Taking Stock photos for a new website being launched ... need gear for a t2i

[BrRsn]

Hey guys,

I'm pretty excited about an opportunity that has recently come up. I've been asked to help a friend take stock photos for a new website that's being launched.

I need to take photos like these:

http://www.revolveclothing.com/Brand...=Mens+Clothing

We're doing it pretty low budget (hence me being the photographer lol) so I need some help. All I have is a Canon T2i kit and a canon 50mm 1.8 .. but they're willing to buy a new lens just for this project. What lens should we buy (I was thinking a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8? Used of course.) We will be taking all the photos in a homemade studio in a basement (so not a huge space, hence my 50mm may be a little too zoomed in ).

Also for lighting, I'm a total lighting noob. I bought a camera for taking night shots of scenery and stuff of that sort ... I have no idea how to light a person (besides the basics). My cousin whose a huge camera guy came down in the summer and taught me a few things, so I know a few of the basics. I was thinking of buying these (They say they are continuous, so I'm guessing I will not need a wireless trigger for them?):

http://www.amazon.com/PHOTOGRAPHY-CONTINUOUS-LIGHTING-Day-Light-UMBRELLAS/dp/B001HDEECO/ref=pd_cp_p_1
or should I look into something else?

Also, should I even consider buying an external mounted flash for my camera, or is that completely unnecessary with the umbrella lights?


Thanks in advance guys. And this stuff does not need to be mobile. We're gonna set it up in a basement and just leave it there.

Hopefully I haven't dug myself too deep with this lol.

EDIT: 1 last thing. I have a PC I'd like to setup at this "studio" to display the images straight off my camera/save directly to the computer. Is this possible? I know my camera has a HDMI function whereby I can setup a bigscreen as the view finder, but I want to be able to see the shots I just took on the big screen.

Sorry for the scatter brained thread .. this is how confused I feel right now lol.

[Hehe]

For model shots, I would suggest some good lighting. For the example you linked, I don't see them being particular difficult (granted I looked at them for 2 sec before I closed the tab)

However, the CFL lights on amazon doesn't have enough output IMO. Look for "daylight" (color temp around 5~5.5K) CFL with 65+ wattage if you are on budget. You could even DIY your softbox. Look it up on google, there are countless guides.

As for lens selection, I'd pick a good macro lens and leave the 50mm F1.8 at home. If you are taking product shots, with macro, try long shutter+low iso+small aperture for product shots with good detail. I'd even put mirror lock-up for the best result.

As for viewing on the fly, http://www.breezesys.com/DSLRRemotePro/features.htm

[ilvtofu]

Maybe take a look at the sigma 30mm stopped down to a 2.8 is a pretty sharp lens. soft edges wide open

[BrRsn]

Thanks for the fast responses guys!!

Originally Posted by Hehe

For model shots, I would suggest some good lighting. For the example you linked, I don't see them being particular difficult (granted I looked at them for 2 sec before I closed the tab)

However, the CFL lights on amazon doesn't have enough output IMO. Look for "daylight" (color temp around 5~5.5K) CFL with 65+ wattage if you are on budget. You could even DIY your softbox. Look it up on google, there are countless guides.

As for lens selection, I'd pick a good macro lens and leave the 50mm F1.8 at home. If you are taking product shots, with macro, try long shutter+low iso+small aperture for product shots with good detail. I'd even put mirror lock-up for the best result.

As for viewing on the fly, http://www.breezesys.com/DSLRRemotePro/features.htm

Thank you! What is a good macro lens you can recommend? I have about $500 +/- a bit to play with. I can buy new or used.

Also, if I buy a simple continuous lighting kit, can't I just order 65watt 5500K bulbs and just screw those in? And when you say 65watt CFL, is that 65 "equivalent" watts or it actually uses 65 watts? (ie. a cfl equivalent to a 100 watt regular bulb only uses 20 watts)

Originally Posted by ilvtofu

Maybe take a look at the sigma 30mm stopped down to a 2.8 is a pretty sharp lens. soft edges wide open

Thank you! Will look into it.

What do you guys recommend as a backdrop? I was thinking of just going to a fabric shop and picking up a thick solid colored fabric (no idea what yet).

[BrRsn]

Hey guys, sorry for double post, but what do you think about the following:

1 vivitar 285 + one softbox and mount for the vivitar 285 + wireless sender unit = $150
+ 2 umbrella continuous lighting kit $100
Total = $250
What do you guys think? Would this be sufficient? If I'm already spending $250 for one flash + 2 continuous lights to light the background etc. Should I just go for a full strobe set up? I'm just a bit afraid of strobes (never used them).

Also cost of ongoing use is a big thing. I don't know if I can deal with replacing strobe bulbs/flash bulbs.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by dhillon09

Thanks for the fast responses guys!!



Thank you! What is a good macro lens you can recommend? I have about $500 +/- a bit to play with. I can buy new or used.

Also, if I buy a simple continuous lighting kit, can't I just order 65watt 5500K bulbs and just screw those in? And when you say 65watt CFL, is that 65 "equivalent" watts or it actually uses 65 watts? (ie. a cfl equivalent to a 100 watt regular bulb only uses 20 watts)

I'm not really into Canon's equipments. Maybe someone with Canon can help him on this?

If you have room to work with, Tamron 90mm Macro is an excellent performer for its price. A few Sigma are nice too and come in various length

By 65watts I mean actual 65w bulbs and you can't just plug them in on your lighting kit. Some of them are not designed to push that amount of wattage continuously, you might want to be careful with that.

[BrRsn]

Originally Posted by Hehe

I'm not really into Canon's equipments. Maybe someone with Canon can help him on this?

If you have room to work with, Tamron 90mm Macro is an excellent performer for its price. A few Sigma are nice too and come in various length

By 65watts I mean actual 65w bulbs and you can't just plug them in on your lighting kit. Some of them are not designed to push that amount of wattage continuously, you might want to be careful with that.

Thanks again,

What do you think about the Vivitar 285 + diffuser box/umbrella + remote sender unit?

I read the vivitar 285 is pretty powerful. All the shots are going to be taken with basically the same models, so I don't mind spending time fine tuning settings for each model. What do you think about that? I'm thinking of doing 2 vivitar 285's and a remote sender (Just need help picking out a good remote sender for cheap). I did some reading and it looks like strobes are my best bet, and doing it with a cheap vivitar actually produces some good results (from what I've seen/read on the strobist blog). Recycle time is not a big issue for me, and I read that a single charge can give ~150 bursts, which is more than enough for my needs. What do you think?

[ddr]

i think u should go either all continuous or all strobe to avoid any white balance issues .... or make sure they're all relatively the same to begin with.

[davidhtam]

i would scrap the continuous lighting and just get strobes.

If you're on a budget, you can get some old vivitars for relatively cheap. You just have to search around.

I have:

2x vivitar 283
1x canon 420
1x canon 580

all with stands and umbrellas. I really want to upgrade to some alien bees though. I'm probably going to sell the 2 vivitars and put the money towards either a couple alienbees or maybe get another 580ex. Lemme know if you're interested in the vivi's!

[BrRsn]

Originally Posted by davidhtam

i would scrap the continuous lighting and just get strobes.

If you're on a budget, you can get some old vivitars for relatively cheap. You just have to search around.

I have:

2x vivitar 283
1x canon 420
1x canon 580

all with stands and umbrellas. I really want to upgrade to some alien bees though. I'm probably going to sell the 2 vivitars and put the money towards either a couple alienbees or maybe get another 580ex. Lemme know if you're interested in the vivi's!

Actually I just read a lot of blogs and they're mentioned quite a bit, so I think we will almost 100% be going with vivitars.

Care to share your experience with them?

I'm thinking of getting 2x vivitar 285 (apparently more powerful than the 283?) off yahoo.com for $90 each and shipping to pt roberts. I'm thinking of pairing it with a shoot through type of umbrella (rather than a reflector umbrella) or softbox. What are you using to remotely control your two 283's?

If you've got time and don't mind, care to share a few pics taken with your vivitars as the light source?

[BrRsn]

Originally Posted by ddr

i think u should go either all continuous or all strobe to avoid any white balance issues .... or make sure they're all relatively the same to begin with.

Thanks. The continuous is probably going to be if we ever have to do vlogs (not very often) but there may be a few so I think we might just invest in that, but I'll hold off and set up my poor man's strobes first.

[Mananetwork]

I'd say a 50mm 1.8 would be perfect for a shoot like this, a little long on a crop body unless you have the room.

I hope there's enough room in that basement because it's hard to work with lights in a small room. If you've got no separation between the wall, the model and the lights you'll get lots of shadows falling onto the background or lens flares in your camera.

Do some tests first!

[BrRsn]

Originally Posted by Mananetwork

I'd say a 50mm 1.8 would be perfect for a shoot like this, a little long on a crop body unless you have the room.

I hope there's enough room in that basement because it's hard to work with lights in a small room. If you've got no separation between the wall, the model and the lights you'll get lots of shadows falling onto the background or lens flares in your camera.

Do some tests first!

Definitely. If we can hold off on buying a lens will be even better. Thanks mana! I think I've finally decided on a cactus v2 and two vivitar 285's We've got a month to finalize everything so I'll continue reading and ask you guys if I get stuck again.