How do you take your product pictures?

[sinryder]

thankyou guys for all your replies. I have tried your suggestions and pictures are comming out alot better :) but the background is still not really white. Most of the pictures that i see online have very clear and neat white background Just like this box where i am typing this msg.

 

another thing can you set the white background thing on "canon powershot s400"

[mpiscopo]

According to the specs, you can. I found this on the web:

"A White Balance option offers Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and Custom (manual) settings."

 

You want to use the custom setting. You'll need to read the manual to find out what buttons/switches to operate. Typically you'll press a setting, then snap a picture of your background, then leave the camera set to the Custom setting. Like the person said earlier, be sure to re-set it if the light changes. I take mine in the basement under a tungsten light with all other lights turned off. You can use any bright light, as long as you use the custom setting for white balance.

[mpiscopo]

You can find a link to the manual HERE. Click on Product / Software Manuals, then dowload the user manual. Go to the page labeled as 74 (shows as page 76 of the entire document) and follow the instructions.

[walkman]

To the prior question -- Photoshop is considered the professional's choice for digital editing (not necessarily the best 'painting' program). Lately, all the reviews I've seen have selected Photoshop Elements as the best lower priced product. PE has probably 90-95% of the capability of Photoshop.

 

Does your camera have the capability to shoot RAW format? If so, Photoshop (& PE) has a RAW import capability that gives a lot of control over lighting.

 

The book "the Photoshop CS book for digital photographers" includes an 18% gray card that you can use to correct the color balance. You can also get the card at a camera store. You put the card in your picture frame and take a shot to get the correct color using the eyedropper fix mentioned above.

 

A couple of other tips - be sure to use a tripod! Manual focus is much preferred. If you don't have a remote, use the camera self-timer to snap the picture. That way you don't shake the camera when you press the button.