Cosmetics

Cosmetics

One of the areas of product photography I particularly enjoy doing is cosmetics.  This is probably due in most part to the colour range and unique shapes found in the industry. With many perfume manufacturers developing uniquely branded bottles and the gamut of nail polish, lipstick colours it tends to lend itself naturally to being photographed.  I always enjoyed being part of the many Christmas catalogs we used to shoot for the large department stores (Eatons, The Bay, Simpsons and Sears). Even though this is going back in memory to the large format film era the very nature of the subject was a joy to shoot. Maybe part of the attraction was due to being specialized in primarily crystal and silverware. For the most part these were monotone in nature so being handed assignments with lots of color and small set up area, made of a welcome break.

Several years back I was fortunate to work with Niko cosmetics. The product range was colorful and simple. This  simplicity made for a great match to my style as I really enjoy photographing small product on pure white backgrounds. This simplicity can really make the product the star of the show. The series of images were primarily used as one page adds in various fashion magazines.

This first image was a composite of 30 layers. Each brush was photographed separately allowing the lighting to be adapted per particular brush. Once all the brushes were photographed they were then assembled into the final image. This allowed for far greater flexibility in both lighting and composition.

The next image below is one of my personal favorites. It is simple in appearance and was a more complex execution. The objective was to show both the logo on the lid clearly and all the colors inside simultaneously. As one image this was have been very difficult to align in a manner that made both visible. The final image was a composite of various photographs made to look like a natural angle.

The following two images were again made up of several composites. The real advantage to this approach is in being able to light each unit individually rather than a compromise of the group.

This final example was again a composite of numerous images. In this case due to the lipsticks being smaller in nature they were individually made up of three images. This allowed the focused sharpness to be precisely controlled. The other time saving advantage of approaching the image as a composite is the time involved in setting up the various angles in one image.

One of the greatest assets to creating composite images is in being able to incorporate multiple lighting configurations. Previously when using film as a medium you were restricted to capturing the final image in one exposure. Any added retouching or montages would incur extensive post production costs. When using the digital medium it is fairly straight forward to completely change the lighting to enhance certain aspects of a product. In the two images below both have a mix of highly reflective plastic and their contents being powdery. To capture the image using a lighting scenario set up to maximize the powdered texture would introduce glaring highlights on the plastic portions of the product. This would also greatly exaggerate any scratches and flaws in and on the product surface. Capturing the image using lighting tailored to suit the cases would render the powder lifeless and flat, minimizing any texture on the surface.

The final image below was a composite using three different lighting set-ups.

• Low direct light to accentuate the powder
• Direct light shinning through glass lid to emphasize its translucency
• Soft lighting to keep the smooth clean shape of the case.

While it may not be used very often, images captured on a clean white background can make the product jump off the page, free from clutter and distractions.