CREATIVE TABLETOP PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP: ASSIGNMENT FIVE
COSMETICS
Here is a fascinating and popular type of product, and just like fragrances, it is a booming channel with national brands and local boutiques creating everything from skin toner to eye shadow.
We are going to make essentially fashion images in a still life/product environment. This will take close attention to the product as it can be messy, and liquid. Controlling speculars is harder as well because the items are generally quite small.
Here is a chance to perfect your lighting for smaller, shiny, liquid, and powdery substances. You can add dynamics to the image with explosions of color, or dripping paint. Or just create a feeling of elegance with composition and elements of design.
Cosmetic photography is one of the most creative genres of product and still-life photography.
CONTROL THE REFLECTIONS:
While being super precise with composition.
Try something a bit different for even more drama. Shooting down on a group of pencils and brushes minimizes their length, but that is covered in the use of the shadow below. Well conceived and lit image.
A beautiful still life view of Dolce Gabbana items arranged with clever design. The red motif carries through to the background and surface. And the slight glow behind the product helps them stand out from the background. Notice the use of scrims to make sure the light has a bit of gradient to it.
A very exciting and minimally created image delivers an explosion of color. Back light is the only light used here, and the spray of product may be produced many ways… including throwing it into the air to shooting it on black and carefully bringing the brush in with a mask in Photoshop. Pick your poison.
Creating a pile of lipstick carcasses and then shooting them with luscious, liquid light is another way to present the essence of the product. What looks to be broken trash is treated as though it were something special by lighting and composition. Nice use of the edge to define the stack… and the graphical nature of the POV helps make the items seem larger than life.
Is this lipstick creamy smooth – hells yeah, it is even melting. Telling the story with some clever Photoshopping skills, the photographer also made use of excellent light and perfectly placed YSL logo. I imagine this lipstick is a bit on the expensive side… note the dripping gold.
