar set up doesn't make much sense.

 

[Vigilante]

Not my bag 1% street. Not enough margin. It looks like a fair amount of these kits are being sold online. The $30 pricepoint for this kit is a great value.

 

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[SeanKelly]

Have you thought about creating a product out of this?
Selling for $49.95 with a guide on how to alter your camera settings to take better photos.

That's a HORRIBLE idea!

 

[Amail]

I have the same kit, but I also bought three clip on lights and some daylight bulbs. The lights you have there I found to be a bit anemic.

Definitely worth the money.

 

[Vigilante]

Andy... link to the clip on lights?

 

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[Amail]

Bayco 150-Watt Incandescent Clamp Light-CE-300PDQ at The Home Depot

Feit Electric 42-Watt (200W) Daylight Twist CFL Light Bulb-ESL40TN/D at The Home Depot

 

[nitrousflame]

Here's one product shot: [pic removed]
My color is a little off. No post picture editing has been done

Not bad, but the backdrop is super annoying IMO. All those lines are very distracting from the actual product. Are you heavily cropping these?

Also, I'd suggest moving the product/subject as far from the backdrop as possible in attempt to get the backdrop out of focus, which will help blur the lines and imperfections in the backdrop.

Actually, if you just grabbed a cheap white poster board from office max and bent it against the wall, you'd have a pretty sweet backdrop with zero creases. Then all you'd need to do is get some sort of shoot-through diffusers for your lights and you could position them right out of the frame.

Like this:

Wax paper works pretty well for a cheap shoot-through diffuser in a pinch. Even plain old white printer paper would do the trick.

 

[Vigilante]

And that folks is why Nitrous makes the big bucks. Good pointers. I was looking online for a "tips for working with a cheap photo box" but the pointers are lacking, because pros probably don't want to help out the little guys.

 

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[JAJT]

Wax paper works pretty well for a cheap shoot-through diffuser in a pinch.

Great, great tip. Trying this as soon as I can.

 

[GPM]

Gotta love Canada - that Bayco clip on lamp costs $8.47 at the .com store, $15.88 at the .ca store.

I have to head to the Post Office to ship out about 8 packages tonight, I am going to be stopping at some hardware stores as well to build a nice little photo set-up. I will post some pictures of the finished product.

Ps. you guys are great!

 

[DavidofMN]

Not bad, but the backdrop is super annoying IMO. All those lines are very distracting from the actual product. Are you heavily cropping these?

Also, I'd suggest moving the product/subject as far from the backdrop as possible in attempt to get the backdrop out of focus, which will help blur the lines and imperfections in the backdrop.

Actually, if you just grabbed a cheap white poster board from office max and bent it against the wall, you'd have a pretty sweet backdrop with zero creases. Then all you'd need to do is get some sort of shoot-through diffusers for your lights and you could position them right out of the frame.

Like this:

Wax paper works pretty well for a cheap shoot-through diffuser in a pinch. Even plain old white printer paper would do the trick.

Yes have to crop them. Will move product up. Have some super white paper will try that. Thanks!

 

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[Jamillah]

Also, if you want to spend about 10 bucks, you can buy some reflective acrylic. It gives you a clean mirrored look that really makes photos look professional. It comes in black or white, both give an amazing effect. It's really easy to keep clean and it doesn't crease, so you don't have to do a lot of editing.

This is a photo I took on the black, with very little editing done after.

 

[JAJT]

Also, if you want to spend about 10 bucks, you can buy some reflective acrylic.

Love that - do normal hardware stores carry this stuff or did you have to source it online?

 

[Jamillah]

I couldn't find it at any hardware stores, but here is a link to on place that sells it online:
MK Digital Direct 9.5x11" Reflective Acrylic Background

There are other places that sell larger sizes.

 

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[Amail]

Also, if you want to spend about 10 bucks, you can buy some reflective acrylic. It gives you a clean mirrored look that really makes photos look professional. It comes in black or white, both give an amazing effect. It's really easy to keep clean and it doesn't crease, so you don't have to do a lot of editing.

This is a photo I took on the black, with very little editing done after.

That's frickin' nice! I can see totally geeking out on product photography equipment and techniques.

Must....resist....

 

[Vigilante]

also, if you want to spend about 10 bucks, you can buy some reflective acrylic. It gives you a clean mirrored look that really makes photos look professional. It comes in black or white, both give an amazing effect. It's really easy to keep clean and it doesn't crease, so you don't have to do a lot of editing.

This is a photo i took on the black, with very little editing done after.
View attachment 4749

nice shot

 

[Jamillah]

I can see totally geeking out on product photography equipment and techniques.

Must....resist....

I know the feeling!

 

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[JasonR]

Yeah it can get real expensive real fast. But in reality, you don't need a lot of expensive gear to shoot pretty good photos.

I've never had good experiences with the real cheap lighting, so I'll definitely be paying attention to this thread.

 

[Vigilante]

Julius Studio Black White Acrylic Display Table for Photography Tent Box LSA6BW | eBay