We have answered some essential questions on the topic:
1. What is the purpose of a given photograph?
The background for photos is chosen based on their eventual purpose. Cosmetics catalogs often use neutral backgrounds with shadows. If the photo itself is to be placed on a white background, the image needs to have a high-contrast background. For brochures, the emphasis is placed on authentic, accurate angles. Making quality cosmetics photography is a challenge: not only does it need originality in angles, but also a creative approach to each task.
2. What equipment is necessary?
To make high-quality photos of cosmetic products, several pieces of equipment need to be used: a sturdy tripod, a macro lens with a focal length of fifty millimeters or more, as well as high gloss glass (preferably, of black and white colors for contrast). It is mandatory to use milky white plexiglass, and thin cotton gloves.
3. What are the lighting conditions requirements?
In beauty product photography, several pictures must be taken in rapid succession. The lighting conditions are determined by the surface on which the item is placed. Let’s take makeup product photography as an example. For a lipstick, it is generally accepted to take two pictures, one of the lipstick itself, and one of only the packaging. Then, a photo editor such as Photoshop can be used to merge the two images. For catalogs, it is most optimal to choose a soft, light background which accentuates the brightness of the shades. For such tasks, soft boxes need to be used. When working with multiple light sources, double shadows are to be avoided.
4. What are some of the life hacks to make quality photos?
Even if a photographer has all the necessary equipment and accessories, even if they know how to work with lighting, to make the best possible beauty product photos, some small life hacks are to be used:
To make the background for a photo light, and the shades soft and pronounced, a plain white sheet of paper is to be put under the glass.
To prevent fingerprints from appearing on the products, photographers use cotton gloves.
To change the position of the product, the plexiglass is rotated.
To achieve optimal reflections which are important for quality photographs, milky white gloss glass can be used.
These life hacks, and many more, are common practice for our professional photographers here at StylePhotos. If you need any beauty product photos taken, be sure to contact us for high-quality results!
Any kind of product! No, really, from cosmetics and candles to towels, electronics and more products, anything our clients require! Our product photographers specialize in professional photography, product photography, fashion photography, food photography, and commercial photography.
Quality product photos can be done as tabletop shots. Overall, product photography involves any kind of product photo shot apart from clothing items, and oftentimes, it includes additional props in the shot instead of a simple background.
We can capture almost any product using our e-commerce photography equipment. However, our product photographer would need to use our Cyclorama Stage for oversized items such as couches or beds to provide our clients with high quality photos .
It depends on the type of product and your Style Guide. Generally, we recommend having 3-5 professional photography shoots per product and a short video (video content converts extremely well). Each image would showcase the product from a different angle, and our product photographers would change the background and add any props if needed. Then, we edit the raw images and send you the final versions of your high quality product photos and your product.