The Best Lighting Techniques for Product Photography

Learn about different types of lighting techniques used in Product Photography including Key Light, Filler Lights & Backlight.

The Best Lighting Techniques for Product Photography

Product photography is the backbone of online sales. A good quality product image can make products irresistible to customers. However, you need the right techniques to get the perfect shot. One of the main players in product photography is lighting.

Displaying the product in an optimal light setting improves the attractiveness of the product. Lighting in product photography is often complicated. It's not just about having a light source that illuminates the product, but a complete set of factors that help the product to stand out. The best solution is to use continuous lights (always on) or strobe lights (blinks and turns off). Examples of continuous lights are LED panels, fluorescent tubes or tungsten bulbs.

If you need to illuminate products with artificial lighting, a single soft, continuous light and a reflector are great starting points. If you're lucky enough to have a dedicated photo studio (a spare room counts), a three-point lighting setup is probably your best setup. Strobe lighting is used as part of product photography. It's great when you want to create an image with a very sharp focus. However, in the early part of your career as a product photographer, working with strobe lighting is not recommended.

It's an acquired skill and you should make sure you pay close attention to the shutter speed and exposure of the camera. Let's see why good lighting is essential for product photography and how we can use the different lighting techniques of product photography to improve product images. When it comes to product photography, selecting an appropriate lighting setup for product photography is a prerequisite for obtaining professional-quality images. The light setting for product photography is the type of light source used in product photography. It can be natural or artificial depending on the need.

The quality and location of the light source are also factors in obtaining the desired tone, clarity, and emotion of the final image. Product photography lighting equipment should be placed in such a way as to highlight the features of the product and make it visually appealing to customers. Product photographers can also play with angles and curves to optimize which part of the subject to illuminate. It helps sellers to use the light source effectively for each product. Depending on how sellers want to portray their product, different types of light can be used in the lighting configuration of the product photograph. For example, bright light emphasizes the angles of a product that is not flat, while soft light softens the features of the product.

In addition, light patterns, such as continuous lighting and synchronized lighting, also play a critical role. The following are some of the top tips and tricks for having the best lighting settings for product photography: Sellers don't need a complete professional setup to photograph products. They can use some simple techniques to better illuminate the products. For example, if a diffuser is not available, a white sheet or gypsum board can be used instead. For an economical configuration, a regular lamp can be used with a tungsten bulb.

Cover the tip with a white sheet to diffuse light around the product. Set the camera on a tripod for stable shots and capture images against a smooth wall or white paper held in the background for professional results. Depending on the need, different categories of studio lights can be used to obtain the desired results. The three types of studio lights that are primarily used in product photography are: fluorescent lights are low-performing but energy efficient. They are easily available and are affordable lights.

However, it can sometimes cause the image to have an unwanted tone. LED panels consist of multiple small light-emitting diodes that make them last longer. They can also be used for long hours, as they produce much less heat. Tungsten lights are economical and are mainly used in softboxes for product photography with continuous light.

These are high-performance adjustable lights. Users can change the color temperature and brightness level according to their needs. However, they generate a lot of heat. The annular light for product photography and the softbox for product photography with continuous light are the most popular for e-commerce platforms. For best results, the lighting setup for product photography should have three softbox lights, one ceiling light, and at least two side lights. Many products, such as jewelry, glass and bottles, have reflective surfaces that make them difficult to photograph.

The reflective surfaces of these products bounce light back in unwanted directions, compromising the photographic quality of the product. In some cases, even the colors of the product look different which could mislead buyers. Users can avoid this by using a photo-toned bulb with white light. Product shadows and camera reflections are unnecessary distractions that are often caused by reflective surfaces. What happens if you photograph an emerald ring and see the reflection of the camera lens on it? How tedious would it be to eliminate such annoying details in editing? It's just an unnecessary and lengthy task. Therefore, sellers are advised not to compromise on their arrangement of lights in their product photograph until they find their perfect configuration - one that makes their products stand out in their captured image. The key to a good product photo session is making sure that your products stand out in your captured image - this can be achieved by correctly arranging your lights in your product photograph so that it's bright enough to capture.