product photography ebook: terminology...I need some more input!

Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback thus far about my product photography ebook either on this blog or elsewhere! It means a lot to me that so many people have provided detailed input. With your continued help, I'll be able to keep pushing forward with this idea.

In my first post about the book, I threw out the suggestion of including a glossary / terminology section near the beginning. To recap, it's very easy for me to forget that a few years ago, I was unfamiliar with most basic photography terms such as white balance and aperture. I want my book to be accessible to new and veteran photographers alike. Many of you agreed that including a glossary would be beneficial.

As this book has a specific photography focus, I don't think that it's necessary to create a comprehensive glossary with every common photography term out there. Instead I want to detail terms that are relevant to product photography and provide product photo examples.

This is what I've come up with so far. (In no particular order. Bear with me.)

• ISO. What it is, how to adjust it on your camera, ideal settings for product photography. Photo examples: different ISO levels.
• White balance. Daylight, cloudy, tungsten, etc. What these settings mean, how to select the right one. Photo examples: different white balance settings. I'll also discuss how if you're shooting in RAW with a DSLR, you don't have to select a white balance in camera because you can select one post process (aka editing in Lightroom / Photoshop), which gives you a lot more control.
• Macro. What it is, how to find the macro setting on point and shoot cameras, why you should use it for product photography.
• Depth of field. As depth of field is closely related to macro and aperture, I'm not sure if I need to include separate photo examples for all three terms. Thoughts?
• Rule of thirds. There are a number of common composition rules, such as leading lines, that I don't think need a lot of discussion in a product photography book. However, I think that rule of thirds is important for certain types of product shots. Additionally, getting used to thinking about the rule of thirds will improve your photography in general, which in turn, will improve your product shots. I'll include photo examples of how I use the rule of thirds for my product shots.
• Bokeh. What it is, how you can use it when shooting with a shallow depth of field / using the macro setting. Photo examples of bokeh in product photography.
• Noise. What it is, why you want to avoid it, how to avoid it with examples of clear versus noisy shots.
• Negative space. Negative space doesn't necessarily have the same definition for product photos that it does for many other types of photography such as landscape and portraiture. However, it can be a big issue with product photos, and it's one of the easier problems to fix. Photo examples of unnecessary negative space.
• Symmetry. Or lack thereof. I'll talk about the importance of centering a product or purposely making it off center (think: rule of thirds) with photo examples.
• Aperture. Whether or not you're shooting with a DSLR and adjusting aperture settings, it's important to be aware of the concept and learn how to control your depth of field. I will include examples of different aperture settings and explain how they relate to depth of field (i.e. X aperture produces a shallow depth of field). You can see set of aperture examples at Playful Cooking to get an idea of what type of examples I'll provide for aperture.
• Shutter speed. What it is, how to find the best shutter speed for your product photography if you're shooting with a DSLR with photo examples of different settings.
• Exposure triangle. There are other names for this concept, but it involves the relationship of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. As I was putting this post together, I found a great diagram about the exposure triangle on Flickr. Learning this relationship is key to having complete control over your photos.

Finally, there are lots of editing terms. As I'm going to have a lot of explanation and advice about editing, I think that I can explain them as I come to them in the book. However, if there are editing terms that you think that I should include in the glossary, let me know.

Please leave your feedback!

What do you think of these terms? What else do I need to include? Is there anything that I need to tweak?

product photography...I need your input for my ebook!

I have mentioned a couple times now that one of my strategies for building passive income in 2014 is going to be writing and publishing a ebook. This notion still scares me a lot because it's brand new territory, and it may not go anywhere, but I need to make the plunge. I'm getting my initial outline together in a readable format that I can now develop. Before I go much further, I want to get some input.

The book is going to be about product photography, specifically SMALL items. It won't necessarily be jewelry specific even though that's what I know best because that's too narrow. But it will not cover photographing items like clothing and paintings because I have no experience with that whatsoever. So the first question is what keywords / phrases should I include in the title for a small item product photography ebook?

The very first section of the book will be a what this book is / what this book is not thing. These are my thoughts thus far.

What this book is

• simple advice that is accessible for both new and veteran product photographers
  
• advice and personal recommendations for purchasing both point and shoot and DSLR cameras
  
• basic information about shooting product photos including lighting, styling, multiple angles, and highlighting different features
  
• specific examples for props and backgrounds / backdrops
  
• easy to follow tutorials for basic editing programs, Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements
  
• tips for Etsy and similar websites include the photo format and thumbnails

What this book is not

• pushy advice about buying an DSLR and expensive software and other photography products (i.e. props, lights)
  
• advanced tutorials intended solely for DSLR users who have Lightroom and/or Photoshop / Photoshop Elements
  

As someone who shoots product photo, does this make sense? Is there anything that you would or would not want to see in either of these sections?

I'm also considering including a terminology section early in the book. It's extremely easy for me to forget that I had no idea what common photography terms like ISO or RAW meant a few years ago. If this book is going to be accessible for new photographers, I think that terminology would be beneficial. Thoughts?

From there, I've roughly outlined the following sections. I'm keeping it pretty bare bones here, not because I don't want to give anything away but because I don't want to limit the suggestions. I think that it will be easier for people to brainstorm their own ideas without my own initial thoughts getting in the way.

• Why good product photos are important, even if you don't sell online
• My recommendations / advice for purchasing point and shoot and DSLR cameras
• Getting started (learning the settings, experimenting)
• Lighting basics
• Shooting multiple angles / highlighting different features
• Props / backgrounds / backdrops / styling
• Creating a permanent shooting spot which may or may not include a lightbox with tips about building or buying a lightbox
• Cropping / editing basics
• Etsy-specific tips
• Should I upgrade to a DSLR?
• Tips for shooting with a DSLR
• Editing in RAW

I would appreciate advice about any and all of these sections and anything else that you think that I should include.

Thank you in advance!

seeking camera advice

The time is coming....

I've held out with using a point and shoot camera for a long time now.  I've always believed that when you get started with any kind of photography, there is no reason to run right out and buy a high end camera.  I still believe this.  However, during this past year, I feel like I have completely maxed out what I can do with my point and shoot and that my photography is stagnating.  I'm just not sure what else I can learn about point and shoot photography with the camera that I have that will significantly improve my shooting.  I could invest in a higher end point and shoot, but if I'm going to upgrade, I feel like I should go all the way and finally jump into this venture with both feet.

With that being said, I am still in the very early stages of research of DSLR cameras and accessories.  I'm looking for tips for both camera bodies and equipment.  Here are my thoughts thus far.

• Camera body: Almost everyone I know who does similar shooting to me (lots of photos for blogs, product photography for an online shop, article photography, and/or some recreational/family shooting) has some type of Canon Rebel.  I have been very pleased with my Canon PowerShot and am inclined to stick with Canon.  If you own a Canon Rebel, I'm interested in: 1) your opinion of it and 2) whether you think it would be a good fit for me.  If you don't but own another body that you think would be a good fit, let me know.  I'm not too concerned about specific models at this point, as I most likely won't be making a purchase for another 6 months and there will be new ones available at that point.
• Lens(es): I'm sure it's not a surprise that my biggest focus with photography is macro photography.  I've heard mixed reviews about the body/lens packages that some web sites and stores offer and would like opinions on that.  Share any and all information that you have about your favorite lenses, particularly those that you use for macro shooting.
• Camera bag: I know that a lot of women photographers love Jo Totes and Cheeky Lime.  I really don't want anything that large.  Period.  If you have something smaller that you love, do share. Something in a cool color and/or handmade is nice, but a classic black Canon bag is just fine, too.
• Camera strap: I understand the importance of having a comfortable strap and don't mind spending a little more to get a high quality, comfortable strap.  Do you have one that you really like?  I'm all ears.
• Memory card:  You can laugh at me, but I'm currently using a single 4GB memory card.  Honestly it has been plenty of space for everything that I do on a weekly basis.  Now that Jake is almost done with intern year and will be getting his life back this summer, we will be taking more trips again, and it would be nice to have some more memory space.  We have some reward dollars at Best Buy right now so I may decide to upgrade my card within the next month.  I've heard varying opinions about different brands and sizes and am not sure if there's any truth there is to it, particularly for those of us who are not professional photographers.
• Photoshop: I seriously have no idea what my hang up is with Photoshop is because I obviously am pretty fearless when it comes to learning new things on the computer.  Even the basic Photoshop terminology overwhelms me so I've just avoided it until this point.  I feel like part of making this photography jump includes finally buying and learning Photoshop.  Do you have any favorite beginner Photoshop books and/or web sites?  I know that there are tons of tutorial sites out there that will be helpful, but for now I'm looking for something that teaches the basics really well.

Is there anything obvious that I'm missing here?  Don't be afraid to let me know.  Thanks in advance for your feedback on this topic!