3 questions in one! Still-lifes...

[Ecossaise]

Hello everyone!:)

I have decided to try and make some good still-life images and would have liked some advice from people who know how to do this!:o

1. I am tempted to buy a studio 'tent' + studio lights. Is it worth it?

2. Once I have a good still-life photo, how can I make it even better in PSE 4?

I like simple composition like the eggs and egg-cups in the attached file. How do you do something like that? What studio equipment do you need? And then how do you work the image?

3. If I have a good object in an image, but a nasty background, how can I cut out the subject and paste it on a white background so as to have an effect similar to that of the eggcups?

[LeeOtsubo]

You will definitely need a light tent/cube and studio lights for photos like that. I shoot product photos all the time and it's a real trick to get the light just right. You can start out with a large piece of foam core, scored on the back and folded at 90-135 degree angle. Place some bright desk lamps on either side or, better yet, take the whole thing outside on an overcast day. Be sure to shoot RAW or carefully set custom white balance.

As for post-processing, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. I try not to do too much pp because it's hard to hide it in product photos. Good luck.

[TonyW]

I have one of these:

http://www.boothphoto.com/prod_detail.cfm?PRODSELECT=9&PAGESELECT=prod_detail_data.cfm

Although you could make one yourself, I got lazy and bought one and it was worth it although I didn't bother with lights - I either put it by a window or use "daylight" desk lights or a bounced flash or a combination of all of these. One advantage is that it comes with chroma-key backgrounds - use one of those and it's very simple to do a clean extraction of the image from the background in Elements. Only other thing you need is a tripod.

How can you make it better in PSE4? Well a still-life is no different than any other image and anything can be made better in Elements - it comes down to your own creativity, deciding what you want and then figuring out how to do it.

Tony

[Ecossaise]

Many thanks for these tips, I will definitely look into getting a cube or tent. Some people on ebay send whole sets with a cube+lights+backgrounds so I am quite tempted by these.

Regarding this, are some lights better than others? What minimum strength should they be?

[bnrcpr23]

Take a look at: www.doubleexposer.com/publish/DCReview.shtml
Dean Collins is a fine artist with camera lighting.

[Ecossaise]

I have one of these:

http://www.boothphoto.com/prod_detail.cfm?PRODSELECT=9&PAGESELECT=prod_detail_data.cfm

One advantage is that it comes with chroma-key backgrounds - use one of those and it's very simple to do a clean extraction of the image from the background in Elements. Only other thing you need is a tripod.

Tony

Tony, how do you extract the chroma-key background then?
And does any colour of background do, or does it have to be green or blue?

Thanks!

[mommamiax3]

Many thanks for these tips, I will definitely look into getting a cube or tent. Some people on ebay send whole sets with a cube+lights+backgrounds so I am quite tempted by these.

Regarding this, are some lights better than others? What minimum strength should they be?

My hubby just purchased one of these sets on E-Bay, if you find a seller that you feel good about you can usually get some great deals on there. Good luck let us see what you come up with.

Ange