Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Photographing Objects

Most people usually photograph people and places. Every now and then, however, you’ll need to photograph things: stuff you plan to sell on eBay, illustrations for a report, your personal belongings for insurance purposes, and so on.

The macro (close-up) mode of your digital camera makes it easy to shoot objects. All you need to do is set up and light your shot; the camera does the rest.

Setting Up Your Home Studio

The trick to lighting any object professionally, whether it’s a painting or a teapot, is to position two lights, each at a 45-degree angle to the plane of the subject. Buy a couple of lamps at a hardware store. Sometimes called shop lights, they have clamps and ball joints to lock the lamp at a certain angle.

Tip

Buy lamps that accommodate regular lightbulbs, not the high-powered halogen models that melt everything within 50 yards.

Regular 100-watt “soft light” bulbs work fine. While you’re at the hardware store, look for some white butcher paper or some other paper that will give you a seamless background at least six feet long and four feet wide. (Camera stores also sell paper backdrops for about $30 a roll.)

Now you’re ready to set up your temporary photo studio. Slide a table against the wall, and then hang your butcher paper about three feet above the table. Tape it to the top surface of the table, making sure that it has a gentle curve as it goes from vertical to horizontal. Place the item that you want to photograph in the center of the table, ...