This how-to builds on my previous article An Introduction to Tabletop Photography, because most macro photography is also tabletop photography; so you will have to forgive me if I repeat some of the things I already mentioned in that Introduction. Macro photography can be the most challenging photography you will ever do, and it takes years to master but it’s also very rewarding financially. Every company that puts together a catalog, online or in print form, needs a macro photographer to produce the photos of their products.
I’m not going to get into how to market your services as a freelance commercial macro photographer, because that’s outside the scope of this article– but I do want to mention how much money you can make doing commercial macro photography as an incentive. To illustrate this point I have included here the pricing guide that I use for commercial product photography.
My Product Photography Guidelines
Number of Photos Price per Photo
1 $70
2 to 4 $40
5 to 9 $35
10 to 19 $30
20 to 49 $25
50 to 99 $22
100 or more Call for quote
These rates may seem high to you, but once you discover how difficult it is to produce great product photos, you will no longer think so. Feel free to use my price schedule. These are the going rates charged by established commercial product photographers, but if you are just starting out in commercial product photography you may want to consider dropping these rates by 25 or 30 percent until you build a product photo portfolio and a reputation for producing quality work.
The equipment needed for commercial product photography isn’t cheap but the photographer doesn’t have to acquire everything at once. Like the tools of any trade, they can be purchased as needed; but there are a few things that you need to have before you can even think about soliciting your first client. Let’s spend a moment or two looking at what those essential items are.
The first thing that you need is a digital SLR with a minimum resolution of 10 Megapixels–but almost all modern DSLR meet that requirement today.
The second thing is the lens; you need a high-quality 100mm lens. You can use a zoom lens set to a 100mm focal length, but a 100mm focal length prime macro lens is best. Macro lenses aren’t cheap; for example, a 100mm Tokina macro lens for Canon or Nikon can cost $380 or more on the street. A prime lens, for those of you who may not be familiar with the terminology, is nothing more than a fixed focal length lens as opposed to a zoom lens.
The third thing that you will need is a good set of studio lights. Strobes are great but continuous lighting is easier for the novice to set up and adjust and are fine for product photography because, as a rule, the heat they produce isn’t any real concern. The heat they produce can become uncomfortable in a very short time for human models but watches; cutlery, dishes, miniature cars, etc., won’t mind the heat at all. A Photogenic 3-Light Economy Lighting Kit can be had for about a $430 street price.
The fourth thing that you will need is a professional tabletop studio; the MyStudio® MS32 Professional Tabletop Photo Studio Kit is a good one to start with. This 32”X32”X16” will handle just about any tabletop shooting situation that you are likely to encounter. This kit even comes with tabletop lighting designed specifically with the studio. You will still need the lighting kit that I mentioned above because many of the products you will be shooting will be too large–products like bicycles, scooters, play sets, cars, etc.–for a tabletop studio. The MS32 has a street price of $450 but with a little shopping around online they can be had for $400 or a little less.
The last major investment that you will have to make to get started is a professional tripod. Those tripods that you see in the big box stores for $25 or so won’t cut the mustard here. You need a professional tripod that’s as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, so expect to pay $200 to $300 on your tripod if you don’t already have such a tripod in your kit.
To get started in freelance product photography, assuming you already have a DSLR with a minimum resolution of 10 Megapixels, will cost you about $1560. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you can make that back by shooting the illustrations for one small catalog. As I researched this article I glanced through a flyer that I received in the mail from a home center that I do business with, and there were 75 product pictures in that 8-page sales brochure. Do the math: if I had done those product shots I would have made $1650, $90 more than what it will cost you get started in this lucrative field of photography. The nice thing about product photography, unlike wedding photography and most other forms of photography, is that you can take the photo repeatedly until you are satisfied with the results.
Great product photography begins with the preparations. Practice makes perfect and I suggest that you practice with a small object like a watch or ring. Here’s your first practice assignment.
1. Place the watch or ring in the seamless cyclorama of the MS32 studio
2. Set up the two 5000ºK fluorescent lamps that came with the kit at an angle to the seamless cyclorama. The essential thing to remember when setting up lights is that all the lights you use should be equal color, temperature, and wattage. This is important to ensure balanced lighting.
3. Using the two overhead light reflectors and the two bounce cards, flood the watch or ring with even light. Adjust the position and angle of the lights and/or manipulate the reflectors and bounce cards until the watch or rings produce no shadows
4. Once you have achieved shadowless illumination you are ready to shoot the product photos.
5. Set the camera’s White Balance control to the color temperature of the lamps being used, in this case 5000ºK. You can use your camera’s preset for fluorescent lighting but using the “custom option" on the White Balance menu and dialing in 5000ºK would be a better option, if available.
6. Use a cable release if your camera accepts one, or use the camera’s built-in timer to trip the shutter. Macro lenses are known to detect and record the slightest camera movement, especially since you will be shooting using a low ISO which means slower shutter speeds and longer exposures.
7. For the highest quality photos, you want to set the camera’s ISO for 100–or even slower, if your camera allows it.
8. Set your camera to “Aperture Priority” mode so you can control the lens depth of field while the camera selects the exposure time.
Backdrops, etc. For an actual product shoot, the client will usually tell you how they want their products displayed. In the beginning, you can purchase these materials, as you need them. I spend a lot of time rummaging through the remnant bins at the fabric shops while my wife is spending my money in some other department. You’d be surprised at what treasures await you there. To get an idea about what I’m talking about here all you have to look through the catalogs that come in the mail. Study the way the various products are displayed. Look at the type of material under them and behind them, its color and texture, etc. Studying these catalogs is the best textbook you will ever have for mastering product photography. Backgrounds and props are important because they turn an otherwise dull, boring photo into a dynamic, attention-arresting picture that’s worth 1000 words.
Create a few more practice assignments of your own using small items like ballpoint pens, miniature cars, plastic model cars, wine bottles, etc. When you feel comfortable using the elements of your tabletop studio to produce quality results, you are ready to start looking for your first client.
Practice using PhotoShop CS4, PhotoShop Elements 7, or whatever photo editing program that you are running to remove smudges, dust spots, etc., from your photos, because product photos have to be spotless.
In closing, I want to say a word or two about your first client. Don’t be afraid of giving your first customer a real price break or even offer to do a limited number of photos free–because one satisfied customer will be the best advertising that you can have. Do the shoot free if the client agrees to give you a letter of recommendation and agrees to let you use the photos that you shoot for him or her in your promotional materials.
