The equipment I used for this set up:
Sony A7rIV with a Sony 24-105mm f/4 Lense
Godox AD600 Pro with a 55" October w/diffuser
C stand with arm and a tripod w/sandbags
White Seemless Paper
The Box
Props
I marked the floor where my camera/light, and the box needed to sit. I wanted to be able to move my equipment while I do other jobs and come back to it sitting int he same place. For further validation, I measured the distance from my camera to the front of the box. In this case I was exactly 6 feet with my light parallel to the camera and roughly 3 feet above the camera.
I used the level settings on my camera to ensure it was not tilted to the left or to the right. But where I struggled with making sure I was level, was whether my camera was titled forward or backward....
Camera and Light settings:
1/250
f/4.5
ISO 200
Light 1/32
I positioned my camera to be centered on the box both vertically and horizontally. I did not adjust my camera position but as you may have seen in the videos, my camera was slightly facing downward and I had to distort the image to make the image appear flat. (you can see this in the bus image of the camera, the sides of the box appear further away than top).
These settings may vary based on the lighting you have available. A camera mounted flash may give you similar results but a diffuser and a tripod are certainly recommend.
Something important to consider is ensuring you'll take the right shots for the interactions you intend to make happen between the boxes (if any). It's also important to plan this out if you are bothered by the perception of the boxes when joined all together (Example: if the boxes were really stacked on top of each other and you were standing in front of them, you would see more of the bottom of the bottom row of boxes than you would of the top row) To accommodate for this you would need to position the camera higher, lower, or to each side for every box. For my boudoir image, I shot each image on center.
I also drew out boxes and did stick figure things or descriptions , I made one for you to download too! (Click the image to get your worksheet)
Once you've set up your equipment and determined how you will shoot the images, it's a good idea to test it all out. My studio has black out curtains on the windows (mostly because I'm in Texas and the sun beams down on the long side of my studio all afternoon : I die in here all summer long). Be mindful of "where" your client is positioned in the box. If they sit towards the front of box vs sitting towards the back, the images next to each other will make the client appear of different sizes. It's a trippy optical illusion....although, it could be because of how I "distorted" the images, which is highlighted in my editing videos that you'll learn about next....