Well I'm not going to disagree with a professional photographer, indeed naillover I'll probably be contacting you shortly for help for myself. 
However, might I add with respect that I think the guys here are looking for the simplest solution that will get the best results. I've just started looking into photography with help from a knowledgeable friend and I'm already totally baffled with depth of field and aperture and shutter settings.
My mottos is K.I.S.S. Keep it simple .... stupid! If I take it that I'm the stupid one, then I need to keep it simple until I know more about a particular subject, I have to say that it works well for me most of the time. Here's a simple setup that I think anyone could duplicate, using just some odds & ends from around the house. As Jackie pointed out previously, some of the nail pics mentioned at the start of this thread were taken with a 4 year old Olympus C-2 which just goes to prove that you dont need a top of the range camera to achieve good results.
First of all, you need to create the right conditions for yourself. Make sure that you are comfortable taking your pics, make sure the lighting is adequate and you've got some kind of stable platform for your camera. I've 'designed' a small portable studio LMAO (studio is probably strecthing it a lot) I've used some easily available things such as, 2 breadboards, a few pieces of black fabric (the smoother the better), an old fold-up chair, a halogen desk lamp and the single most important piece..... a tripod (cheap one that cost £20). If you havent got a tripod yet, you can use a secure platform such as a table, or a pile of books, etc. However, i would strongly urge everyone who wants good shots to get a tripod asap, you wont regret it.
Pic of kit:
Setup your 'studio' to your liking. If you want to use the available natural light, make sure to have the studio set up in the right direction. Here's my studio in its naked state, ie, before I added the background fabric and subject to photograph. It should help to give you an idea of just how simple this setup really is.
Pic of bare studio:
Next dress up your studio with the farbic, smooth out any creases and remove any dust, pet hairs, etc. These things can all take the attention away from your subject, the nails.
Pic of Setup:
Now set up your camera. Dont worry, I wont baffle you with lots of technical terms, mostly because I dont actually know any. LOL One thing you should check though is the 'white-balance' adjustment on your camera. You'll need to have a quick read through the appropiate section in your camera manual to find out to access this part of the menu on your own camera. On the Olympus, you can adjust the settings for (1) sunny day (2) cloudy day (3) fluorescent lights and (4) standard household lights. Simply set your white balance to the conditions you'll be shooting under and that's it. More modern and/or expensive cameras will have more extensive white balance options, read through the manual to find out how to set it up. Next set your camera on 'macro', the setting depicted by the little flower symbol. Now you can position your camera in relation to your subject. Get in as close as possible making sure that you frame the subject well. Remember, it's nice to have some additional stuff in the shot such as fancy rings, bracelets, etc, but it's the nails that we want to see, so make them the focal point of the picture. Look at your LCD screen and depress the shutter button half-way to let the camera focus in, if you're happy with what you see, depress the shutter button fully. If you're using an additional light source such as a desk lamp, try moving the lamp to a different location and notice the changes to the subject. Take another pic. Simply repeat this process and you're guaranteed to end up with some great shots. This following picture was taken with a 4 year old Olympus C-2 mentioned above.
However, might I add with respect that I think the guys here are looking for the simplest solution that will get the best results. I've just started looking into photography with help from a knowledgeable friend and I'm already totally baffled with depth of field and aperture and shutter settings.My mottos is K.I.S.S. Keep it simple .... stupid! If I take it that I'm the stupid one, then I need to keep it simple until I know more about a particular subject, I have to say that it works well for me most of the time. Here's a simple setup that I think anyone could duplicate, using just some odds & ends from around the house. As Jackie pointed out previously, some of the nail pics mentioned at the start of this thread were taken with a 4 year old Olympus C-2 which just goes to prove that you dont need a top of the range camera to achieve good results.
First of all, you need to create the right conditions for yourself. Make sure that you are comfortable taking your pics, make sure the lighting is adequate and you've got some kind of stable platform for your camera. I've 'designed' a small portable studio LMAO (studio is probably strecthing it a lot) I've used some easily available things such as, 2 breadboards, a few pieces of black fabric (the smoother the better), an old fold-up chair, a halogen desk lamp and the single most important piece..... a tripod (cheap one that cost £20). If you havent got a tripod yet, you can use a secure platform such as a table, or a pile of books, etc. However, i would strongly urge everyone who wants good shots to get a tripod asap, you wont regret it.
Pic of kit:
Setup your 'studio' to your liking. If you want to use the available natural light, make sure to have the studio set up in the right direction. Here's my studio in its naked state, ie, before I added the background fabric and subject to photograph. It should help to give you an idea of just how simple this setup really is.
Pic of bare studio:
Next dress up your studio with the farbic, smooth out any creases and remove any dust, pet hairs, etc. These things can all take the attention away from your subject, the nails.
Pic of Setup:
Now set up your camera. Dont worry, I wont baffle you with lots of technical terms, mostly because I dont actually know any. LOL One thing you should check though is the 'white-balance' adjustment on your camera. You'll need to have a quick read through the appropiate section in your camera manual to find out to access this part of the menu on your own camera. On the Olympus, you can adjust the settings for (1) sunny day (2) cloudy day (3) fluorescent lights and (4) standard household lights. Simply set your white balance to the conditions you'll be shooting under and that's it. More modern and/or expensive cameras will have more extensive white balance options, read through the manual to find out how to set it up. Next set your camera on 'macro', the setting depicted by the little flower symbol. Now you can position your camera in relation to your subject. Get in as close as possible making sure that you frame the subject well. Remember, it's nice to have some additional stuff in the shot such as fancy rings, bracelets, etc, but it's the nails that we want to see, so make them the focal point of the picture. Look at your LCD screen and depress the shutter button half-way to let the camera focus in, if you're happy with what you see, depress the shutter button fully. If you're using an additional light source such as a desk lamp, try moving the lamp to a different location and notice the changes to the subject. Take another pic. Simply repeat this process and you're guaranteed to end up with some great shots. This following picture was taken with a 4 year old Olympus C-2 mentioned above.
