Learning new techniques and sharpening my skills are two things I’m always challenging myself to do as a photographer and artist. Whether it’s watching tutorials or reading and researching online, I’m always trying to improve the quality of my photography by taking my product shots to the next level. For the past few months, I’ve been focusing on the basics, working to refine my skills and improve the quality and efficiency of my work.
The goal of this project was to get product shots on a true white background for e-commerce purposes, without the need for any clipping! Getting images clipped out has a lot of benefits. If a client needs a transparent background, which is necessary for graphic design and some web purposes, then clipping out the image is the way to go. However, for e-commerce and catalog photography, shooting products on a true white background is even more efficient, especially if I have a large quantity of products to shoot. And since I can save time and money on clipping resources, I can offer a quicker turnaround time for deliverables.
We gathered up stuff from around the house for the shoot. The first goal was to shoot products that were white-on-white, meaning we’d shoot white products against the white background. The purpose of this exercise was to show that it’s possible to achieve crisp and clean edges on your subject, even if you’re shooting white products on a white background. To make it happen, we chose our Tommy the Dinosaur Globe Electric Light and a candle from Grove Collaborative as our first test subjects.
The Setup:
We gathered up stuff from around the house for the shoot. The first goal was to shoot products that were white-on-white, meaning we’d shoot white products against the white background. The purpose of this exercise was to show that it’s possible to achieve crisp and clean edges on your subject, even if you’re shooting white products on a white background. To make it happen, we chose our Tommy the Dinosaur Globe Electric Light and a candle from Grove Collaborative as our first test subjects.
White Plexiglass Surface
White Translucent Savage Plastic Background
Three Paul C. Buff Strobe Lights
Tripod
Canon 5D Mark IV Camera
180mm Macro Lens
Reflectors and Flags
Tether camera to computer
The Shoot
One of the major factors that made this shoot a success was making sure that I had sufficient space between the subject and the background. I lit the subject and the background separately with individual strobes. Instead of bouncing light off the background, I shone light through the translucent background. This allowed for even distribution of light, ensuring that the entire background would be true white. Since I tether my camera to my computer, I was able to verify that the background matched the RGB values for true white: 255, 255, 255. During the shoot, I modified the light by using reflectors and flags, which helps to further distinguish the shape of the subject from the background. After playing around with the shots and my camera settings, I was really happy with the photos I’d taken! At first glance, it was clear the images wouldn’t need much editing in post production. They were well-focused, adequately lit, and properly color balanced already.
We were having a lot of fun with the shoot, so we decided to keep it going! We grabbed some toys and figures we have displayed around the house as new test subjects. We shot a few of the Funko Pop figures we collect, a couple of Mario Amiibos, and a creepy, yet whimsical little Norwegian troll my wife likes. It was really great to polish up an old skill in our new home studio.