Cosmetic Product Photography

Cosmetic Product Photography

What began as 35 cosmetic products turned into a full line of 360 products for a full e-commerce website.  Using continuous lighting many shots needed stack focusing to provide crystal clear focus from front to back.  We used a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro L lens no more than 1 foot from the product and set the aperture at f8.

To create the shine on the brushes, lipsticks and other reflective products we used a variety of light modifiers (scrims) to create each gradient.

Color matching is always critical for e-commerce and requires special 2 fold attention – lighting the color consistently, then visually matching the product to the screen in post.  Though all monitors use RGB, not all monitors will display color the same. Things like graphics card, monitor drivers affect the actual display of color on every device. Despite knowing this shooting the products under strict lighting and visually color matching they will be consistent and you’ll minimize product return headaches when color is part of the buying decision.

Cosmetic Photography

See more product photography.

Cosmetic Line Photography

Pet Carrier Product Photography

Pet Carrier Product Photography

Our model was cooperative – AND cute!  The pine-cone was his choice-seems it’s a favorite.  For these pet carrier product lifestyle shots we used existing light, Canon Speedlites, the Canon 6D with ND filters with a Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L lens.

Lifestyle Photography

Lifestyle photography is helpful with products like carriers to show consumers the product “in action” and also to bring a human feel to the website.

Pet Product Photography

We also shot the full line of pet carriers products.  These carriers are collapsible, with multiple handles, straps, openings. We shot 5-6 angles of each carrier on white background.

Pearl Jewelry Photography

Pearl Jewelry Photography

Typically the proper way to shoot a product set up like this is to have 2 separate shots and composite these in Photoshop.  It’s impossible to properly exposure for the box and not blow out the white pearls. For this shoot we didn’t have time to remove the pearls as this was rush job.  We elevated the camera to a high angle using a macro lens, used an overhead diffused light source with a silk scrim. We used another light source in front – to highlight the front of the box and the top inside of the box.  Once we properly exposed the light we stack focused with about 20 shots from top to bottom.  We would like the box interior whiter, but couldn’t do it in the time we had, so this shot was usable.  Generally these types of jewelry shots require an enormous amount of time get the right lighting with the proper exposure.

Pearl Ring on White

We had enough time to properly execute this shot, which requires two separate set ups.  The first setup was to light and properly expose the ring.  We only used an overhead light source with a silk scrim for this, stack focusing with about 10 shots using a 2.8 macro lens.  For the second setup we removed the ring using three light sources for the outside and inside of the box.  We stack focused with about 10 images.  In Photoshop we put the two shots together achieving the whiter box interior.

Leather Belt on White Background

Leather Belt on White Background

Product on white background is the standard today. Minimal stack focusing is needed for this black leather belt leaving the edges slightly out of focus for an attractive image with depth. We used a transparent surface using three studio flashes – one overhead with a silk scrim, two soft boxes on either side with flags to block the light.  A white background is lit by one flash meticulously placed, together yielding the pure white background we’re after.

Table Top Product Styling

Glass on White Background
The beauty of clear shiny glass.  Lighting glass requires a toolbox of gadgets to achieve the final product image on white.  A specialized surface gives the reflection in the foreground at the base of the glass diffuser. In order to keep any shadow from interfering with the transparency looking front to back means flooding the background with light and strategically placed strobe flashes. While striving for glass on white be careful not to lose the definition of the bottle. We used a number of light modifiers and redirected light as need to create this final image of lightness and clarity.

White Background for Amazon Specs

Amazon Product on White, Photography
Amazon has strict requirements for its product photography. All products need to be shot on a white background.  Sounds simple until you realize “white” is a precise hex color # 255, 255, 255. While there are multiple ways to achieve this result for this product we used a specialized surface to give a beautiful transparent, “floating” feel.  The studio strobes have to be precisely placed to pull this off. Flooding the white background with light bathes the dog whistle in pure white.  Just what Amazon desires.  Also helpful to our client was a captioned photo of parts. See more product photography photos.
Dog Whistle for Amazon
Captioned Product Photo Parts for Amazon

Retail Display Photographer

Retail Product Display Photographer

Chrome retail product displays have a striking beauty, even before hanging your product on one! The lovely reflective surface bounces light making it fun to photograph.  As with all reflective surfaces the challenge is controlling the light to capture the shiny surface. View more of our catalog photography on our website.

A typical set up includes:
2- Soft Silver Paul C. Buff’s PLMs with diffusion
Paul C Buff’s Einsteins
White background

White Background for Product Images

The explosion of Amazon as a marketplace has sent many sellers scrambling to meet the  “on white background” standard set for Amazon sellers. It can be frustrating because Amazon defines on-white as in RGB color 255, 255, 255.  The slightest off shade results in non-compliance.

There are two ways to achieve this pure white.  The best quality is to shoot the product on white and truly have it ON white, properly lit. Like this:

shoe product on white background

But what if your product is white?  If you try to shoot white on white (pure white) without professional setup equipment you’ll end up with little definition to your product.  There are techniques used by photographers one of which is using acrylic to give a suspended look to the product and flooding it with light resulting is a rich depth of white – on white.  Notice the sheen, the fibers of the nylon straps and the full out line of each product.  Like this:
White on White Product Photography

The other method of achieving a pure white background is using Photoshop to extract the product.  If you begin with a properly well-lit product and know you will finish the work in Photoshop this can result in getting more shots taken in your session time.  It’s a discussion to have with your client.  Extraction works for products with defined lines – fuzzy slippers will be more time consuming to extract.  As a photographer you need to budget your time, or you will spend more time in Photoshop than if you had properly lit the product to begin with. Bottom line: get a the best image with your camera and you can save time OR do the most in Photoshop.
T-shirts Extracted for White Background

Why hire a professional photographer?

It’s tempting to pick up your cell and begin snapping photos of your business for your website.  Ten years ago this was acceptable for websites, but the internet is now a far more polished place and website visitors have a higher expectation of quality.

As a professional in your own business you understand the knowledge and experience it takes to deliver the quality service or products you sell.  When it comes to photographing your business, staff portraits or product photography you want a professional to deliver outstanding images to promote your business.  To expect your employees to be able to deliver images that a professional can is unrealistic.  There is a huge difference between a hobbyist and a professional.

A pro photographer uses professional cameras, lighting, backdrops and knows ways to manipulate light to capture the best photo of your products, facility or personnel.  A professional photographer will get to know your business and match the look and feel of your branding.  He’ll have suggestions for the best shots and composition bringing a creative artistic eye to your project.  Taking your vision of a project and delivering eye-catching photographs.

Most photos benefit from processing – however minimal a professional photographer’s eye preparing the images ensures superior quality. Take your business project to the next level use a professional for professional results.

catalog photography

Bedding Staging Product Photography

Bedding Staging Product Photography

Fully staged this bedding shot combined full props, natural light and composite photography. Thorough experimentation with the sheets to find the best display for pattern and colors. All other elements needed to funnel the eye toward the bed sheets. Two products in the nightstand help to solidify the product in this grand setting. While an intimate shot this required placement of the bed, nightstand and shooting the window light separately to give maximum control.