How to Create Professional Product Shots with a Light Tent and Digital Editing!
October 1st, 2006
It’s finally here! I promised dozens of people many moons ago that I would show exactly how I do my product photography for my reviews and write-ups on Predatorstuff.com. For those of you that’s don’t know, I am an avid collector of models and prop replicas from the Alien and Predator movies and maintain the largest Predator collectibles resource site on the net. Predatorstuff.com is a huge collection reference guide where I try to document every kit and toy in circulation related to Predator, and I write reviews for new releases and custom pieces made in the community. Many folks love my work and feel that my photography is noteworthy enough that it’s been used for package art and magazine stock photos several times in recent history. Some assume I have thousands of dollars worth of gear, when in fact my lighting setup cost less than $100!
With that said, I present you my product photography tutorials, featuring my special guest, the alien chestburster! Why did I choose this gruesome thing for this tutorial? It was the first thing my hand touched when I opened the case actually, plus I like it. It also has a lot of gloss, so it’s perfect to show the non-trained eye what I will try to convey in this lesson. This tutorial will have 2 parts:
Part 1 - Product Shot Photography - Why you should use a light tent and what the difference is between using a light tent versus no tent or using Flash.
Part 2 - Using simple digital tricks to enhance your photos for that extra boost! I will be using Corel Photopaint for this step, but you can also use Photoshop quite easily.
The final result will be a stunning product shot like this:
All set? Let’s start with Part 1 - Product Shot Photography.
Dan I don’t have time to read through an 11 page tutorial atm, but from briefly browsing through looks brilliant all except that disgusting thing lol
Pleased to read no aliens, chestbursters, or humans were injured during the making of this tutorial.
Hope Corina got her room back.
Wow! I’ve always wanted to know how you did that “dreamy” effect!
Thanks for a great tutorial! =)
Cheers mate. This will come in very handy.
[...] read more | digg story [...]
[...] One of the things I get asked on here the most is what are my tricks and secrets for the professional quality photos I take for my product reviews. Well look no further! I spent almost 8 hours writing out all my tricks and tips along with photos of how I set up all my gear, what I use and how I edit the photos digitally. You can read my entire tutorial on my personal blog in my new tutorials called “How to Create Professional Product Shots with a Light Tent and Digital Editing!“. Enjoy! [...]
Awesome tutorial! Thaks for publishing it on the web for all of us!
Cheers,
Scott
Thanks Dan for all the time and effort you put in to help us fellow predator fans. Your site has been an unbelievable source of info and your photo guide is no different. More power man.
regards,
dan
I found rather than shelling out for a light tent, my £2.75 Ikea clothes bag works just aswell http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/05345_PE079848_S4.jpg
Using the same set up as you (with the two lights either side) I got some decent results.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38345567/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38345357/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38345425/
Nice tut Dan
Cool idea Mooey, thanks for sharing
That would definitely work well and your pics look great 
Dan