This dental practice wanted their website to reflect the fun spirit of the dentists and the staff. We put a different spin on the lifestyle portraits of the team groups. This turned out beautifully with composition and balance and the doctor’s smile lights up the photo.
Lighting:
Paul C Buff 64″ PLM Umbrellas
Two Einsteins
A large staff group shot needs a bit of pre-planning. This session greatly benefited from color coordinated clothing. Body language is a subtle way to bring the comfortable warmth of a large group and takes patience to arrange.
Lighting for a large group gives depth. We used 64″ Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas – one on each side.
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.
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.
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.
This diffuser product begins with a lush reflective foreground and organic items to complement the style of this product. Shooting on a specialized surface gives the refection we were after fading into white. This is achieved by a lot of light precisely directed.
For a dramatic style we pulled in a textured background, a simple brick and keeping our organic theme – a few accents to give this diffuser a new face!
Read more about product styling.
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.
Product on a white background has become the standard for product images. Whether to use a full shadow, or slight shadow, or no shadow is the next question. But when you’re ready to show off your product creativity opens a fabulous door. The above photo of spice jars keeps three of the four jars in focus, with a slight out of focus on the third jar, for a subtle statement.
The next photo is a lovely simple composition, still on white for an open, floating feeling, adding the spoon for a touch of lifestyle. A subtle product styling idea.
Still keeping the product styling simple we’ve added an organic feel using wood for the presentation. These are only a few ways to style your product. Keep your own product as an alternative to stock photography for your website.
Finally adding a full background frames the jars using a brick for strong base statement. The first jar has the strength and focus, allowing the other jars to become part of the background. You get the idea of the vast possibilities when you’re ready to take bring your product front and center in your website and promotion.
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.
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
taken on-site at auto repair shop
As a photographer I can appreciate stock photography. Well lit images, with models, shiny clean cars and wonderful macro photography. For business owners they have been a resource for a long time to get professional photography onto their website. Consider lifestyle photography for polished original images of your business.
As the internet has evolved users have become savvier with higher expectations. In a visual world photos are seen faster than website copy is read, which gives them the potential to deliver a message quicker. Users have become cynical: “Are we supposed to believe that model works at your company? And are these people always that happy discussing one piece of paper?” On top of this skepticism you run the risk of these same images being seen repeatedly on other websites – and worse…a competitor’s site. Show pictures of real customers, your staff, your product, and your location. A professional photographer not only brings proper equipment, but helpful insight into staging scenes to cover all your photo needs from staff to facility, and services.
Use your photos on your website to deliver your message with text laid across the image. Make a bold statement – and keep it real.
Google has taken an interest in photos and how to give more weight to original photography versus stock images. That is reason enough to take a closer look at professional photography for your business. Google is secretive in many of the “how” they make their decisions, rather than waiting to figure it out, take heed and make a change.
While everyone has a smartphone/iPhone and can take good photos – at some point you will need a professional photographer to take your business photos to the next level. This is especially true when your business is a product, or your product is you – as a service provider. We hire professionals when we want the job done right – from plumbers to electricians to photographers. It’s your business; put your best face forward to the public.
