PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS AND TUTORIALS FROM HURRICANE IMAGES INC.
POWERFUL INTIMATE VIDEOGRAPHY / PHOTOGRAPHY | www.hurricaneimagesinc.com

Friday, March 14, 2014

Day 56, Learning 56: Product Lighting


Mostly, I'm a people photographer.  Photojournalism or so-called "formal" portraits are my passion-- I say so-called because its wrong to call a fashion shoot formal.  Staged might be closer.  But if you want to excel in your niche, you have to be skilled in every other type of photography that surrounds it-- and that's pretty much them all.  One day that model is going to be holding a bottle of Jim Beam, and for the advertiser they're equally important parts of the frame. So here's a few tips for product photography:

  • Soft, round (big) lights-- like you get from box lighting-- is okay for Amazon.com or product packages; but
  • Soft, round (big) lights are too bland for advertising.  Go with small lights.
  • On shiny surfaces, work with small reflectors/mirrors, as well as black flags/strips/blocks to add shadows
  • The object doesn't move, so use continuous lights and low shutter speeds (with a tripod)
  • On matte surfaces, scrape the light across (use low, side lighting)
  • Light the background for more separation
  • Know the background color they'll be using if the product will be a knock out
  • If it are doing a knock out (replacing the background) the original background should be on a spectrum from white to black-- never colored.  Otherwise you'll get color bleed on the product.
  • Err towards too bright or slight over-exposure

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