Today on The Slanted Lens we are looking at how to create amazing product photography using lighting and a Syrp Genie Mini.
Product Photography
When shooting still or video of a product, you definitely want the product to look its best! This lesson was inspired by a friend of mine who creates really beautiful wooden bowls. I wanted to make a short little documentary for him and needed some product shots to insert as well, so let’s check out how I used a simple lighting setup and a Syrp Genie Mini to really make this bowl shine!
Lighting Your Products
Lighting is the most important aspect of product photography. It is much harder to sell a poorly lit product! For the documentary I made for my friend, I used a simple 3 light setup to help illuminate that wooden bowl. I used a Rosco Silk 210 LED light as a top, backlight. The Silk 210 is a great light to use for product photography because it generates a really pretty, soft light. I also added another Silk 210 to the product right to accentuate the really lovely details on the side of the bowl. The third Silk 210 is positioned to the left of the bowl to ensure that both sides of the bowl are sharply defined.
Because all of the lights are behind the bowl, the front face is too dark. However, correcting this problem is very easy! I usually just add a fill card to the mix. Then I choose the right amount of light to bounce off the card.
Showing Off a Product in a Video Application
The Syrp Genie Mini and its turntable accessory turned out to be incredibly easy to use and made shooting this product much simpler. All you have to do is screw the base of the turntable onto the Genie Mini and you are good to go! If you are shooting video you can control the Genie Mini directly from your smartphone. You can even choose the number of degrees you want it to rotate. At the end of each rotation the Genie pauses before starting over.
I honestly love this little Genie Mini and did not have any issues with setup or use. This turntable made what could have been a hassle of a shoot enjoyable and simple!
Let me know how you light and photograph your product work!
Keep those cameras rollin’ and keep on clickin’!
-Jay P.
