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How to Photograph Small Industrial Parts

Product photography is typically done in a small studio with equipment specially designed for this type of photography. When photographing smaller objects, product photographers will also use macro lenses, which are lenses designed to photograph small objects up close. Photographers of small industrial parts will use techniques of both product photography and macro photography to best capture the part. As with most areas of photography, advanced planning and the proper equipment will save you from additional work in post-production.

Things You'll Need

Light tent
External lighting
Turntable
Macro lens
Tripod

Instructions

- 1
  Place the small industrial part in a light tent. A light tent is a small, semi-opaque box that diffuses incoming light to create softer illumination and reduce highlights and shadows. Use a white background in the light tent to maximize contrast between the backdrop and the part.
- 2
  Place a turntable under the industrial part if you have one. Your part likely must be shot from a variety of angles in order to show off all of the part's features. A turntable will make it easier to rotate the part.
- 3
  Arrange external lighting around the light tent. Two lamps or flash units placed on the right and left sides of the light tent will likely provide sufficient lighting to illuminate the industrial part.
- 4
  Attach a macro lens, if you have one, to your camera. Macro lenses come in focal length ranges from 50mm to 200mm and are designed to focus on very close objects. With small parts, a macro lens will help you to capture the finer details.
- 5
  Set your camera to aperture priority or manual mode. If you want to focus on a very particular area of your industrial part, use a wide aperture (small f/stop number) such as f/2.8. This will isolate a small area and make the rest of the part blurry. If you want to capture the entire industrial part in sharp focus, use a more narrow aperture (large f/stop number) like f/5.6 or f/8.
- 6
  Mount your camera on a tripod. Because you are using a fixed aperture, you may need to use a slower shutter speed to properly expose your photo. In aperture priority mode, your camera will do this automatically. Slower shutter speeds can induce blur into your photograph if your hand shakes while taking the picture. A tripod will steady your shot.
- 7
  Depress your shutter button halfway to allow your camera to autofocus on the industrial part. After it has focused, switch your lens to manual focus mode to lock the focus. You may now take continuous shots without waiting for your camera to focus between each picture.
- 8
  Take six images of your industrial part, rotating the part 60 degrees between each shot. If you are using a photography turntable, your turntable will be marked with measurement hashes to show you an exact 60-degree rotation.

Photography