I knew of Karl Taylor but just now subscribed to his education channel and watched all the tutorials listed here. With clients now coming in wanting clean product images with a minimum of fuss, I needed to dial in my skills and setup quickly. I have learned more in a few hours then in several years of fiddling around. Karl's expert no nonsense tutorials have enabled me to dial in my setup and post production quickly and get on with more confidence and just the knowledge I needed at this time. Thank you Karl!
How I was taught in 1978: meter your subject (Gray card), take a reading. Now meter your background light(s) ONLY...and adjust output to be +2.5-3 stops BRIGHTER....which will blow-out the background, producing white. To see if you have even white across the backdrop, within POV, ....meter it. Find where the fall-off begins. Per usual, Karl- an excellent nuts and bolts approach/explanation as to How to.
So helpful. My clients always want things perfectly white, and it can be a struggle. I shoot a lot of small products and pack shots using a softbox as the background, which you start discussing at 7:23, and your tip about using 253/253/253 plus 1/10 of a stop will help streamline my workflow! Thanks!
I think that one of the most important point is the control (balance) of the exposure of the background. 2 - 2,5 stops over the main subject exposure is a good start. Exposure measured in old school way with a “real” exposimeter (Minolta, Sekonic or else) really simplify the whole process.
It's actually much easier to measure the white value tethered and then you know when it is 1/30th of an fstop below pure white when you have a reading of R254 G254 B254. Then you are at the least risk of introducing flare and by the time you put the lights on your product you have usually added that final amount extra to your background that it is then pure white.
I really admire your work and videos. You inspire me to be the best. I want my work to be like yours and even better. I will be registering for your classes very soon.
Amazing content as always! This is hands down the best channel to really learn mastering product photography and using light setups. Thank you, Karl Taylor.
@@VisualEducationStudio I will definitely check it out. Appreciate your approach of offering short videos for free here on YT and a lot more, even more detailed content on KTE. Cheers mate
Great stuff. Thanks Karl. Would like to hear what you have to say on light boxes, uses, how to get the most out them etc. or do you think they’re completely useless?
Great tutorial Taylor. What I am missing is a comment on which metering mode to use. I opt for spot or center on object so no algorithm tries to grayish the background.
What budget phones would you suggest for e commerce photography, specifically photography of models displaying articles of clothing in natural and urban environment as well studio White backgrounds? What is the minimum MEGA PIXEL rate would you suggest for my purposes?
Do you have any specific recommendations for the matte white acrylic? Is it a sheet or board? I'm having trouble finding this exact wording when I search to purchase this surface for use with your Light Cones.
Well how Google knows: I am just exporting finished images for a customer, a product shots on a white background. While I'm waiting to be rendered, I opened TH-cam, clueless. This video popped up in my feed at the top. I did not search internet for anything photography related in a while, let alone white background ... and still it proposed this very video from a year ago :) It must be reading my mind because I was thinking about banding when image get near 100% of exposure. I see in this video intro that all of your images have same "poblem" of banding on white. So I'm calm. Customer have pure white website and product needs to be on white background to fit into the space. But I want to retain some shadows to make it natural. Where original "white" fades to pure white, there is banding (get worse after jpeg compression). It seems unavoidable.
Thank you Karl! I'm sure It's on your list but could you do on for black backgrounds. I struggle with it, especially with water tank photography, the background is never truely black despite using a black background.
Very useful information...I have a doubt further the topic....How do yo handle the size of the files when use too much white backgrounds? I often got smal size files even shooting in RAW, I mean 3 or 4 MB.... I am assumig is because of the lack of info in file, but sometimes I am required to deliver larger files as 8, 9, 14 MB...I have solved partiallly using new AI function in PS called “preserve details 2.0”, but finally image gain noise. Regards from Mexico 🇲🇽
Karl, love your insight, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. The wall mount paper background support is something I am looking to setup. What brand do you have and are you happy with the ease of lowering and raising to set different backgrounds? Thanks Karl
Hi Ray, that's a Colorama background set with the gears and and rod turn handle. The brackets holding it to the wall were my own made ones which is a subject of a future video.
Thank you very much for this very interesting video. Do you have an efficient technique to get a white background for full body shots, i.e. get rid of the models’s ground shadow without having any rim lights? Thanks in advance!
how do you get an evenly exposed gray background for portraits? I see a lot of gray gradients but no evenly lit gray back grounds. I tried with two lights on the bg recently but still had a gradient. Thanks!
Great video, I’m just getting into product photography and this video helped me a lot. I see that you’re using the Hasselblad software with the product photography , do you know of a similar software that can be used for Fujifilm?
Karl, this was very relevant! I shoot kids on a Lastolite HiLiter 6x7 illuminated background. The issue I find is with 3 Godox AD600 Pros, 2 inside background / 1 as Keylight, I get a slight yellow halo around the subjects head. I've pulled the kids farther away from background, lowered backgrounds lights to just below pure white, but I still see "yellow" around their hair. I'm wondering if this is due to technical color differences in the Godox output as the power levels are different from Keylight to background? Or do you feel it's still just "spill" coming off the white background and wrapping slightly on subject? I white balance using a passport colorchecker right at the nose of my subject. Thanks for any thoughts from you anyone else that maybe has thoughts as the "yellow edges" drive me crazy.
I can't understand why there would be a 'yellow' halo? Even if the light was overexposing your background it would go to pure white although you may induce flare but it wouldn't be yellow. I'd take test shots and start on a low power on that light and gradually increase it half a stop at a time and check the results.
Hi Karl, I’m expecting some mattress toppers from a client, they want them photographed on a white background. I’m still in the early days of my commercial photography business and usually only photograph small products on white backgrounds. I’ve done some work for this client before with pillows and packaging, this time I know for a fact I don’t have a big enough studio space (especially for a white background). They really like my work and twisted my arm to accept the job, but I don’t want to let them down. I’ve even debated hiring the local village hall for space. I’m thinking, lay the mattress toppers on the floor with white A1 mount boards all around underneath the edges (from the perspective of the camera) to get a bit of reflection onto the product, experiment with different lighting set ups, then mask the mount boards out in editing. But then there’s the issue of space and what lens to use - wide angle in a tight space (my living room) will look horrible and distorted even if I try and correct it in post, 50m (my typical lens) won’t be able to get the whole product in. Any suggestions please?
Hi James, if you're a member on KTE then we will be happy to answer your questions there. Unfortunately we only have time to deal with in-depth solutions for our members, thank you for your understanding.
@@VisualEducationStudio Yeah that would be tedious. I'm just trying to get some product photography for amazon. But i can see there's benefit to your proffesional setup.
At 6'45, you're using a flash to photograph a product called Flash. Apart from that, I haven't been around for sometime and it looks like you speak more slowly than before, in a more public service announcement fashion. The subject matters are always highly interesting and well addressed. Yet I miss some of the different energy, the more natural flow that used to be yours. Did you get any response from people who found you bad mannered ?
Hi Rafeal, with a lot of respect I'm afraid it's very easy to get an even white background without a lightmeter if you're shooting tethered because you can measure the values on screen knowing that RGB255 is pure white so it's actaully accurate to 1/30th of an fstop instead of the 1/10th of an fstop of a light meter. If I wasn't telling the truth then I wouldn't be able to get good white backgrounds in under 5mins, which I can even if you include moving the lights into position.
I'm afraid you are totally wrong and when Covid is over I'm willing to fly you to my studio so we can time it and prove it live on TH-cam. You do it your way setting up from scratch and I'll do it mine. If I win you pay me back for the flights.
@@VisualEducationStudio I don’t need to. Thanks any way. By any chance, I don’t work for Sekonic. Is just 43 years of experience and I am shooting tethered since 1998, Phase One Digital Backs. Take care.
I was shooting film from 1990 to 2005 with Sinar 5x4, Mamiya RZ67, Toyo 10x8 and 35mm and throughout all those years a light meter was ESSENTIAL, it helped me through my career from photojournalist to advertising photographer - www.karltaylor.com - I made the move to tethered digital shooting in 2005 with the Hasselblad H1, from that moment onwards with high resolution previews and RGB on screen measurements my Minolta IV light meter went in the cupboard. It's been in the cupboard ever since. Most photographers wear a light meter like a medallion now because they like it, they don't want to admit or even contemplate that they can do with out it because they they like the way it looks and feels or makes them feel.
Damn... providing so much value for free. He truly loves his craft and wants to help people you can tell. Respect CARL.
Thank you.
Well how many people use what he teaches.
I knew of Karl Taylor but just now subscribed to his education channel and watched all the tutorials listed here. With clients now coming in wanting clean product images with a minimum of fuss, I needed to dial in my skills and setup quickly. I have learned more in a few hours then in several years of fiddling around. Karl's expert no nonsense tutorials have enabled me to dial in my setup and post production quickly and get on with more confidence and just the knowledge I needed at this time. Thank you Karl!
Thank Liz, much appreciated and very glad to hear your progress.
You are a University of photography. Much love from Pakistan!
How I was taught in 1978: meter your subject (Gray card), take a reading. Now meter your background light(s) ONLY...and adjust output to be +2.5-3 stops BRIGHTER....which will blow-out the background, producing white. To see if you have even white across the backdrop, within POV, ....meter it. Find where the fall-off begins. Per usual, Karl- an excellent nuts and bolts approach/explanation as to How to.
Thanks Tommy
Best 12 minutes I spend this month so-far ;-)
Thanks for sharing Karl !!
Cheers!
I have some white props. I will use it next week. Love the classes with Urus and Karl too. Thanks.
So helpful. My clients always want things perfectly white, and it can be a struggle. I shoot a lot of small products and pack shots using a softbox as the background, which you start discussing at 7:23, and your tip about using 253/253/253 plus 1/10 of a stop will help streamline my workflow! Thanks!
Glad to help Peter
Karl, perfect timing! I cannot wait to watch. I discovered your channel recently and I am so thankful for your expertise and tips. Thank you!
You are very welcome :-)
I think that one of the most important point is the control (balance) of the exposure of the background. 2 - 2,5 stops over the main subject exposure is a good start.
Exposure measured in old school way with a “real” exposimeter (Minolta, Sekonic or else) really simplify the whole process.
It's actually much easier to measure the white value tethered and then you know when it is 1/30th of an fstop below pure white when you have a reading of R254 G254 B254. Then you are at the least risk of introducing flare and by the time you put the lights on your product you have usually added that final amount extra to your background that it is then pure white.
Thanks for the video, mr. Taylor. Your straight-to-the-point style is highly appreciated.
My pleasure
The quality of your sounds tho 👌👌
I really admire your work and videos. You inspire me to be the best. I want my work to be like yours and even better. I will be registering for your classes very soon.
Dear Karl, thanks from all Russian Photographers ! You are the best
Thank you and my regards to Mother Russia.
Very useful video. I really love your online courses and i really enjoy. Thank you karl 😘👍🏻🙏🏼
Happy to hear that thanks.
Wow, great content. Thanks so much for taking the time to produce these video. Excellent!
The Best Teacher ive ever seen, doing a great job 👏🏻 wanna start soon with the courses on your website.
Awesome, thank you!
did you buy the course? its help full or not?
Karl is just amazing
Very kind thank you.
Amazing content as always! This is hands down the best channel to really learn mastering product photography and using light setups. Thank you, Karl Taylor.
Glad you like them! But our site is much better.
@@VisualEducationStudio I will definitely check it out. Appreciate your approach of offering short videos for free here on YT and a lot more, even more detailed content on KTE. Cheers mate
I will shoot this set up and write back to you. Thank you Karl.
Is his keyboard floating?
Now you can't unsee it.
Good refresher courses. I will check out other videos.
Nice video you made my mood good thanku
Thanks
one of the best teacher i know! 👌
Phil Collins is an amazing drummer, singer, and photographer. :)
Thank you, master!
Thank you for sharing these, I am looking forward to learn more.
Glad you like them!
This guy’s voice is awesome.😆
Great stuff. Thanks Karl. Would like to hear what you have to say on light boxes, uses, how to get the most out them etc. or do you think they’re completely useless?
If you mean those light cubes, they're not ideal.
Are you experiencing buyers remorse based on what Mr Taylor said, having bought one already?
Great tutorial Taylor. What I am missing is a comment on which metering mode to use. I opt for spot or center on object so no algorithm tries to grayish the background.
Hi thanks, last weeks video was about metering modes.
What budget phones would you suggest for e commerce photography, specifically photography of models displaying articles of clothing in natural and urban environment as well studio White backgrounds?
What is the minimum MEGA PIXEL rate would you suggest for my purposes?
Absolutely fantastic. Thank you again
Our pleasure!
Fantastic information as always. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
That's awesome 😍
Karl you are really the best ! A French appreciate your material from Florida.
Merci Beaucoup et bienvenue
I needed this!
Glad to help!
Do you have any specific recommendations for the matte white acrylic? Is it a sheet or board? I'm having trouble finding this exact wording when I search to purchase this surface for use with your Light Cones.
Well how Google knows: I am just exporting finished images for a customer, a product shots on a white background. While I'm waiting to be rendered, I opened TH-cam, clueless. This video popped up in my feed at the top. I did not search internet for anything photography related in a while, let alone white background ... and still it proposed this very video from a year ago :) It must be reading my mind because I was thinking about banding when image get near 100% of exposure. I see in this video intro that all of your images have same "poblem" of banding on white. So I'm calm. Customer have pure white website and product needs to be on white background to fit into the space. But I want to retain some shadows to make it natural. Where original "white" fades to pure white, there is banding (get worse after jpeg compression). It seems unavoidable.
Can I get a quick link to how to set phone for white backgrounds? This video too long and idk how it translates over either 😢
I love his accent and bold head 😍
Glad to hear it 😊
Always a pleasure to see your videos. What are you using for your white base surface?
White matt acrylic
@@VisualEducationStudio Thanks so much for your answer
Thank you very much sir, very useful
All the best
Many thanks. Greetings from Chile.
You are welcome!
Thank you Karl! I'm sure It's on your list but could you do on for black backgrounds. I struggle with it, especially with water tank photography, the background is never truely black despite using a black background.
We've just published this, which should have some helpful tips: www.karltayloreducation.com/how-to-photograph-plain-black-backgrounds/
@@VisualEducationStudio I'm so sorry, I had a look but missed it! Thank you so much for the response!
B.S. you just know it all !!! My way is the best !!!
Awesome we look forward to hearing all about it.
Pony up, Einstein; we're all eyes and ears. #Crickets
thanks man
You are amazing.. You should make a movie
I am liking your content on KarlTaylorEducation, and then found you here too haha
Thanks for signing up, our best stuff is on KTE!
@@VisualEducationStudio I feel like interning mate, going thru it
Very useful information...I have a doubt further the topic....How do yo handle the size of the files when use too much white backgrounds? I often got smal size files even shooting in RAW, I mean 3 or 4 MB.... I am assumig is because of the lack of info in file, but sometimes I am required to deliver larger files as 8, 9, 14 MB...I have solved partiallly using new AI function in PS called “preserve details 2.0”, but finally image gain noise. Regards from Mexico 🇲🇽
Karl, love your insight, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. The wall mount paper background support is something I am looking to setup. What brand do you have and are you happy with the ease of lowering and raising to set different backgrounds? Thanks Karl
Hi Ray, that's a Colorama background set with the gears and and rod turn handle. The brackets holding it to the wall were my own made ones which is a subject of a future video.
Hi Karl, where am I able to find the video where you are shooting the kiwifruit on the glass?
Here it is Ross :-)
www.karltayloreducation.com/class/macro-photography-at-home/
@@VisualEducationStudio thanks so much, one more question, what currency are the prices on your website?
@@RossHa1e You should be able to choose between USD or GBP
Thank you very much for this very interesting video. Do you have an efficient technique to get a white background for full body shots, i.e. get rid of the models’s ground shadow without having any rim lights? Thanks in advance!
Great .. thank you
Welcome 😊
What app do you recommend for EASILY changing a photo background and other editing features?
how many blue colour gels do i need to shoot an essex girl on a pure white back ground?
great video Karl.
Thank you. I'm guessing was it because the Essex girl was orange?? If so a CTB tungsten to daylight blue gel should do it :)
@@VisualEducationStudio it was a joke, but yeah orange,
Thank you Sir.
You are most welcome
Great video! :) With more products and in a faster time, automation is a good solution - compact photo studios with dedicated software :)
Thanks a lot its very helpful. One question. How to light white background and white item in flat lays?
Covered on KTE
@@VisualEducationStudio what do you mean by KTE sir?
how do you get an evenly exposed gray background for portraits? I see a lot of gray gradients but no evenly lit gray back grounds. I tried with two lights on the bg recently but still had a gradient. Thanks!
If you want an evenly lit anything your light needs to he further away
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you too
Great video, I’m just getting into product photography and this video helped me a lot. I see that you’re using the Hasselblad software with the product photography , do you know of a similar software that can be used for Fujifilm?
Thanks. Try Capture One.
@@VisualEducationStudio Oh thank you, ill try that.
Capture One Pro and Darktable
👍👍👍... one of my favourite is 2-4 lights at 45 degrees with shoot through brollies
Thanks for watching and commenting Nilo
Karl, this was very relevant! I shoot kids on a Lastolite HiLiter 6x7 illuminated background. The issue I find is with 3 Godox AD600 Pros, 2 inside background / 1 as Keylight, I get a slight yellow halo around the subjects head. I've pulled the kids farther away from background, lowered backgrounds lights to just below pure white, but I still see "yellow" around their hair. I'm wondering if this is due to technical color differences in the Godox output as the power levels are different from Keylight to background? Or do you feel it's still just "spill" coming off the white background and wrapping slightly on subject? I white balance using a passport colorchecker right at the nose of my subject. Thanks for any thoughts from you anyone else that maybe has thoughts as the "yellow edges" drive me crazy.
I can't understand why there would be a 'yellow' halo? Even if the light was overexposing your background it would go to pure white although you may induce flare but it wouldn't be yellow. I'd take test shots and start on a low power on that light and gradually increase it half a stop at a time and check the results.
Imagine listing 50 products a day on eBay with these techniques. Lol 😆
Aintgotime
Yes that wouldn't be feasible but this instant technique would: karltayloreducation.com/class/shadowless-lighting-for-photographing-products-on-white/
Hi Karl,
I’m expecting some mattress toppers from a client, they want them photographed on a white background.
I’m still in the early days of my commercial photography business and usually only photograph small products on white backgrounds. I’ve done some work for this client before with pillows and packaging, this time I know for a fact I don’t have a big enough studio space (especially for a white background). They really like my work and twisted my arm to accept the job, but I don’t want to let them down. I’ve even debated hiring the local village hall for space.
I’m thinking, lay the mattress toppers on the floor with white A1 mount boards all around underneath the edges (from the perspective of the camera) to get a bit of reflection onto the product, experiment with different lighting set ups, then mask the mount boards out in editing. But then there’s the issue of space and what lens to use - wide angle in a tight space (my living room) will look horrible and distorted even if I try and correct it in post, 50m (my typical lens) won’t be able to get the whole product in.
Any suggestions please?
Hi James, if you're a member on KTE then we will be happy to answer your questions there. Unfortunately we only have time to deal with in-depth solutions for our members, thank you for your understanding.
Nice
Thanks
Light cubes are a joke. Love your videos again and again! 👍
thank you
📌📌📌📌
What I learned from this video? Hire a professional for your product photography.
Yes good mantra.
Why not just photoshop the real background out and place pure white in post?
Imagine if you had to do that on 100 product shots for a client or just set it up correct first for 10mins so it works in camera.
@@VisualEducationStudio Yeah that would be tedious. I'm just trying to get some product photography for amazon. But i can see there's benefit to your proffesional setup.
At 6'45, you're using a flash to photograph a product called Flash. Apart from that, I haven't been around for sometime and it looks like you speak more slowly than before, in a more public service announcement fashion. The subject matters are always highly interesting and well addressed. Yet I miss some of the different energy, the more natural flow that used to be yours. Did you get any response from people who found you bad mannered ?
Yo wtf is your problem... lol ... leave the guy alone he didn’t nothing wrong.
With a lot of respect, please stop showing that a external photo meter is not require. To get a even back ground without a meter is hell.
Hi Rafeal, with a lot of respect I'm afraid it's very easy to get an even white background without a lightmeter if you're shooting tethered because you can measure the values on screen knowing that RGB255 is pure white so it's actaully accurate to 1/30th of an fstop instead of the 1/10th of an fstop of a light meter. If I wasn't telling the truth then I wouldn't be able to get good white backgrounds in under 5mins, which I can even if you include moving the lights into position.
@@VisualEducationStudio Light meter my friend, no other way is faster and accurate. Sorry.
I'm afraid you are totally wrong and when Covid is over I'm willing to fly you to my studio so we can time it and prove it live on TH-cam. You do it your way setting up from scratch and I'll do it mine. If I win you pay me back for the flights.
@@VisualEducationStudio I don’t need to. Thanks any way. By any chance, I don’t work for Sekonic. Is just 43 years of experience and I am shooting tethered since 1998, Phase One Digital Backs. Take care.
I was shooting film from 1990 to 2005 with Sinar 5x4, Mamiya RZ67, Toyo 10x8 and 35mm and throughout all those years a light meter was ESSENTIAL, it helped me through my career from photojournalist to advertising photographer - www.karltaylor.com - I made the move to tethered digital shooting in 2005 with the Hasselblad H1, from that moment onwards with high resolution previews and RGB on screen measurements my Minolta IV light meter went in the cupboard. It's been in the cupboard ever since. Most photographers wear a light meter like a medallion now because they like it, they don't want to admit or even contemplate that they can do with out it because they they like the way it looks and feels or makes them feel.
I beleive i finaly find my photography channel ;-) Thx Mr Taylor
I don’t wanna get cancelled so I prefer black backgrounds