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Setup to photograph rugs..

Rug Doc

Rug Doc

pfm Member
So at work (which is a barn) at the moment I use a Canon 500D mounted on one of the ceiling beams to take photographs of rugs and carpets laying flat on the floor..

With a standard kit lens It’s so high I can get a 14 x 10ft carpet in frame which is superb - I had a 10-22 lens on it before and 10 was too wide, so had to zoom in to fit the floor space I have, so no need for a very wide angle lens.

I would like to be able to take better quality images, so would like to upgrade the camera and lens.. a professional photographer we use (who also takes shots in a similar fashion) uses a 5D mk3 (mk3 I think) and the quality they get is very good, so doesn’t need to be anything more sophisticated than that.

Because we can’t physically get to the beam the camera is mounted on, I use a permanent 240v supply to the camera and the EOS utility on my iMacs and remote shooting to take the shots. Again I need remote control.

I would also like to improve the lighting. It’s a barn with 15 ft windows on one side, so sunny days are a no go for photographs, we wait for overcast days as it’s inpossible to cut all the light out, but I’d like to have some more powerful lighting.. the pros use a number of Halogen floods, so this obviously works, I could do the same, or flash, but also been looking at these new big LED panels??

So I’d love some advice and recommendations please. I’d really like -

1)
Remote control (can be EOS utility) but that has no control over zoom.. do the full frame cameras offer this facility?

2)
Must be able to be run from a power supply rather than batteries as I can’t get to it!

2)
Improved lighting, would flash or flood be best?

You can see the photography we currently take and the barn on my website www.farnhamantiquecarpets.com

Thanks so much. :)
 
Personally I'd sort out the lighting first, then worry about upgrading the camera at a later date, you are photographing large objects, so you will need fairly powerful lights, along with some suitable diffusion. Decent lighting will give you uniform images.

The Lencarta site has a lot of useful lighting tutorials in their Learning Centre, and there are loads on youtube.
 
As Mr Perceptive says, even lighting from a couple of fairly large softboxes will give the best results, and if you can shut out most of the daylight you'll have control. Lencarta are a well know brand, and Gary Edwards is a great source of advice. There is no need to replace the camera at this stage as long as you keep the iso fairly low - unless you are making massive prints or looking at minute details the difference between cameras will be fairly small compared to the difference even lighting will bring.
 
Still said:
imo the standard of photography on your website is excellent.
Click to expand...

Thankyou. the opening photography of carpets in situ I am happy with.. most are taken with a Canon 10-22, would you believe that some of the interior shots are taken with an iPhone too!? The photography I am trying to improve are the overhead shots of individual carpets..

This is a pro shot taken in a studio -
2023-1.jpg


And this is the best we can do ourselves - You can see it's just not as crisp and detailed.
7991.jpg


Sorry, images are showing up in Preview..

Professional

https://www.farnhamantiquecarpets.com/carpet/antique-serapi-carpet-persia-8/

ours -

https://www.farnhamantiquecarpets.com/carpet/antique-heriz-carpet-persia-39/

(Just the first shots of flat carpets.)
 
I see what you mean, doc.
istm the difference is between looking at your website and thinking 'hmmm - nice rugs' & 'I need that rug in my room asap > checks bank balance <'

I'm minded of the only estate agent I've engaged (for a sale) who insisted that paying for pro photos' was worth it.
He was absolutely correct, & in every way proved to be a remarkably competent pro'.
 
I've a feeling that the limits to the images you are getting are going to be more about the lens, the lighting, and your photographic ability rather than the camera itself. The 500D is a pretty sensible 15mp cropped sensor camera, and can take excellent images. Looking at the sample you provided, it looks to me like the left is softer than the right, which implies your setup wasn't quite right, or the lens is limited.

So first up, make sure you are getting the best out of what you have - i can't see any EXIF for the shot, but i'd check that it's stopped down to f/8 or f/11 as you will get better images from the lens in it's sweet spot.

If you do want to but a better lens to get this sort of shot, i'd recommend the canon 16-35 F4 IS L as being the right choice for you - that does of course assume the photos you are wanting are in that focal length range, but if so, this lens is a very good performer, and will be capable of taking excellent sharp images with your camera (especially as it'll crop the corners which are historically the hardest bits to get right with wide lenses). You might be able to rent one for a few days to see if it's going to do the business for you, or borrow one from a friendly camera shop if they think you are serious about purchasing it.

I think the suggestion to get the lighting sorted or at least some more options also sounds good. If you get suitable lights in place, then if you can shoot late in the evenings when there's less or no natural light to avoid any white balance issues, and it would certainly be easier I imagine to arrange to shoot when you haven't got customers about!
 
Could hiring a pro be cost effective e.g. when you've got the correct number of rugs?

(tbh it has occurred to me far too late that coming between a lil' fish/new equipment in the photo' room is a high risk posting strategy)
 
Still said:
Could hiring a pro be cost effective e.g. when you've got the correct number of rugs?

(tbh it has occurred to me far too late that coming between a lil' fish/new equipment in the photo' room is a high risk posting strategy)
Click to expand...

When we have amassed a number of things, we take them all to a pro photographer. What is needed is help with the setup that we use most days to photograph normal stock as it comes in. We also use this setup to photograph clients carpets for valuations which get stored away, so it needs to be decent quality.
 
Got a lovely email back from Lencarta today. The guy you mention (Gary Edwards) has retired, but a very helpful member of staff sent through a couple of recommendations of Godox SL lights.

These sound great, but really need a softbox to work well, and these, sadly are just going to be too ugly and in your face when you walk in. Is there any alternative which is thinner (which is why an LED panel appealed?) otherwise, might these Godox lights be powerful enough if I were to aim them up at the ceiling (Which would still be 5 ft above with the lights attached to the beam firing up) With a 20ft bounce down to the ground... I would happily fit more than one, two, three, four. Whatever is necessary.
 
Do you need to leave the lighting out all the time? A lot of softboxes will fold down pretty small, and I am sure they could be attached/adapted to the Godox lights. This would mean they'd only be in Customers' faces when you had them out and needed to take pictures. Subject to angles and distances, bouncing the lights off the ceiling, in a way that lights the carpet immediately below the camera, might have a direct impact on the camera sensor...
 
Yes, I think what I’m going to do (with Lencartas advice) is put a Godox 600 Pro up in the ceiling with a 1.5m softbox and fire it straight down.
 
Thanks for the help with this all those weeks ago. I have a Godox LED 600 mounted on the ceiling now along with a rectangular softbox.

I also bought the Canon 16-35 L lens recommended and it’s the perfect length and the corners are superb. (Thankyou Cesare)

I have setup a servo with a servo controller to adjust the zoom, and have wired this up with a 10m cable so it’s now a simple adjustment. I can take an image of a 16ft x 12ft carpet wide open and it remotely zooms into take a 6x4ft rug filling the frame so no detail is lost. I love it.

The Quality of the images is now fabulous, with even light and no shadows or overlit areas. This is an image taken today..

https://www.farnhamantiquecarpets.com/carpet/modern-sultanabad-carpet-12/

So thanks for all your help and pushing me in the right direction. :)

The next upgrade will be to a full-frame high pixel count camera (This is with an old 500D) 12mb, so with Black Friday deals looming I might even take a leap to the Canon 5DS-R with its 50mp to get all that detail into focus.
 
That's a nice photo of a nice rug. No trivial amount of money either, but I suppose that's the price you pay for a large hand woven carpet, and if you have a room big enough to take it then you aren't short of cash.

Can I be the first to say "That rug really ties the room together"?
 
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