Kerry walks through a typical product shot

[Trueshizz]

How come you phone you pictured had buttons on the left and right of the screen but the image you showed us only had buttons on the right of the screen?

[kerrycgarrison]

@Trueshizz There were multiple phones part of that product shoot. I never noticed that I used different final images.

[mushroomworks]

Great tutorial thank you very much!!

[amamuffin]

could i buy these bulbs separately and make my own lamp on stand? what kind of bulbs are these exactly?

thanks so much

[kerrycgarrison]

@amamuffin You can buy daylight balanced fluorescent bulbs almost anywhere, including Home Depot, Amazon, etc.

[amamuffin]

@amamuffin awesome! appreciate your reply!

[etsrlondon]

Hi

wondering what ISO you use on the camera? I've read somewhere to set it to 400 iso. Also what is the thing you put in the shot to check white balance, some kind of colour card? can you tell me the name / make?

many thanks

E

[CameraDojo]

@etsrlondon I usually shoot products at ISO 200. The white balance card is a WhiBal card.

[dreidesq]

I'm sure it's really obvious to everyone else but was there a reason why you wern't using a remote shutter with mirror lockup so you could time the shot of the display on the phone?

[kerrycgarrison]

@dreidesq Normally I do use a remote shutter, I was using the timer function because most people don't own a remote shutter and I wanted anyone to be able to replicate the results.

[dreidesq]

@kerrycgarrison Genius.

[keithdonegan]

Hi Kerry, what lighting kit are you using and what wattage?

[kerrycgarrison]

@keithdonegan Westcott Spiderlite TD5's with their High Wattage bulbs, about the equivalent of 900w of light.

[keithdonegan]

@kerrycgarrison Thanks for the reply, great shots!

[keithdonegan]

@kerrycgarrison Thanks for the reply. I read somewhere that more wattage does = more brightness, is this true? And also I have my eye on a 400w kit from elinchrom, would this produce a picture with a great white background like yours? Thanks again for your time.

[kerrycgarrison]

@keithdonegan generally speaking yes. For a white background its not about the amount of light, its about the difference between the subject and the background. If you have a white background that is 1.5-2 stops brighter than the subject then it will turn out right.

[keithdonegan]

@kerrycgarrison Perfect, off to buy a kit today, have a great day.

[andrus9000]

Thanks very much Kerry, very useful!

I wonder what is the power of the lights you use. :)

[kerrycgarrison]

@andrus9000 Those are Westcott SpiderLite TD5's with high wattage bulbs, so about 900w of light.

[andrus9000]

@kerrycgarrison Wow, a lot of power... just a little question: according to your experience what is the minimum power to get an acceptable white background? Would you work with less power and decrease the shutter speed? Thanks again!

[kerrycgarrison]

@andrus9000 There isn't a minimum power needed, the key is to make sure the background is 1.5 - 2 stops brighter than the subject. I test this with a light meter.

[chuda99]

Hi Kerry, I know you said this is your usual setup but, do you ever use any other setup (for product shots) like say, three lights? or any oher?

Thanks for the tutorial.

[AlvinLuo87]

Hi Kerry, thanks for the great tutorial. I just wondering what type of white balance you using?

I am using softbox cube and I set my white balance pre-defined with 2 daylight bulbs on.

However, I am having difficulties of having a really white background. It always turns to be gray and need further post processing.

[kerrycgarrison]

Usually the background going gray is because there isn't enough light on it. Try to make sure the background is 2 stops brighter than the product.

[AlvinLuo87]

Hi Kerry, thanks for your reply. I have placed 1 light slightly behind the product, to light up the background with f5.6 1/30. The other light was placed 45 degree facing the product. The product reading was f4 1/30 and when I tried to shoot, the product completely washed out with white.

Is it good to use cubebox for product photography? I have only 2 55w daylight bulbs.

[AlvinLuo87]

When I tried putting 2 lights the same position facing 45 degree on the product, the reading different is still 1 stop but background was f4, product f5.6. The color still washed out.

[kerrycgarrison]

Make sure you have enough distance between the product and the background so that you arent getting spill on the product from the background.

[rudyaharris]

Kerry, I like how detailed you were with this video. However, why dont you invest in a cheap shutter release rather then relying on your timing skills? I do use the shutter to avoid shake when shooting scenic stuff or just anything not needing to be timed...but there are many cheap shutter releases that you wont have to worry about timing. Just a thought.

[kerrycgarrison]

The batteries in my shutter release where dead when I went to shoot the video. Normally I do use a wireless shutter release.

[LIMYITHAI]

Kerry are you lecture??

[redboypodcast]

Kerry thanks for the video. This is the first time I've seen a real use for live view and I have a shoot coming up that I will be trying out your tips.

[kmondora]

Excellent video. Thanks for the "lamen's Terms