As our month of reflection continues we look at trying product photography
In this job it’s easy to be pigeonholed as “those are the people who make that kind of video”, so it’s always nice when a client asks you to try something new! We were grateful that P&W allowed to flex our creative muscles with some product photography. Product photography is a bit of a dark art and specialists are highly sought after for their skills in making consumer packaged goods look as appealing as they possibly can be. We pulled in the help of an experienced Director of Photography, Keidrych Wasley, who has shot a number of our recent productions. We filmed on the fantastic Arri mini camera and used macro lenses to capture close up detail. The product photography came out looking great and our client was thrilled to see the products that they had designed look so good in the finished video.
We’re looking back over our work in 2020. You can see how the product photography for P&W looked in our video here!
What is product photography?
Product photography involves styling products, setting up great shots with good lighting to perfectly demonstrate to the consumer what the product is. High quality product photography is an essential part of e-commerce and key deciding factor when it comes to purchasing.
The trick is making the product look as good as possible. As you’re capturing a static object, it’s about getting the focus, exposure and lighting right, selecting the best background to highlight the object, and ensuring the product is clean with no dust, there’s no wrinkles etc.
The product needs to be the focal-point of the photograph or video and positioned in the foreground.
Small props can help to elevate your product photography such as flowers and tablecloths, by bringing in more colour and creating a tone. For instance, flowers in the background evoking summer, or pine sprigs evoking winter. Props can also offer context for products, such as adding slices of lime when advertising a brand of gin.