Lighting in photography is not only a tool to illuminate the object. It creates a vibe, gives it an appearance and tells the story. Professional photographers always keep this in their minds whenever they start their projects. Adjusting and using the right lighting technique will help them create the best photo. It becomes even more essential in product photography.
Product photography has one purpose, to emphasize the product’s greatness, send the message, and attract customers’ attention. Therefore, the optimization of lighting techniques that the photographer uses in this type of photography is important. If you also are trying to make product photography, you need to know the correct product photography lighting techniques. Luckily, you came to this article. We will help you to get to know and understand everything about this topic. Let’s start!
Types of Lighting
Before we move to the lighting techniques for product photography, it is always better to firstly learn about the types of lighting you will use for your project. In general, product photography uses three types of lighting, which are:
- Key Light – the main lighting for product photography. You will point this lighting directly to the product to illuminate it and make it visible in your camera lens.
- Fill Light – as its name implies, this light has a job to fill in the part that you might think needs extra illumination. Compared to the Key Light, the Fill Light has lower intensity. You also can adjust its angle to create a proper shadow gradation, which brings out the volume of the product.
- Backlight – the purpose of this light is to create a difference between the product and the background. You place it on the back of the product or hang it on the top. This lighting is essential to help photographers easily capture the product image, especially when they use the Depth of Field technique. Moreover, you also can make the product become the center of the photo theme with this light.
Lighting Techniques for Product Photography
Let’s move to the secret techniques that you can use on your product photography project. Some of these techniques are only known by professionals. Hence, if this is your first time trying product photography, this will be a great reference to improve your skill.
1. Use Off-Camera Flashes
To get better control over the lighting that touches the product surface, use off-camera flashes. The standard camera flashes are attached to the camera. Most of the time, this position doesn’t produce the proper lighting that can bring out the product’s volume. By using separated flashes or off-camera flashes, you can choose the location where the light comes and the shadow appears. Now you can capture a better product photo.
2. Capture the Photo Detail with Ring Flashes
A ring flash is not only the standard lighting for YouTubers. However, you also can use it for product photography. The ring flashes create diffused lights that can bring out the product’s detail better than other types of lighting. This lighting can remove the harsh shadows and reduce the glare. Use it as the Fill light to balance the main lighting intensity.
3. Use the Light Diffusers to Bring Out the Product’s Beauty
Many photographers use the umbrella’s curved softbox to create soft and smoother shading on the product. However, it only generates too much light pollution, which makes the post-product even more difficult. The best way to solve this problem is using light diffusers. Light diffusers work by generating soft light that removes unwanted shadows. Best of all, you can control its shape and intensity. That helps a lot in producing an accurate color in product photography.
4. Create Special Light Effect with Gels
Gels also can be used to create a special effect and accent on your product. Place several of them in front of the backlight to create different color lights on your product or you also can get the gel light modifier tool that has many gel filters in different colors and intensities. This lighting method gives you more freedom to create the ambiance of the product you want to capture in a photo.
5. Make the Product Stand Out with Triangle Lighting
You need three different lights to use this technique. Place one light as the main light in front of the product, right above the camera. The other two are behind the product forming a triangle shape with the first light. Do not forget to put those lights at a 45-degree angle from the camera for natural lighting shape.
The front light here works as the main lighting that brings the product volume and detail. The other two work as the filler that creates a light gradient and prevents the product from looking flat in the camera. You also can use this technique to separate the product from the background.
6. Backlighting for Creating Silhouette Effects
The trick is using the backlight that has a higher intensity than the front light or the main lights. The higher light intensity will create a shadow on the front side of the product. How is it good when the product looks darker? Of course, you don’t use only the backlight. Add front fill light to illuminate the darker front side of the product. With the correct setting, your product will look better, especially if you want to create product photography that focuses on only one product.
If you don’t have enough budget to purchase extra light for the backlight, you can always use natural lighting. The best choice is in the morning or late in the afternoon. Photographers call this period the golden hours. Use it as a backlight, plus with a front fill-light and you will get a volume on your product.
Final Thoughts
Adjusting lighting will create better product photography that helps your product stand out. Of course, that could be difficult and even more challenging for people without a photography background. No need to worry!
Dropicts team is here for you. As an experienced photo editing service company, it is our priority to help you get the perfect product photography. We also have experts who excel at using the best lighting technique. Let’s visit our website today and see various photo editing services provided by us.
