Cosmetic Product Photography

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.

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.

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.

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.