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
Equipment used:
Paul Buff 22 inch Beauty Dish with Diffusion
Set to one side, camera right
Einstein 640 Studio Flash
Black sweep
Canon 6D, 35mm 1.4
Portraits for men begin with getting the subject relaxed in front of the camera. A natural relaxed position is the goal so the subject looks comfortable. You only have a few minutes to determine the best pose for any given shot. There are no hard fast rules. You’re looking for individuality.
Equipment used:
Paul Buff 86 inch PLM
PLM 7 feet back from subject with photographer in front of it
Einstein 640 Studio Flash
white sweep
Canon 6D, 35mm 1.4
Information on posing men for portraits is far less easy to find than posing women. The male portrait is about capturing completely different traits. Rather than cute or glamorous the male portrait is about strength, fitness, coolness, ease or likability.
Typically men need a purpose for their hands. If not using their hands, they can get fidgety and feel uncomfortable.
This model was awkward smiling directly into the camera and as with most male clients: didn’t know what to do with his hands. The photographer had him put one hand in a pocket, the other holding a pair of glasses. The assistant was off to the side making the model laugh. The photographer said, “When you start laughing look into the camera” and we got the shot.
This setting was chosen by the photographer to capture the subject, who is an artist, in a pensive mood while she creates. This brings the focus to the face while keeping the body language central in the composition.
Using a white background for this portrait is all about bathing the subject in translucent white, having her melt into the surrounding white. To achieve this stunning effect requires a wash of light. The photographer used two Paul Buff 86 inch PLM soft silver with diffusion, lighting the sides and background; and a 64 inch PLM in front of the subject. The light is critical to obtaining this elegant softness of light. This shot required no Photoshop.
This portrait was shot on a grey background on location. The simple staging of a coffee table gave nice foreground texture. The light source was a Paul Buff 22 inch beauty dish with a grid. This bounce flash light modifier is beautifully flattering to faces.
The photographer’s library of backgrounds is a collection of textured surfaces such as tin siding, stucco walls, weather beaten exterior house walls, stone surfaces, etc. These he shoots specifically for this purpose of blending and layering to build up an artistic backdrop for a studio portrait. The manipulating of these backgrounds takes place in Photoshop to his creative eye. This background was a composite of 2 backgrounds over the grey studio backdrop.
Read more on our website about backgrounds for portraits.