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Genres in practice3 min read

LESSON 44

Product

Clean light for things that sell.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. Part of still life
  2. In practice: the clean product shot
  3. In practice: shiny, clear and dark things
  4. In practice: beyond the white background

Part of still life

Product photography is one branch of still life photography, the genre that shows inanimate objects, usually a small group of them. Food photography, tabletop work and found-object pictures are others. Still life gives the photographer more control over arrangement than portrait or landscape, because nothing moves and everything can be placed. Lighting and framing are the main tools. The source notes that still life pictures are usually made neither very close nor very far, and often from a head-on angle. In 2010 the J. Paul Getty Museum showed the form in the exhibition In Focus: Still Life.

In practice: the clean product shot

From here on, this lesson is working practice. A standard catalogue picture shows the product alone on white or a plain colour, sharp from front to back, with true colour. A sweep of paper that curves from the table up the wall hides the horizon line. Light it with one large soft source to the side and a white card on the other, and adjust until the shape reads clearly. Use a tripod and a middle or small aperture. Set a custom white balance from a grey card, because buyers return things whose colour was wrong.

In practice: shiny, clear and dark things

Also practice. Reflective objects show the room, so what you light is not the object but the things it reflects. Hang a large white panel where the shine should appear, and black card where you want dark edges. Glass looks best lit from behind through a diffuser, which draws dark outlines around its edges, or lit against black with two strip lights at the sides for bright outlines. Dark products, such as black electronics, need a light that skims across them to show their form. Clean everything first; at high resolution, dust and fingerprints are the first things a viewer sees.

In practice: beyond the white background

Also practice. A product in use or in a setting tells a buyer how it fits their life: a bag on a shoulder, a lamp on a desk, a knife beside sliced bread. Choose props that support the product and do not compete with it, and keep colours in one family. Shoot several angles and close details, because people cannot pick the item up. If the pictures are for an online shop, check its size and background rules before you begin, so the set is consistent from the first frame.

Try it today

  1. 01Pick one object from your desk.
  2. 02Tape a sheet of white paper so it curves from the table up the wall.
  3. 03Light it from one side through a window or a thin curtain, and add a white card opposite.
  4. 04Set a custom white balance and shoot from a tripod at f/8.
  5. 05Make five frames: front, three-quarter, back, a detail, and in use.