Simply placing the products in front of a white background and clicking on the digital images is not enough. The importance of the visual lies in its aesthetic sensibility. Beginners should never undermine the importance of sticking to these essentials. The simple application of the basic rules can make an ordinary image emerge as a masterpiece!

The three L’s are the way to go! Lighting, lenses and location … let’s take a look at all these aspects and understand the best way to combine craftsmanship and creativity to produce perfect product shots!

When it comes to lighting, the main thing is to create a soft and orderly lighting that enhances the appearance of the product, making it bright and sparkling. A light set of umbrellas or softies with good diffusion can be used for key and fill. You can even plug in a bulb or overhead light if desired. The idea is a feeling of balanced clarity during the day and not a warm yellow light. Also with a soft light you can avoid harsh shadows, which can spoil the beauty of the product. Beautiful drop shadows or reverse mirror images can be created on minor transparencies in post. A solid one-color background can be illuminated or even a light tent can be used. If you don’t have softies or elinchroms or the budget to hire then you should go for daylight. A cloudy day in English is perfect for a photo shoot! Or you can place your subject on a textured table informing an open window light source. Just be sure to attach some butter paper or even a sheer white curtain will do!

The use of lenses is an important aspect in product shots, as texture and detail are important. Products look much better from afar than if you stand close to the image and click. Get yourself a decent long lens and go back to click decent images. If you have a Nikon, a 105mm or 70-180mm macro should suffice. For a Canon DSLR, a 100mm macro is a good choice. Whether you’re photographing tiles, beer cans, or cell phones, these would be more than adequate.

Location is the third main characteristic in a product session. Depending on the type of campaign, the medium and the budget, it is fixed. You will have to do your pre-production, referencing, recognition, etc. respectively. If it’s a studio session, you need to create a light map, plan the background or stage, or sometimes do a test session to see if everything is okay. If it’s outdoor shots, check the locations, find out the backgrounds and items with the art director. The size of the locations will also affect your backdrop dimensions and possibilities. If there are models involved in the shoot, again the planning will change accordingly. The photographer must have a good idea of ​​where he is filming and use the space effectively to display the product.

Creative application of these 3 L’s to product photography will result in great images.