What is Product Photography?
I think most people would say Product Photography is just that; photographs of products.
They're everywhere: adverts, magazines, billboards, editorials, catalogues, websites and encompass pretty much everything from kettles to watches to clothes to sport equipment. Everything you buy is photographed. Product photography is a genre in its own right and some studios specialise and offer nothing else.
You have the term Pack Shots which covers the bulk photographs of a company's product range, maybe cosmetics with loads of photographs detailing the packaging as well as the product with various angles and viewpoints. Sometimes these are fairy vanilla in style, sometimes they can be more inventive but everyone knows the type of photo I am talking about. Often they're shot on a product table and often with a white background.
Then there are the more bespoke product shots. Recently I have been photographing bikes for WyndyMilla which need a different approach to pack shots. My studio, Frensham Studios, has double doors straight into the shooting area, so we could get a motorbike in or large furniture.
The biggest item I have had is a 2.2m rehabilitation treadmill for dogs. The smallest has been earrings.So why am I rabbiting on about Product Photography when you already know what it is?
I sent an email today to a client who works in the service industry. No physical product made.In my email I listed the possible areas of photography I could offer them and typed in product automatically, then went back to delete it but, and here's the rub, realised that in fact it was entirely correct. Some people automatically think of product as being a physical object, although I see companies using the term product for a service, do we think of a 'serviced product' as something we can photograph?
Giving examples here is not so easy because I think its about identifying what you do and being creative. It arguably falls under the description of promotional photography but even then I think you can separate your actual 'products'. Say for example you're a solicitor. How about a photo of your lead litigator in court? OK, so a Magistrate might not take kindly to a photoshoot alongside proceedings, but with planning and thought, a scene could be created which gives a sense of setting and circumstance. This results in an actual member of staff or one of the partners selling the product. So is that a product photo?
An accountant photographed with a client and in the frame paperwork from HMRC...Tax Advice.
The CEO of a building firm photographed on site selling himself and his product...Building Work.
The boss of a removal firm carrying furniture into the van.. Removals.
A physio working with a client...Physiotherapy
Previously I thought of these types of photos as character portraits, selling the individual but combined with what they do or what the company offers they become product photos.
It doesn't have to focus on one individual. Emma Selby runs the Business Hub and for 18 months or so I have been supplying photos of the weekly seminars and member & guest chats. Emma uses these promotional images, but essentially they are product photos. Emma's products include informative talks, training seminars, networking, collaborative action and a place to meet and work. There is no physical product but does that make the photos any less product photos?
I think there is a blurring of the lines between character portraits, promotional and branding photos and product photography.
So if you are in a service industry think about what you can do to photograph what you do as a product. Think about how it works and what your clients or customers want, how it engages with them and how to best sell it in some cracking photos.