Guitar Photography Made Easy

[Jay McClellan]

Here's a really easy and cheap way to make great-looking photos of your guitars, with no guitar stand or cluttered background to detract from your fine craftsmanship. You need a blank wall that gets a fair amount of light, preferably indirect light from more than one direction so you don't get harsh shadows. I chose a wall that gets light from several south-facing windows. Then I put two small ceiling hooks into the ceiling about 12" from the wall and 24" apart - the distances aren't critical but make sure they are screwed into solid wood joists/trusses and not just drywall. Then I tied loops in the ends of a piece of 30-pound-test fish line long enough to put the guitar where I want it, and strung it between the ceiling hooks. Screw eyes would work too but this lets me remove the fish line when I'm not using it, which I strongly recommend because it can get brittle with long-term light exposure. The fish line just hooks around two of the tuning machines on the headstock so it takes only a second to mount the guitar facing either way, and it's nearly invisible in the photos so the guitar seems to float in mid air.

[Francis M]

Nice tip. You can take it further by bringing the guitar farther from the wall allowing you to place additional reflectors/lights to the sides. For high gloss instruments shoot through a plain white or light grey sheet (just keep the lens reflection out of view) that will lighten the soundboard and enhance its grain details.