Catalog Shots Made Simple

The main objective of the catalog shot is to show the product in the best possible light and to make it visually stand out from the competition. Whether an emerging studio professional, or an avid online seller, the following tutorial will set you on the right path to create professional quality images of your products in the most consistent and least time consuming way possible.

The intro image you see above was photographed for an online store that sells various types of arts and crafts imported from West Africa. The web designer who made the online store needed everything to appear on a pure white background in order for each shot to fit with the overall design of the site.

Setting up the Background
Choosing an appropriate tabletop and background was the first step. Sawhorses are great for tabletop product photography because they are light, portable, and relatively inexpensive.

I setup my sawhorses with a piece of heavy black Plexiglas as my surface, but any solid surface would have been just as good (i.e. plywood, particle board, etc). I positioned the tabletop flush against the wall. This allowed me to create a white sweep using a large piece of 2-ply mat board attached to the wall with masking tape. I made sure that the mat board I was using was big enough to accommodate the largest item I needed to photograph. [figure 1]

Positioning the Main Light
With the tabletop and background in place, I was ready to begin setting up the lights. For the main light (key light), I used a Photoflex 1000-watt Starlite with a 3-foot OctoDome nxt. I positioned the light at about 45˚ camera right and as close to the tabletop as I could. [figure 2]

The main advantage of the OctoDome nxt is that the soft box spreads light equally in all directions. This is great for portraiture because it creates a softer, more three-dimensional quality of light on a person's face.

For my product shot, I was mainly concerned with achieving a soft quality of light, which would illuminate the products as well as the background evenly. Since I did not have to deal with any highly reflective surfaces, I felt that the OctoDome was a good choice to light these wooden statues.

Here is the result using just one light. [figure 3] The quality of light in this shot is soft and the spread of the light is even across the entire right side of the background. The left side of each statue is still in shadow and, because of the lack of another light, there is a shadow across the left side of the white backdrop. Remember that one of the objectives was to achieve a pure white background all the way around the entire image.

Adding a Second Light
The next step was to add another light, which would act as a fill light. For this, I chose to use the exact same light setup that I had for the main light. I positioned this second light at 45˚ camera left and at as close into the tabletop as possible. [figure 4]

In the result shown here [figure 5], the background is completely white and the statues are illuminated evenly from both sides. As you can see, the octagonal soft boxes are ideal for this particular subject. The light is spread evenly across the entire backdrop and for a soft box this small, the softness of the light is really hard to beat.

I examined the finer details such as the shape, texture, and the reflections caused by each light source on every side and surface of the wooden statues.

Overall, the shot looked good, but I was a bit displeased with how these two lights were reflected in the wooden surfaces of the statues. I was particularly turned off by the double reflection on the head of each statue, where you can clearly see two large highlights right next to each other. This felt awkward because the light source no longer had any clear sense of direction. This made the lighting look unnatural.

Even in a studio situation where multiple lights are being used, I usually try to create the illusion of a single light source. Since there is only one light source in nature (the sun), we are accustomed to seeing things lit from only one side. Recreating this kind of feeling in the studio will make the subject appear more natural looking even if there are many lights being used.

To take the next shot, I decided to move my fill light back, away from the subject. I positioned the fill light at about twice the distance from the statues as the main light in order to create a 2:1 lighting ratio. [figure 6]

In the result [figure 7] we can see that the highlights on the left side of the statues have been significantly reduced, which makes the lighting seem more directional. However, doing this introduced a new problem. By moving the fill light farther away from the subject, the left side of the background now had a slight hint of a shadow and was no longer a pure white.

Before I move on to discuss any more lighting changes, let's review our steps so far. [figure 8]

• First, I positioned my main light at 45˚ camera right and as close to the subject as possible.
• Next, I added a fill light using an identical setup positioned in exactly the same way on the opposite side of the subject.
• Then, I moved my fill light back to reduce its intensity and create a 2:1 ratio.

The series of images shown above represent a widely accepted approach for high key, catalog style shots. The second image in the set, which was taken with two lights at about 45 degrees camera right and left, is the best way to ensure flat, even lighting and a clean, white background.

Many EBay sellers use this kind of setup to photograph just about any item for an online auction. The advantage of using this simple setup is that every shot looks clean, professional, and the process is highly efficient, which is important when you have a large volume of products to shoot.

That said, I knew that having these highly versatile, professional quality lights at my disposal meant that I could do a little more to really fine-tune this shot.

Experimenting with Rim Lighting
After examining the results so far, I decided to try a different approach with the fill light. This time I positioned the fill to about 136˚ camera left and behind the statues. [figure 9] Doing this turned the fill light into more of a rim light. In some ways this is similar to the rim lighting technique often used in portraiture.

The result [figure 10] was very different from any of the other shots. The rim light worked beautifully to outline the left side of each statue with a luminous glow. Best of all, the background was back to being a pure white.

This shot looked just about right. As far as online markets are concerned, this is also a perfectly acceptable image, which is bound to attract potential buyers. My only reservation about this image was the fact that the statue on the left (closest to the rim light) was getting a little bit over exposed, especially on the left side of the head.

Using an Overhead Light
Next, I removed the rim light and took off the OctoDome soft box. I kept the Starlite head and attached a Photoflex Small HalfDome. Then, used a boom to position the light directly above the statues. Notice that the HalfDome is angled slightly toward the background and away from the lens to allow light to spill onto the background keeping it white and to reduce the risk of lens flare. [figure 11]

In this result image the background is still a pure white thanks to the angled HalfDome. Also, the statues now have a hint of light rimming the top edges of the head and shoulders areas. [figure 12]

Adding a Small LiteDisc
To add the final touch, I decided to use the rim lighting idea that I previously attempted, this time in a much more subtle way. To do this I positioned a 22" silver reflector at 135˚ camera left and behind the statues. [figure 13]

In this shot, the main light was doing most of the work lighting the subject, which gave the lighting a good sense of direction. The HalfDome above and the reflector to the left added just the right amount of rim light to the edges of each statue.

The light looks natural, the background is white, and the product looks shiny and new. This shot is definitely a keeper! [figure 14]

Shown below, is a quick side-by-side comparison of the last three results. [figure 15]

• #1 in this series was made using a 3-foot OctoDome nxt positioned as a strong rim light on the left side of the subject.
• #2 was made by replacing the rim light with an overhead light consisting of a small HalfDome suspended from a boom.
• #3 is with a 22" Silver LiteDisc reflector as a rim light on the left side of the statues.

Experimenting with Lens Focal Length
For this image, I decided that a little bit of wide angle distortion might improve the shot by making these three statues seem more three dimensional. For the next shot, I replaced the 50mm lens with a 24mm lens and moved the camera closer to the subject to arrive at a similar composition. The result is shown below. [figure 16]

The wide-angle lens worked perfectly to create a sense of depth in the shot. Due to the wider perspective, the statue in the middle now appears larger and closer, while the two statues on either side have been slightly reduced in size and appear to be farther away.

Here is a side-by-side comparison. The first image is my final result using a 50mm lens [figure 17] and the second image is the same shot using a 24mm lens. [figure 18]

Which one is better? I'll leave that call up to you. For me the latter version using the wide-angle lens is simply more interesting and is better at engaging the viewer, which is always important when you are trying to sell the product using only a small image on the web.

Remember that high quality product photography need not involve a giant studio and a closet full of expensive equipment. In most situations, a little planning, some basic gear, and the right technique is all you need to make your product images appear to fly right off the home page and into your customer's lap.