School of communication studies

Punjab University, Lahore

PHOTOJOURNALISM

TOPIC : Product Photography

Name : Zainab Ali Khan

Roll no. 29

BS 8th semester

Submitted to: Sir Agha Rizwan Ali

  BACKGROUND TO USE AS A STARTING LEVEL PHOTOGRAPHER

There are many easy techniques for good and suitable background which beginners can use for
product photography. Some amazing and affordable ideas for backgrounds is listed below: You
can use Chart sheet of any color like white, black, yellow, blue etc that are easily available at any
bookstore. Everyone can afford to buy such chart sheets. You can select colors according to your
choice or product you are going to feature.
Textured charts sheets are also available at bookstore. You can also use them as a background.
These are expensive than simple chart sheets but have great impact on your photography.
Wallpaper sheets that are easily available at any wallpaper store can also be used as a
background for your product photography. Press ply wood sheet available at Ply wood store are
also used as a background. You can buy one plain ply wood sheet and make them color
according to your choice. You can also use brown shoes polish for a nicer effect.
Acrylic PVC/Plastic White sheet available at Ply PVC sheet store is also used by beginners.

 MAKING INFINITY COVE

Infinity cove is a curved white wall which is used by photographers in the beginning for
seamless photo shoot and videos. White cove is also primarily used to avoid shadows in the
background. There are different types of infinity cove, L shape, U shape and I shape. Infinity
cove is great to use in starting your project. You can make infinity cove easily with white chart
sheet at the starting level.
After making infinity cove, harsh shadows may be create on the opposite side of the product to
the light. You can add reflector (same white chart sheet) to remove or soft these shadows. Great
Quality and highlights will be formed on the product.
Avoid to use straight or parallel sheet in starting your product photography. It develops large
ratios of contrast. It became obtrusive, create tension and vertical alignment becomes difficult to
control in the camera. So instead of using this, infinity cove is preferred in the start.
Some other things to take care of:
Use fresh products especially in case of fruits or vegetable photography.
It should be neat and clean.
Use clean pots to avoid stains in the pictures.
Setup should be simple. Improve it step by step to develop a story.

 FOCAL LENGTH

You can use entry level DX Camera like Nikon D5300 OR D3500.
You can use 55mm focal length to avoid distortion. Avoid to use 18mm or 35mm focal length.
Otherwise, it will create distortion in pictures.

 SHUTTER SPEED
Your shutter speed should be the double of focal length that is 1/125 to avoid camera shake.
Advantage for setting your shutter speed double, there will be no need of tripod. You can set
frame of your own choice easily by just hand moving. Using slow shutter speed will demand
tripod for a support to have a good picture.

 APERTURE & ISO

Aperture to use f22, f16 or f11. You can use f8 maximum to control dof “Depth of Field”. You
can use 100, 200, 400 or 800 ISO for good quality pictures. Don’t use ISO above than 800 to
introduce noise in the pictures.

 ANGLE TO START

Typically, 45-degrees is the most common a ngle for commercial food photography. It’s a
popular angle because it’s so versatile. It allows you to show the front and surface of the dish, as
well as the sides.
The 90-degree angle allows us to see into the dish. It brings to full view details. It is a minimalist
shot with a lot of negative space, but the result is pleasing to the eye. It depends on your food or
product which angle will suit you to use for amazing pictures.

 WINDOW LIGHT

Window light is an excellent, free light source. It can achieve the same effects as much bigger,
more expensive lighting equipment. A large window is essentially a huge softbox. It will diffuse
light into the room and around the subject you place in front of it. If you see the window as a
softbox, everything that you know about a softbox will be relevant to this lighting.
First of all, the larger the window, the softer the light. A large window provides a wider angle
from which the light falls on to your face. It produces less shadows. This is very important to
remember if you’re trying to take photos with hard shadows.
There are many ways in which a window is better than a softbox. They come in all shapes and
sizes. They’re everywhere. They’re free to use. And they’re easy to experiment with.
 BAD AND GOOD HIGHLIGHTS

Bright areas in photos is called highlights. They have a subtle effect in photography. This
is the reason they are called good highlights. If we talk about dull areas they are knowns
as bad highlights. They ultimately makes photos look dull and dark, as whole making it
look bad. That's why reflector is added to enhance the photos.