Photographing My Guitars - Simple Product Photography Ideas for Shooting At Home

[@rtroiani]

Very helpful! I make guitars and needed help in photographing them!

[@LeonTodd]

Awesome video! Love the top on that burst.

[@drewcain]

Thanks! Took me years to find an R9 that beautiful. It's even more beautiful in person!

[@meganpalmer6532]

As a photography student, I absolutely love to watch your vids as inspiration and for education purposes! Thank you for making them, extremely helpful and interesting! :)

[@drewcain]

Thanks for the sweet comment Megan!

[@hhattingh]

This is fantastic! Thank you! My head is spinning with ideas

[@drewcain]

That's awesome! I hope you come up with some good shots!

[@marilynbettridge2889]

BRILLIANT!!!

[@keithboughey9787]

Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for! Cheers Drew.

[@andy_182]

Really helped me take better photos for my reverb store

[@djameloveskyFILMS]

Never thought about this setup . I will try it tomorrow . Thanks

[@MichaelBenninger]

Thank you

[@Seahawksnumber1]

Amazing video. You are a very talented photographer !!!!

[@drewcain]

Thanks Brett!

[@davewilson4172]

Have just seen this video. All the images are fantastic and have given me ideas for photographing my friends Guitars. May thanks

[@Samsdad619]

I love both photos. That image of both is beautiful. The details and finish on the Les Paul is more striking to me. Great video and photos!

[@drewcain]

Yeah, the Gibson's got my heart... always has though. That stunning top's just got so much sexiness it's kinda not fair.

[@maximumguitarage]

Great info and great video ! Thank You !

[@hevibeatss]

Sir your channel is so underrated! Splendid quality content

[@drewcain]

Thank you so much!

[@StevieCoyleMusic]

The idea of using a yoga block to float the guitar is very cool. I run an acoustic guitar shop and I'm always looking for ways to feature guitars without stands or wire hangers intruding into the photos. Great stuff. Thank you.

[@drewcain]

Thanks Steve! Sometimes a little improvisation with what’s on hand can produce unexpected and sometimes really cool results! If you get any neat shots, I’d love to see them! You can DM me on Instagram @wanderborn ;)

[@TheHowardsband]

Love it ! thank you !

[@LtCore]

Amazing video! Thanks!

[@KenLiwanagChannel]

Sir, you are awesome! So awesome! I'm subscribing! 🤘😍🍻

[@drewcain]

Thanks bro! Welcome aboard!

[@ritaophelia]

Love these images

[@drewcain]

Thanks again Alice! I appreciate all your comments :)

[@skylermills8342]

incredible detail and thought process. very inspiring thank you!

[@greghopkins18]

Yep, like it a lot. Thank you

[@p6x2]

I have a lot of guitars that I am going to put out for sale. I also happen to be a hobbyist photographer. I have the equipment to do a proper set up, as in backdrops (white and black), and a lot of lenses, including macro ones. As you have pointed out, artistic composition are not what is important when you want to sell a guitar. You may include one photo from an artistic point of view, but as for the rest, you need to provide all the details for a potential buyer. The biggest challenge is with vintage instruments. Those that command a high price tag need to have all the details brought in plain view. Those tiny dings, buckle rashes, fret wear, wood imperfections, fissures, repairs, all that needs to be illustrated. This is where macro lenses come into play. But to me, the most useful lens I possess is the TS-E; I have a TS-E 90mm (not the latest one), and a TS-E 24mm (latest version).

[@drewcain]

All great points for sure, especially when selling instruments... but don’t forget that often especially in the vintage guitar world, there are emotional purchases that can be influenced by a compelling artistic image in a way that the analytical details don’t necessarily provide. So I’d definitely take both types, especially with high dollar or rare instruments where you have an opportunity to really tell a story with your images ;) best of luck with your shooting and in your sales, and thank you for your comment! (And I’d love to see your shots too if you’d like to share ;)

[@sjsphotog]

very very cool. i need to do this with my guitars. been long overdue. cool simple setup for sure. Thanks for the inspiration. I love both shots but the dual guitar shot with the vanishing point yin/yang was so so cool. I have a Carvin electric, Gibson SG no-name brand copy electric, and an Ovation acoustic.

[@GARY1951A]

ALL of the images look fantastic, but I think the shot of the two guitars was incredible! Thanks for the tips!! GREAT video as always!!!

[@drewcain]

Thanks Gary!

[@russfrayre8208]

Great video. You inspired me. Heading down stairs to do my shoot.

[@drewcain]

Awesome!! I hope you get some great shots!! I’d love to see them if you do.

[@joshuamonk]

Awesome video Drew, gave me some great ideas!

[@drewcain]

Thanks Joshua! Looks like you've got some beautiful instruments to experiment with too, and your Resolute video is fantastic! I'm going to have to revisit and listen to all your stuff!

[@joshuamonk]

@@drewcain Thanks Drew, really appreciate it. Hopefully some of your tips will help me up my instagram game a little, it needs a little help haha. You've got some great quality videos here, they'll take off soon I reckon.

[@IvanBassist]

Great info! Thanks for doing this!

[@drewcain]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@xhibitionism]

Good job!

[@vladimirorodrigues]

all 3 images are great, love them, good work

[@drewcain]

Thank you so much 😀

[@musicthathealsmusicthathea1733]

Hi Drew, such a wonderfully done video, thank you. I’m a musician and a photographer and am planing on selling a Martin 12 string. Everyone puts up the same shots when a guitar is for sale, I’m looking for some new ideas to make them “feel” the joy of owning the Martin. You video was inspiring. I’ll also check out Amazon for that LED light. Nice vibe Drew, thanks again.

[@drewcain]

Parting with a Martin, man... don't know that I could it it :) ... Let me know how your shoot goes, and if you get anything you love, please share! I always love to see what you guys end up with! Good luck with the sale. Somebody's going to be very happy to take her off your hands for sure.

[@walkslow7509]

Really cool shots! I'll try that with my guitar, too. Thanks for sharing.

[@drewcain]

Thanks! If you get any good ones of your guitar I’d love to see them!

[@walkslow7509]

@@drewcain Sure, I'll shoot today!

[@pawan_s_k]

Gonna try this!

[@drewcain]

If you get any good shots I’d love to see them! Good luck!

[@JgHaverty]

great tips! thank you :)

[@drewcain]

You're so welcome!

[@samnixon6198]

Good work! Loved the ying-yang! Did you use a macro lens or standard? I assume standard to get the necessary depth of field?

[@drewcain]

I used a standard 50mm f1.8 for these.

[@daniellemagee6121]

Wow. Fantastic. I would love to recreate this shoot for my husband who loves his guitars. Thanks for including the aperture and shutter settings. What lens were you using? 35mm? 50mm? Thanks!!

[@drewcain]

I bet he'd love that Danielle what a cool idea! I was shooting with Nikon's 50mm 1.8 lens for this one. If you get some good shots, I'd love to see them too!

[@danielmolenda2073]

I have another question I forgot I ask you what’s the brand of the LED light you bought because I’m looking at them? And also thank you for your KZbin page love your artwork in photography

[@drewcain]

Hey again Daniel, the light I use in the video is the Aputure AL-M9, which is a nice light little LED light, BUT if I were buying now, I would probably opt for the straight M9 because it's bi-color and has more power, you can see the details on their site here: bit.ly/3zCVA8m

[@Eric_01]

I needed this. I want to photograph all of my guitar collection and am at square one regarding what I need for a simple "kitchen table" set. This was very helpful. Would ring light work with a collapsible backdrop or is that a bad light source?

[@drewcain]

Hey Eric, my feeling would be that a ring light would likely provide too much light (or maybe just too broad) and you might not get the light falloff you're after if you're looking to get a similar result to what I got in the video. A way around this could be to raise the guitar further from the backdrop and really speed up your shutter -- experimentation is usually the best teacher. Honestly, correctly set up, even the LED light from a smartphone could work with a little trial and error (maybe tape a thin piece of paper or a single-ply toilet paper would be even better over it to soften the harshness). Test, check and re-test till you get a result that makes you happy.

[@Eric_01]

@@drewcain Thank you for the reply! I've done more digging and I think I'm going to try the Godox SL-60 LED. It's pretty cheap, has good reviews, and I can mount it on a stand. I do appreciate the tip regarding raising the object off of the surface as you did with the block. My biggest complaint with the lame photos I've already taken is the harsh shadow, that would resolve that.

[@AndrewAviles]

Liked and subscribed, would love to see some more guitar shoots :-)

[@stephensmith7236]

Hiya! I’m absolutely blown away by these! I was just wondering (and you’ve probably got loads of these questions before), but what camera / camera equipment are you using in this video?

[@drewcain]

Thanks Stephen. For these shots I'm using a Nikon D810 and Nikon's 50mm f1.8 prime lens to keep the depth of field shallow. The viewfinder you see clipped to the back of the camera body is the Zacuto Z-Finder -- I use this to better nail manual focus by using the camera's LCD screen. Hope that helps.

[@stephensmith7236]

@@drewcain Thank you Drew, that’s brilliant! Absolutely love your work! :)

[@drewcain]

Thanks man!

[@ryannarron4296]

So I observed the reflector hanging on your tripod. Did you use that in the images in some way? I’m in the process of photographing some guitars for some friends in a band. Thanks for the video, great work and ideas.

[@drewcain]

Hey Ryan, good catch. The round reflector hanging from the tripod was reflecting just enough light from the little overhead LED to get definition on the end of the guitar where the strap button is. In my tests, I didn't feel like I was getting enough light there and that little bit of white from the reflector added just enough light redirection to allow me to preserve the details there at the end of the guitar.

[@ryannarron4296]

@@drewcain sweet, figured you used it somehow. 👍

[@luciemockova9328]

So simple and amazing! I’m trying to do the same today with my Les Paul, Fender and V too!! How did you make the background in postproduction (i suppose Photoshop)? 😍

[@drewcain]

Hey Lucie! The background was just the black sheet, I didn't do much to these in Photoshop at all, mostly just the basic Camera RAW adjustments to get the effect I was after. The whole point of raising the guitars and using the black sheet was to really isolate the guitars and deemphasize the background so much that it wouldn't require much post production to be awesome. Good luck with your shoot! And be sure to share your shots if you like how they come out. I'm @wanderborn on IG :)

[@1955jrs]

Super pomysł. Jestem kolekcjonerem gitar i pokazałeś mi jak sfotografować gitary. Dziękuję. Jeżeli masz jeszcze jakiś pomysł to możesz mi podpowiedzieć . Pozdrawiam z Polski Już kilka razy oglądałem Twój film i szukam natchnienia.

[@mikefarr6205]

Now I have guitar AND photography envy.

[@drewcain]

Me too... and they’re mine. LOL

[@_oishik]

Les paul 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@drewcain]

She IS my favorite! 🤘🏻

[@_oishik]

@@drewcain 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻

[@tomatengarage5608]

Hi Drew, this Video came in very handy to me and I definitely like it! I am going to shoot about 50 guitars for good friend, who is a luthier and has decided - multiple Corona-Shutdowns have nearly ruined his normal Yamaha/Ibanez/G&L sellings - (Thank you, German Government-Idiots...!) to finish now all of these guitars, since the beginning of the process started 30 years ago. So I am looking for some Inspiration and so I found your very well done Video. I will give it a try and I am pretty sure the result will be satisfying.... Thanks again & greetings from Germany. Michael.

[@drewcain]

Hey Tom, I’m glad you found it useful. It sounds like you have your work cut out for you - 50 guitars is no small task! Good luck!

[@tomatengarage5608]

@@drewcain Hello Drew, yeah...quite a task, you're right. I just did a quick Test (...you got a mail...), being inspired by your Video. Came out nice, but of course I have to tweak it here & there...the angles, the light direction, and I have noticed you did a fine job on the separation from the Background (in your case "Underground"). I have masked it on a black BG, that's not cool enough... :-). But again, Thank´s for your Inspiration. I really appreciate it! All the Best. Michael

[@carriedavitz5143]

I'm curious as to what focal length or lens you were using for these? I might try something similar.

[@drewcain]

Hey Carrie, thanks for the question. I'm shooting with a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens in this video. I manually focused to be sure I had exactly the focal point I was after, shot at ISO 100 and worked out the shutter speed from there. The big 1.8 aperture lets a ton of light in, which is how I was getting the shallow depth of field. Hope that helps!

[@carriedavitz5143]

@@drewcain Thanks! that's my default too

[@danielmolenda2073]

You didn’t talk about what settings you had it on and how long you had your exposure

[@drewcain]

Daniel, settings will all depend on how much light you've got, what the maximum aperture of your lens is, your focal length and the angle at which you're photographing (for depth of field), but for my final images here are the details: Camera: Nikon D810 shooting RAW of course Lens: Nikon 50mm f1.8 ISO: 64 Aperture: f/18 Shutter Speed: 13 seconds *Note the long shutter speed was a result of very little light being given off by that little Aperture light in an otherwise completely dark room. The balance of shutter speed and aperture to get the right depth of field took a little trial and error to get just right.

[@davidlloyd9598]

Can you use any black cloth?

[@drewcain]

Yep, anything black that covers the entire background of your frame should be fine, especially if you're getting the right depth of field and blurring whatever's back there.

[@JKB_YT]

Cool

[@stephanevilleneuve2045]

Hi Drew, tried to leave a comment with a link to an image, but I think it keeps getting blocked (probably because of the link)... So leaving a comment without an image link this time... Basically I wanted to say your video is nothing short of amazing and really inspiring. I love guitars (own a number of them) and I "dabble" with photography so putting the two together is really neat. I never did "product shots" or anything with "staged" lighting, but once I saw this, I had to give it a shot (no pun intended). And the first attempt turned out pretty good (not your level good, but good for me) and easier than I expected with your guidance and insight. Again, no link to the image this time to avoid the comment being blocked. Thanks for doing these videos, very generous of you and super helpful. I will have to go look at your other videos, if they are anything like this one, I'm guessing I'm going down a rabbit hole!

[@drewcain]

Thanks for the awesome comment Stephane! I'm so happy my video got you inspired to shoot your guitars and that you were so psyched about the shot you got! That's awesome! If you're on IG, drop me a DM @wanderborn with your photo, I'd love to see it!

[@stephanevilleneuve2045]

@@drewcain Definitely inspired! Now I want to shoot all of my guitars and do some sort of "collection" - a family album of the "kids" sort of thing... :) I'm not on IG but it's a good enough reason to open an account - will do that later today and send you that first attempt shot, so you get see what you make us do!

[@drewcain]

You can email Drew at Wanderborn too

[@Abevlogsofficial]

Where did you get that tripod?

[@drewcain]

Both the tripods in this video are Manfrotto Carbon and they came from B&H Photo.

[@Abevlogsofficial]

Drew Cain appreciate it bro 💪🏽

[@Abevlogsofficial]

Drew Cain i need one for a 90D hopefully it sustains its weight

[@Ndo_sanz]

What camera lens did you use for this?

[@drewcain]

I used a 50mm f/1.8 for these.

[@Ndo_sanz]

@@drewcain sweet thanks!

[@jfjusa1]

can u do quick video on taking guitar photos with a cell phone please?

[@drewcain]

Sorry Frank, cell phone photography isn't what I do... However, all the same setup principals I've gone over in this video are relevant regardless of how you're capturing the shot... Use a tripod, get the light right, and use an app that will let you manually adjust all the settings so you can experiment until you get the result you're after.

[@jfjusa1]

ok, i understand - i have a lot of guitars i need to sell and i was wondering what the best aspect ratio would be to photograph them. thanks for your response!@@drewcain

[@drewcain]

@@jfjusa1 The aspect ratio shouldn't really matter unless you're planning to sell on a platform that has an unusual (vertical) image layout. I recommend shooting landscape over portrait for most online platforms, which I know isn't ideal for guitars, but it's better than having a vertical shot shown in a horizontal space where you either end up cropped or with a bunch of whitespace on each side. Just food for thought :) Good luck with your shoot and your sales!

[@jfjusa1]

Thank you!@@drewcain

[@rodboyes1885]

Might be nice to see the resulting picture at the beginning of the video, so I can judge if this lesson is right for me.

[@katjacain5408]

OMG! So much sexiness in one episode, makes it difficult to pick my favorite. Ok, it's the Gibby! Love it!!!

[@drewcain]

Yeah... mine too!

[@dantahoua]

I found it more difficult to take photos of my guitars than to make them!!!

[@drewcain]

And for me I'd definitely say the opposite! :) ... Different skill sets (and talents) for sure, but I think YOURS is the harder one to master.

[@dantahoua]

@@drewcain Thanks a lot, :) :) , I try to take some pic inspired by your video and your use of light and I managed to achieve something better. I have ordered some black sheet and better light for the next shot, I think I'm on the right way! :) Here is the pic: canopeeguitars.ca/guitar/sel-acoustic/

[@drewcain]

Nice work Vincent! And what a beautiful guitar!