Hi again everyone, how are we all doing? Truth be told I’ve not been doing a great deal of photography over recent weeks due to not being able to go where I want to go and the day job needing more from me recently. What I have been doing away in the background is adding more options for shooting at home, well in the garage, more lighting, backdrops and the like. So, Lauren from lddesign.co.uk timed it just right when she asked whether I could supply some quality images for her website and socials to help launch a new range of products this weekend.

Crikey it was cold….

Saturday morning and Lauren dropped off her products and so I headed into the garage to set everything up. First thing, get the heater on and grab a large mug of tea, it was sub zero in that garage (how much to add the garage to the central heating from the house, anyone?). I had decided on a black back drop as Lauren’s products are wood with custom burned designs and blacking out the background would really make them jump off the page.

Next up was the lighting. I’ve recently added two esddi.store 150w continuous light head units on tripods to my kit and they are brilliant for shooting products (or people), taking a couple of minutes each to set up, then I added a hot shoe mounted variable LED light panel I picked up online for peanuts, all ready to go. Fresh large mug of tea, defrost my fingers every five minutes and I am on it arranging and rearranging lovely wooden chopping boards and picture frames. Lauren is such a creative, all designs are her own work (no patterns printed off the internet here!).

“When you are being creative, you’re using all your skills as a human being to create something that brings pleasure to both you and others”

louise brainwood

When I’m shooting products I like to add a bit of context if possible, it can give an idea of size and usage and so today I grabbed some bits and bobs from the kitchen, garlic, onion, apples, knife etc. Keeping it simple and uncluttered really shows the product off to best advantage and ensures the client is happy.

The end product…

With the shots in the bag, or more accurately on the SD cards, I stripped down the temporary studio set up, carefully packed away my kit and headed indoors for a warm. In the nice cosy office I loaded everything into Lightroom and started editing the shots. I like to keep things simple editing product shots, keep the product front and centre in the cropping, maybe add a little clarity and sharpness to certain areas.. I darkened the shadows a wee bit to kill any slight creases in the back drop, cloned out a few specs of dust which were floating about the garage, added a little contrast and that’s about it.

A final review of the images and they (30 in total for this session) were sent off by www.wetransfer.com with Lauren receiving them a few moments later. Then there is a nervous wait while your client reviews them…… I am very happy to say she really loved them, phew. You can see the full set here http://enaphotography.co.uk/portfolio-item/ld-design-new-product-range/ and don’t forget to check out Lauren’s page for her full range.

See you all next time folks, all the best and stay safe.

Ian