Product shots for a website - how?

[essayer]

I need to take some pictures of embroideries and fabric designs to go on a website.
I have a Nikon D70 with the 18-70 lens and a tripod/remote, but no external flash. I am looking to borrow a flash but don't have it as yet.

What are the PH recommendations for setting up a little area to take decent photos in?

The house has the usual mix of energy-saving and tungsten lightbulbs. I've tried a few with the builtin flash but the colours don't come out right..

The fabrics are quite thin and semi-transparent so I need to construct some sort of area to photograph in, instead of hanging them on a door

Any tips?

[markmullen]

Firstly shoot in raw and take a custom white balance in whatever lighting you're using, then you'll be able to correct for any weird casts.

Maplins amongst others sell photo tents with lamps to shine through the walls to evenly light your product.

[RobDickinson]

Grey card to get correct WB.

Shoot raw.

Use a light tent if you can , or just make one wiht a white sheet.

Use consistent as close to white light as you can

Shoot tripod mounted

[Simpo Two]

Oddly enough I got my first break on this very forum photographing fabrics for somebody's website... and I'm in your county... so if you get stuck let me know. Or come and play in the Bloke Studio.




In fact I used a D70 + 18-70 at the time... are you me, Marty...?

[GetCarter]

Mrs Get is a freelance writer, and amongst other things she writes for 'World of Cross Stitch' mag so each month I get roped into taking photos for her articles. I use a simple light tent (not all the time) and two studio lights to avoid nasty shadows..

Top tip. Make sure the whites are white!

[Mr Snap]

As well as white balance (covered above) evenly distributed lighting is important.

You need to make sure that the 'pool' of light you create is even and larger than the pieces you're shooting. Pro's use (flash) strip lights or standard flash heads fitted with shoot through brollies. More difficult to create a large pool with LE fluorescents because they lack power. Place lights at 45degrees to the artwork. If the pieces are big, be careful that colours reflected from flooring etc don't influence overall colour. If it does, place white sheets on floor. Bish bosh...

[LongQ]

Depending on the design and fabric you may also need to check for moiré effects.

[essayer]

Hmm ok. So it's all about the light generated.

I saw this on maplin but I assume you could replicate at home quite easily:

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=22...

2x35w lamps (would they just be normal incandescent ones or special 'white' ones, i wonder..

Should I use the built in flash or turn it off completely?