Friday, March 19, 2010

Simple Photo Shoot Setup


I listed some Vintage Lavender Eye Pillows on my website this week and thought would I share just how easy it is to make a decent little area for a simple photo shoot. Mind you, there are many, many more blogs with professional looking photos and tutorials, but this one will show just how quick and easy it is to get you started.

First I gathered my product (the eye pillow) and the props (the ironstone dish, lavender buds, and a vintage powder box with the word Lavender on it).



Next, I pulled a rickety, old, $1 table over to the open door (an open door or window are my favorite places to take product photos). I just purchased it last week ~ for a dollar I couldn't pass it up; if nothing else works, I can always use the spindles for something. I stood an old shutter up against the door. The sun had already gone over the house, so I was still getting natural daylight, but not bright, direct light. Looks a bit rough, huh? Excuse the items underneath ~ those are things from my Junk Sale that are ready to be boxed.


Then I draped a quilt over the shutter and on the table. The print was too busy for my items, so I scrounged around in a box and found an old cotton slip to use as the backdrop. I stuck a couple of straight pins at the top to keep it from slipping down. Get it? Slipping ~ LOL! Sorry, I'm a bit tired and that's all I could come up with...


After I got the items arranged, I took a few shots using the closeup feature (not macro, just closeup) and no flash, and I think I got some pretty decent photos with very little effort or trouble.
I hope that helps a little, and if you have any tips, feel free to share them in the comments.


Thanks so much for dropping by and don't forget to leave a comment.
I'd love to hear from you!

Take Care and God Bless,
Lana
~*~

9 comments:

  1. Thank you for that great information. I need to really work on my set up. I can alway get a picture of what I want but they are not staged nice and there is always a bunch of junk in the background. I need to think and remember this post when I get ready to take more pictures.

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  2. Great tips there! I do much the same thing - draping fabric over a table or chair and using diffused, natural light. I have one more tip for reducing shadows! Take a piece of white foam core (or white cardboard - whatever you have handy) and put it vertically on the shadow side. This will bounce back natural light and reduce the depth of your shadows!

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  3. Lana, you take the best photos... thanks for sharing "behind the scenes" to see how you set it all up!

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  4. P.S. I love the aprons on the line photo in your banner!

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  5. Thanks for the ideas for photos! I love tips!

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  6. Thanks for sharing these tips, and congratulations on three years!! That's amazing and a lot of blogging. I am not far behind you (started in May of 2008).

    Blessings,
    Christi

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  7. thanks ~ I'm fighting with photos just now trying to get some good shots of my necklaces and it's good to see how you have set your things up.

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  8. Thank you for these tips! Very helpful!

    Tammy

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