Product Photography

I love product photography, probably because it's one of the more geeky forms of photography! You need to think about location, composition, lighting, depth of field, focal length, white balance, I could go on.... The traditional product shot with the subject cutout on a white background has it's place, but I prefer placing objects in an environment creating more of a narrative.

George has kindly lent me his new shoes to illustrate this; they have been to the park this morning so I apologise they aren't quite "box fresh". A garden setting with a few colourful props are designed to give you the feeling of summer and outside play.

I've used natural light for this shot as it was a cloudy morning which gave a nicely diffused light. A reflector fills in shadows on the front of the shoes and I picked a zoom lens which helps isolate your subject by seperating it from the background. I like to link my camera to my iPad to help setup and review the images.

By the time I had taken the shot George wanted his shoes back and more importantly a second trip to the park. When out and about I tend to carry my 50mm prime lens which is a great all rounder. Just as we left the house George started pointing at his new shoes and I quickly took this shot.

I like this image as its playful and the leading shoe is in focus while the foreground and building behind are out of focus and don't detract from the subject. This shallow depth of field is achieved by shooting with a large aperature and getting in close to the subject. It just proves that sometimes the best shots aren't the planned ones and you should always have your camera ready!

So there you have it, two different lifestyle product photographs which I think nicely show off George's new shoes. I have a mobile studio for taking more traditional product photographs so to finish the set I've taken your standard white background product shot.

If you have any product, food or portrait photography requirements I would love to hear about your project.