How To Take Photographs For Manuals
I am involved with a large project that needs photographs for their step-by-step instructions manual. The same regular lighting and placement challenges are there, but there is a new challenge for this kinda shot and it is where to place the camera.
The images need to be taken from atop, creating flat drawing like images. For small stuff (around book size), you can just stand over the thing legs spread and shoot from eye level pointing down, provided that you can level the camera. For bigger things, though, you need to go higher. Way higher.
Here is how I tackle it.
The Setup
For lights I am shooting two small profotoes at the two parallel walls of my studio. This should provide general soft lights that should be able to eat what ever I placement I throw at them.
Since at the end this will be a black and white job, I am using a Bristol board for color separation. At post, it will be deleted to white. This is much easier then to actually shoot on white paper. The color paper creates less flare, and contrasty paper make separation easy. And this is true even if you shoot available light. The only caveat of shooting like this is getting blue tint from reflections. Since the end job is black and white, I can live with this.
My Hi Tech Steady Dolly
So, challenge is getting high enough while remaining 100% parallel to the shooting surface. The setup shot is displayed above (apologies for not including the actual product, I can tell you, but then those nasty agents will track your IP address down and shoot you).
1. Ladder - The ladder provides the height. No Way around it, unless you have a shrinking ray to reduce the size of your model.
2. Sand Bag - the ladder is pretty stable, yet since my prized D300 and the 24-70mm lens are up there, I take no chances.
3. Tripod - This is used to get the camera off the ladder into the shooting grounds - the center of the sheet. I am using the Manfrotto 055XPROB, but any tripod that provides some length will do.
4. Bungee Balls - Those are used to hold the tripod in place. I am using two Bangee balls on each intersection and they are wrapped in an X.
5. Tripod Sandbag - or actually gravel bag to keep the tripod steady.
6. Remote Trigger - yea, you try to climb up there for event shot - this is a step by step tutorial and there are lots of steps.
7. Small Ladder - for camera fiddling, focus changes, chimping and so on.
Sample Images
Here is what the image looks like out of the camera. All that height and still had to shoot at around 35mm.
And after post
Got more tips for product shooting? share them in the comments.
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Comments
What about a wall?
I have done several things like this, but went horizontally, by hooking the objects on the wall with the paper also on the wall, and moving the camera back into the room. Part of the reason I worked this way was because I had more camera to subject distance available on the horizontal, than I did on the vertical.
I also found it easier to use the camera when it was on the ground, and I did not have to climb up and down to check alignment and focus. … Now I do the same thing, but shoot tethered and check alignment and focus on the monitor.
re: working horizontaly
hyi Jack,
That sounds like the more convenient thing to do. Sadly, I could not overcome the need to re-tape all the parts to the wall for each photograph. If that could have been achieved, I'd totally go for that.
Sounds like an interesting
Sounds like an interesting project!
What was the reason company X needed photographed manuals?
How large a project? What is the end format - a ton of jpgs online?
re: project
It is an interesting project.
I get to assemble the entire thing over and over again :)
Primarily, It is for the PDF that comes inside the box. (I guess there is always an option that they'll decide to put the PDF online, however not the single images).
as for the quantities, It would be a few tens of photographs
Great tips
Thanks for sharing the tips....another technique that comes handy in shoot for manuals or other product shoot is : Focus Stacking.....here you take different shots with focus at different zones in the image and tehn stack the image so that the output has every layer withing focus...
BISWAJIT DEY PHOTO BLOG
To make things easier
You should consider DSLR Remote Pro (I'm assuming you have one of supported cameras). It would allow you to preview, make adjustments and shoot straight to the computer via long USB cable.
Shooting for manuals
Having retired from the audio-visual business, a suggestion -- use a copy stand. Let's you work at table top, easy to see thru viewfinder, easy to set up subject material and change material quickly. Have a brand new Kaiser RS3 copy stand if you live near Tucson, Arizona, email me.
Flare
Congrats on this project, and your ingenuity to accomplish the task. In your "Post" image, I am bothered by the dark ring around most of the object. Is this a result of shadow, or remaining blue reflection from your BG? Seems that using white and more precise lighting would make the post-process faster/cleaner.
Also, wouldn't this be a good time to tether your camera?
Sometimes, if our clients knew how jury-rigged our process is, that results in such great images for them, they would balk at paying us our BIG BUCKS! (grin)
Thanks for sharing, keep up the very enjoyable tips!
The blue background...
It's a GREAT idea ! Thanks for sharing.
oh c'mon just scan it...
oh c'mon just scan it...
re: scannign, lighting and otherstuff
Thanks everyone for taking the time to come up with ideas and point some of the flaws.
@Chris - DSLR Remote Pro could be great, sadly (or happily, depending on your point of view) , I shoot Nikon.
@Clemens Roether - A copy stand sounds sweet. And thanks for the generous suggestion. I am shooting a roughly 50cm X 70cm part so it will have to be a pretty big one. Now I just need to figure the 20 hours of round trip flight to borrow it...
@kimages -Looking at the originals it seems like a blue reflection from the blue sheet below. I am going to try and replace it with a white sheet, and step away from "general lighting" I am currently thinking about surrounding the parts with light from 4 directions on very low flash setting and flagging the top of the flashes to avoid flare. If this does not work, than, back to the drawing board.
@EH - way to big for scanner (50cm X 70cm)
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