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.

Product Staging

Product on White, Spice Jars
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.
Spice Jars for Product Styling
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.
Product Styling
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.
Product Lifestyle Staging

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

Male Portrait Headshot

Male Portrait Headshot

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.

Portrait Photography on White

Portrait Photography on White Background

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.

Couple’s Portrait

Couples Portrait Photography

Beauty Dish Photography
This is a simple one light shot. White back drop, a beauty dish with an Einstein 640 flash, 1/4 power. Light was positioned to the extreme camera left approx. 45 degree angle over shoulder of man pointed at girl.

Canon 7D
lens:  70-200mm f/2.8
Aperture f8
Shutter Speed 1/250
White background turned grey since the couple was 8 feet in front.  The skin tones varied dramatically, desaturation was the ideal solution.

One Light Portrait-Flash

Studio Portrait Composite

Professional Portrait

Both are one light (flash) portraits.
Einstein 640 @ 1/4 power
22″ beauty dish, diffused
ISO 100
Aperture f8
Shutter Speed 1/200
Daylight balanced
Canon 7 D 70-200 2.8
set to Neutral

It all begins with a well lit photo. The beauty dish was placed directly overhead of subject, just out of frame, using white foam core for fill bounce below at waist level.

Shot against a white backdrop brought in an artist to create Illustrator backgrounds with texture, and manipulated photo and backgrounds in Photoshop.