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05: Packaging

Yes, many of the products we shoot are packaged already. But many times it is the packaging that must be shown in as much deference as the products themselves. Whether the shots are for retail advertising, wholesale marketing, or industry trade, the goal is to set the package as a visual touchstone as well as the product itself.

Sometimes the product may only be shown in its packaging – like car wax, or window cleaner. If that is the case, then both the product and the packaging of it are valuable visual assets. Badly lit, unreadable labels will not cut it. Unorderly presentation of the products without a visual center will not work either – nor will badly lit product that does not stand out from the background.

Packaging photography takes as much care in the photography of the box, label, can, or container as it does the sizzle of what is inside.

You WILL be called on to shoot packaging… I guarantee it. Do it well and it will become recurring income for your studio.

Showing both the product and the packaging, the photographer also shows a typical ‘use’ of the product with the introduction of the business card. Soft light and a bit of soft DoF add to the aesthetic of this all natural, renewable material packaging.

A far more dramatic presentation of a selection of jewelry boxes. In order to drive home the fact that they are jewelry boxes, some jewelry is added for color and texture. Note how the lighting brings out the shape of the boxes and highlights the bevel aspects. I am not crazy about the lighting on the jewelry as it seems garish and amateur, but the boxes do look good. Perhaps a spray behind them would give them a bit more interest?

Fantastic detail on these packages gives the photographer a lot to think about. Textures of the label, the bottle, the string and the hang tag are all shown with precision and attention to detail.The side lighting does the desired effect on all of parts of the bottles, but a close examination of the front bottle shows a white reflection running straight up the label in order to make it seem more metallic and to offer a gradient. This fill is slightly seen on the outside bottles as well.

Attention to detail. The product shooters mantra.

ASSIGNMENT FIVE:

Shoot packaging or product that IS its own packaging. Remember the behind the scenes shot.