Would you believe me if I told that the antiperspirant is standing on a piece of black acrylic in both of these e-commerce images?
And no Photoshop was used to change the background colours either!
When you have multiple products that need to be photographed for your e-commerce site, time and consistency are major factors to consider. You need a return on your investment. You need a photographer that can execute the shots you require in a timely fashion. You need someone who can give you a consistent look across your range of e-commerce images.
The trick with using the black acrylic is knowing that it acts almost like a mirror. You can see the reflection of the product is visible in the acrylic already. The black acrylic is simply reflecting the lit white background also. To get the same level of white there are a few things to factor in: for example how far away the product is from the background.
Could I have used a white acrylic? Yes! White acrylic also creates a reflection. It just wouldn’t be as intense as what you see with the black acrylic. The problem would become apparent when I wanted to shoot the products on a black background. I could not light the products and turn a white acrylic sheet into black. And that is down to something called the Inverse Square Law.
So when it comes to images like these, the choice of what colour base comes down to what is required. If a client wanted both black and white backgrounds as shown above I would choose a black acrylic to save time. If the client only wants black backgrounds then that’s a no brainer. It would be black all the way. But if they wanted just white backgrounds, the choice would be settled by what intensity of reflection you wanted and that comes down to taste.
Backgrounds aren’t just limited to white and black for your e-commerce work. If you have a brand colour that you wanted to use, that could be done too.
If you have any products you require e-commerce images for, get in touch. Prices start from £20 per image.
