Making background image white
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I will start off by saying I dont have a clue about photography but this is what I am trying to achieve;
I need to take around 15-20 pics of my products to be uploaded on to my website, basically the style you would expect with a pure white background and just the product it self in the photo. What is the best way of doing this? I presume taking them to a professional with a studio or is there now an alternative, its been a long time since I was on Photoshop so wan't sure if it could now be done on there or whether that is more of a hassle?
Thanks in advance.
I will start off by saying I dont have a clue about photography but this is what I am trying to achieve;
I need to take around 15-20 pics of my products to be uploaded on to my website, basically the style you would expect with a pure white background and just the product it self in the photo. What is the best way of doing this? I presume taking them to a professional with a studio or is there now an alternative, its been a long time since I was on Photoshop so wan't sure if it could now be done on there or whether that is more of a hassle?
Thanks in advance.
I tried doing something similar, the key seems to be lighting the product properly. I'm sure there was a thread on here recently where someone talked about problems doing product shots (ETA - here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... ). Proper white backdrop paper is quite expensive, but that's partly down to proper backdrops being quite wide - if they're relatively small products a decent art shop could probably do some A0 white paper to keep the costs down.
My efforts weren't that successful, by the way, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.
My efforts weren't that successful, by the way, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.
white backdrop and lots of lighting (needs to be lit all-round) is the only way to do it in camera. If it is a simple shape, you could photograph it against a contrast background and the cut it out in Photoshop and add a shadow. This will take time, so if you have to do a lot of products it ill be a pain.
If the items are small, something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282146775096?clk_rvr_id=... might work. But you'll have to experiment.
If the items are small, something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282146775096?clk_rvr_id=... might work. But you'll have to experiment.
If you have a camera where you can't control the settings I wouldn't even bother try as it will most likely expose for the background.
You would light the background to the point where it is just about to overexpose (or past it) so it goes pure white.
You could also spend time cutting them out in photoshop, but it's far quicker for someone to quickly setup the correct lighting.
You would light the background to the point where it is just about to overexpose (or past it) so it goes pure white.
You could also spend time cutting them out in photoshop, but it's far quicker for someone to quickly setup the correct lighting.
EN2016 said:
Looks like there is no easy way so I will contact some photographers and get booked in ASAP.
I think you're right; going from zero to professional studio photography is a lot of steps all in one go and you'll need to invest in equipment. I'm in Essex but if the products are 'courierable' I'd be happy to quote for this; PM me if interested.The problem with over-lighting the background is that it's going to interfere with the lighting on the product. There are three ways round this - physically separate the object from the background, light through the background (glass or perspex), or get the product lighting right and sort it out later in Photoshop.
This final option is likely to be the route a professional will take. It also means you can shoot on something other than white, which allows better control of tones in a light-coloured subject. As an example:
Which becomes:
This final option is likely to be the route a professional will take. It also means you can shoot on something other than white, which allows better control of tones in a light-coloured subject. As an example:
Which becomes:
You can clearly tell it wasn't on a white background though. The pure white would be lighting the back more than it is, product isn't white enough. It's most obvious on a white product though. The white square for the cap is a clever little solution.
Ideal solution is to separate the subject and background by a few feet, so the drop off isn't backlighting the product too much, but you can still keep the background pure white. Needs a big studio though, something I haven't had access to since uni.
For bulk things whatever has the least processing will be the chosen method, purely as it will be cheapest, cutting out objects is not a good use of time usually.
Also I hope your products aren't reflective! That adds even more fun and games.
Ideal solution is to separate the subject and background by a few feet, so the drop off isn't backlighting the product too much, but you can still keep the background pure white. Needs a big studio though, something I haven't had access to since uni.
For bulk things whatever has the least processing will be the chosen method, purely as it will be cheapest, cutting out objects is not a good use of time usually.
Also I hope your products aren't reflective! That adds even more fun and games.
Edited by Digitalize on Tuesday 11th October 19:51
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