I was asked to write a short tutorial for a camera club so I thought I'd post it here while I'm at it. It'll be no use to the professionals here but maybe help someone.
You will need:
• Your Camera (any camera with exposure compensation)
• Tripod (even a very cheap tripod will do the job)
• A sheet of White A0 card (£2.50 in stationary shops)
• A small folding table (optional)
• A small Product
Why would I ever want to do this?
There are a few reasons that you may wish to do this sort of thing.
1. Ebay – Items photographed properly get more money when sold on ebay.
2. CV. It does no harm to have ‘Basic Small Product Photography’ on your CV when applying for a new job.
I suppose it’s another string to your bow and you never know when opportunity will pop its head up!
Setting Up
The setup itself is fairly simple and straightforward but there are a couple of points that are important.
1. The product must be placed directly underneath the light source and I would advise only one light source be used so close any curtains! I used a Florissant strip light that was on my ceiling as my light source but a standard bulb (invest in a 100 – 150 watt bulb for when your are doing product photography) will work just as well, I just like the brightness of my strip lighting. I use a folding table with an old uplighter (turned off) to position mine but use whatever you have to hand eg. a kitchen chair.
Pic 1
2. The angle of the curve (see Pic 2) must never reach 90 degrees but always have a slight angle to reflect the light from above.
Pic 2
Technique
I would advise using Aperture Priority @ f8-11 on ISO 100-200 for best results.
Set your camera on its tripod and compose the image, you need the tripod as shutter speeds will be quite slow, I also advise using your timer or remote to avoid any shake.
Set your exposure compensation to +2 to over expose, The white sheet of card will make your camera underexpose so we are compensating for this. Depending on the camera/product you may need to adjust the exposure comp up or down for best results, look at the picture and decide for yourself.
Now take the photograph. It's as simple as that!
Pic 3
Same setup, other random items. All images unworked apart from being resized and all taken in Jpeg.
Pic 4
Pic 5
And I didnt choose it 
