With this article, we have decided to touch on why getting the lighting right means getting product photography right. As a packshot photographer, there are some interesting rewards that come from taking the time to understand and perfect lighting.

Get creative

It can be easy to focus on following strict rules and guidelines to get the correct lighting, particularly when dealing with product photography. What many people lose focus on is the fact that lighting offers a way to be creative, experiment and deliver unique photographs that your clients will love.

One note of caution here is that every packshot photographer should learn the functions and settings of their equipment. This is a basic rule to allow you to take good images and should be paired with making sure you have all of the correct equipment such as external lighting, softboxes and more.

Once you have got the equipment, learnt how to use it and understand some of the basic principles such as the rule of thirds, you can then get experimental! Don’t follow these rules every time, think about what works best for your product and brand and don’t be afraid to try and fail.

Explore other forms of photography

If you can master lighting, then this allows you to explore other areas of photography. As a packshot photographer, you will be focused on this sector, but you can use your knowledge of lighting to get involved in portraits, landscape, fashion and any other areas you find interesting.

Where this gets even more exciting is your ability to blur product photography together with other types of photography. This will elevate your images to a new level and be particularly useful when a client wants to show off their products on social media. If you understand how to make the most of lighting outside, you could deliver stunning product images on location. Offering a service where you can provide professional photographs for a client across all of their platforms will help you stand out from your competitors.

Colour and detail

Product photography often involves a range of images showing off every detail, feature and angle of an item. This is a minimum in today’s market because you only have a split second to draw a customer in and help them imagine how your product will look on them or in their house.

Whilst you need the right camera and equipment to show off these details, vibrant colours and materials, lighting must never be neglected. As a packshot photographer, you need to prepare a lighting plan for each photoshoot. This is to ensure the lighting is soft enough, creates the right shadows or emphasises the colours/materials in the best possible way.

When it comes to getting the lighting right for the most intricate products, it is a matter of practice and trial and error. Allow for time to move your set up around, take test photographs, review on a screen and then make the relevant changes. This effort at the start will reap rewards further down the line and keep your clients coming back for more fantastic photographs.