Finding the correct answer to this question isn't always easy.
There are always several key elements to keep in mind when creating a great product photo; composition, colour, and storytelling, to name a few. One of the most important things to keep in mind, perhaps even the most important, is lighting. Good, considered lighting is essential in creating a great product photo, and incorrect lighting can easily ruin what would have otherwise been a fantastic image. Correct lighting is critical to the final outcome.
Before I even get my camera out of the bag, I ask myself a question: should I use natural light or artificial lighting? Each style of lighting has its pros and cons, suiting itself to different scenarios. Finding the correct answer to this question isn't always easy. But, let's start with the simplest option, natural lighting.
Natural Light in Product Photography - Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Soft and Even Lighting: Natural light can provide soft, diffused illumination that minimises harsh shadows, making products appear more appealing. Even on bright and sunny days, it only takes a few diffusers to create beautiful soft shadows.
Accurate Colour Representation: Daylight offers true-to-life colour rendering, ensuring products look as they do in reality. There's no need to worry about the colour temperatures of your lights all matching.
Cost-Effective: It's a budget-friendly option that doesn't require expensive lighting equipment. As mentioned before, a few cheap diffusers and reflectors are all it takes to create gorgeous product photographs.
Natural Backgrounds: Can create a connection with the outdoors or a lifestyle setting, enhancing the product's context. This is especially useful if shooting in a large space, such as a room set, as all the lighting is done for you.
Eco-Friendly: Reduces the environmental impact compared to artificial lighting sources. Needless to say, the sun doesn't require any electricity to power it.
Cons:
Weather Dependence: Natural light is inconsistent and relies on weather conditions, making it challenging to plan and execute product shoots effectively at times.
Time of Day Limitation: The quality of natural light varies throughout the day, so it's essential to schedule shoots during optimal times. Often light is more orange in the morning, white during the day, and takes on bluer tones in the afternoon to the early evening.
Shadows and Glare: Depending on the direction and intensity of natural light, shadows and glare can be difficult to control and may affect the image. You can't simply pick up the sun and move it; you'll have to move your whole setup, and sometimes that's not an option.
Limited Control: Unlike artificial light, you have less control over the brightness and direction of natural light, which may not suit all product photography scenarios.
Short Shooting Windows: The best hours for natural light are limited, requiring efficient time management and quick shooting during the best lighting conditions.
Time of day is so important to the quality of the light
Tips for Maximising Natural Light:
Choosing the right shooting area can really simplify your work. For instance, if you're shooting a smaller subject, something like a perfume bottle, then shooting on a surface close to a single window can save you a headache. When you've only got one direction source, it's easy to modify that light, but if you've got windows on two or three sides of your subject, you may have to get out more kit to block or soften any of the light coming in.
Since the time of day is so important to the quality of the light, decide beforehand what kind of lighting you'd like and plan accordingly. If you wanted the gorgeous golden hour sunlight, you've only got a short window of time first thing in the morning and last thing in the day. Make sure to use that time wisely.
Reflectors and diffusers are your best friend. Since you can't turn down the source of the light, you have to modify it. On a bright sunny day where the shadows are sharp and crisp, you can use a diffuser, or even tape some diffusion fabric to your window to soften the light and create softer shadows. Using a white reflector can also help highlight labels and tags, and a black card can help in creating contrast and depth.
Artificial Light Sources for Product Photography: Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Consistency: Artificial lighting provides consistent illumination and colour, allowing for reliable and predictable results in any shooting environment.
Control: Good lights allow you precise control over the intensity, colour temperature, and direction of artificial light, enabling creativity and totally custom lighting setups.
Extended Shooting Time: You can shoot any time, day or night. This reduces the time constraints and enables a flexible shooting schedule.
Reduced Weather Dependence: You aren't reliant on weather conditions. Come rain or shine, overcast or snow, you've always got a dependable source of light to create beautiful product photos.
Creative Possibilities: Artificial lighting opens up a range of creative possibilities, such as using specialised modifiers and coloured gels to achieve unique effects. We often use mirrors and gobos to get creative with our studio lighting.
Cons:
Expense: High-quality artificial lighting equipment can be costly, especially for beginners or those on a tight budget. On a personal note: lighting doesn't have to be expensive. Budget lighting options have served us well for many years, but upgrading to better lights has opened up all sorts of possibilities for us.
Learning Curve: Mastering artificial lighting techniques and equipment may require time and practice to achieve desired results. Don't expect to go into your first shoot without some practice under your belt.
Space Requirements: Artificial lighting setups may demand more space and equipment, making them less suitable for small or makeshift studios. You can get some really space-efficient lights, but they are more often than not very expensive.
Heat Generation: Some artificial light sources can produce a lot of heat, potentially affecting the comfort of subjects and the durability of products.
Limited Natural Aesthetic: Achieving a natural or outdoor look with artificial lighting can be challenging, as it may not always replicate the soft, natural quality of daylight. Creating natural light can often be the most difficult style of studio lighting.
Good lighting modifiers can save a shoot.
Tips for Optimising Artificial Lighting:
There are a few considerations if you decide to go with artificial light, such as whether you want to use continuous lighting or strobe/flash lighting. Continuous lights tend to be larger, more expensive, less powerful, and generate more heat than a strobe would. However, you can easily see exactly what your outcome will be. Also, a good set of continuous lights allows you to seamlessly switch from video to photo and back on the fly.
Good lighting modifiers can save a shoot. Umbrellas, softboxes, diffusers, and reflectors are all a staple in our studio. Depending on the space and creative constraints of the shoot, I'll create a lighting setup using a mixture of what we have. Low-quality stands and modifiers that aren't reliable and sturdy are a real pain. Not being able to trust the colour accuracy of your modifiers, or if the stand will even stand up, is not something you want to be thinking about when you're trying to get creative on a shoot.
A grey card and/or a colour chart can really help with setting up the lights correctly and determining the natural colours in your pictures. Make sure all your lights are set to the same colour temperature before shooting; it's a good idea to test them out beforehand as not all lights are made the same. Even within the same brand and model, you can get some discrepancies.
Keep an eye on the colour of your shadows.
Troubleshooting Common Lighting Issues:
A common occurrence for both natural and artificial studio lighting is multiple shadows. If you're getting extra shadows you don't want, you have more than one source of light. This can be bouncing off a wall or ceiling, or even coming through the door from another room. Try to simplify the setup as much as possible and control your lighting.
It won't fix everthing, but good post-processing software like Photoshop can go some way to help correct bad lighting. Modern cameras, set to raw, capture loads more detail in the highlights and shadows than you'd expect. You can rescue dark spots and bring detail back from the highlights fairly easily. And now with Photoshop's AI tools, you can even add in things that weren't there before. Having a good understanding of post-processing can really help you get the best results out of challenging situations.
Keep an eye on the colour of your shadows. If your shadows are a different colour to your lighting, you've probably got a source of that colour reflecting somewhere in the room. This could be a painting on a wall, or even the wall colour itself. Try fixing this with reflectors; otherwise, you'll have to fix it in post.
In the world of product photography, where every detail matters, lighting emerges as the hero. It can elevate a good photograph to greatness or cast a shadow on what could have been a stunning image. The choice between natural and artificial lighting is a pivotal decision, each with its own set of merits and drawbacks.
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