After reading this tutorial, you can be a professional photographer too. Lindsay Landis over at Switchboards teaches on using non-professional items to generate the professional looking photos. She teaches how to create a small photo tent using frosted plastic Rubbermaid container, white interfacing, daylight light bulbs andwhite color matte poster board. Then she gives some tips on configurating your digitial camera’s settings, including shutter speed, aperture, ISO/ASA (film speed), white balance and so on. Finally she also describes some photo editing skills in Photoshop. Best of all, the edited photos are stunning:
When taking your own photos, you want lots of light – but not direct light. Direct light will cause harsh shadows, which you don’t want. DO NOT USE A FLASH! Flashes wash out colors and details – and even the entire photo if you are taking close up shots. Professional looking product photos have soft shadows and a subtle background. To achieve this effect, you want soft, diffused light. You could buy a fancy “photo tent” or “light box” to diffuse the light for you… but who wants to spend that much money? What I use is a semi clear, frosted plastic Rubbermaid container. Choose a size that fits what you are photographing. Obviously, this container method will only work for items that will fit inside the container…
Taking Professional Looking Photos Without a Professional – [Lindsay Landis]
