Product photography
It is said that still life is the portraiture of inanimate objects. Using light, a still life photographer endeavours to paint a story about an inanimate object, manifesting its features, utility and maybe even its character. In the case of product photography, a sub-genre of still life, the story may be as simple as, “look at the clean design,” or “use this, buy it.”
Sometimes, as is often the case in e-commerce, a uniformly lit product with a completely white background, accomplished using a light box or an arrangement of studio strobes, is all that is necessary. In other cases, an elaborate scene with complementary props, both functional and aesthetic, is required to complete the story. Either way, light is the essential element. For certain shoots, introduced lighting (strobes or continuous light) is the primary source. For others, a combination of natural and introduced light works best.
