This welcoming commercial property provided a number of scenic shots. We shot the interior rooms as well, but these show the gorgeous Arizona sun which proved the ideal lighting!
Equipment used:
Canon 5d Mark III
Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
Natural Lighting
Some products are just gorgeous due to their exterior surface. This diamond pattern is lovely! The reflective nature is the tough part about photographing this product. Our client is launching a new product line with two sizes of this unit. They also wanted to show the quality of craftsmanship, details and a product styled use image.
Product styling always sounds simple: Grab some items and stack them inside. The last thing you want for your product is distraction from the unit. In this case we discussed colors of soda, lid options, choice of cans, what to put on the top rack, position of the labels and making sure everything was “balanced” to the eye–and keep these items from moving/rolling. Attention to detail pays off in a well laid out composition and the product “shines”. In this case–it always shines!
Reflective products (glass, metal, jewelry, high gloss acrylic products) offer challenges. Once the lighting is in place-then you begin to block out reflections you don’t want – inclusive of the photographer in the product. Controlling the light to not blow out the high reflection, yet show off that very shiny surface we all love. The diamond metal pattern here controlled some of the typical hot spots. We were also able to make use of massive overhead natural lighting and several white reflectors to obtain an even product surface look. Working all of the elements together takes a lot of time. We spend more time setting up a shot, than shooting, typically. Shooting multiple angles meant repositioning everything (continuous lighting, white reflectors, c-stands, every clothes pin and re-taping) with each change of angle, and the second unit.
When you’re selling online any product photography should include an all-the-parts shot, manuals included. Let prospective clients know what’s in the box. We’ve also been asked to edit the photos adding the dimensions for clients. Make it easy for people to buy your product!
Continuous Lighting
Natural Lighting
White Reflectors
Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Lens
Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro Lens
Lifestyle photography is the answer to original polished photography of your business for your website and print marketing. Your staff is unique to your business. Stock photography used to be the go-to solution for businesses, but finding the same images used on hundreds, or more, websites dilutes your message. Read more about stock versus original photography.
This image was shot using
Paul Buff Einstein
64″ PLM Umbrella
24-70 mm Canon Lens
This photo was shot using Paul Buff Einstein, Beauty Dish and 24-70 mm lens. Great marketing photography with real people on the job.
This staff portrait shot on location using three 580 Speedlites and a small umbrella.
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.
See more product photography.
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
Website photos can go beyond the somber to this fun shoot. It captures the fun spirit of this staff portrait. (We took serious shots, too – but these won out!)
Using 64″ Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas, two Einsteins to get that beautiful deep separation of tones.
Time to update your website? Make it personal by adding photos of the people your clients interact with over the phone or when visiting your business. Stepping away from the classic group staff photo and adding a little creativity with a blend of Southern California casual can give your website personality and an air of friendliness. Let your website speak for your business with staff 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.
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.
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.
Your typical three story industrial distribution warehouse building. Getting the exterior shot was the simplest part of this job, but the client installed a massive air conditioning system and wanted to capture the expanse of this project.
These air conditioning ducts are massive. This ended up being a pretty shot – architecturally speaking.
You can’t get this with your iPhone. Critical to my client were shots of the air ducts – which were 3 stories up, no ladder or lift system to get me close, and these ceilings were 80% dark. The crew was laying in the ceiling panels as I worked staying ahead of them before the window to shoot was gone. I used a 35 mm lens and metered for the darkness to achieve the results above.