Photographing a bottle without glare or an unreadable label
Glass, metal and glossy plastic reflect light. The bottle is shot from the front, label straight and readable, then three-quarters for the volume. During the shoot, you approve each angle live with the photographer and ask for an adjustment as soon as a reflection cuts across the product name.
Showing a product's texture
A cream, a serum or a powder sells on its texture. Texture is shot as a still life: a set designer composes a drop, a smear or a swatch, with the ingredients if the brand puts them forward. It is the image that shows what the bottle hides.
With or without a model?
A packshot and a texture shot are enough for a body care product or a fragrance. For make-up, hair colour or facial care, the product applied to skin shows the result: add a model, and a make-up artist or hairdresser if the look matters.
Preparing your products before the shoot
Send new products, with no scratches or peeling labels, and one extra unit for textures, since it gets opened. List the photos you want for each item: white background for the product page and marketplaces, colour or styled scenes for the brand.
Which photos does a cosmetics product page need?
It depends on the product. Skincare needs the bottle from the front, the back with a readable ingredient list, the texture and the result on skin. Make-up needs the product closed then open, a swatch and an on-model shot. A fragrance needs the bottle from the front and three-quarters, its box and a styled scene that evokes its notes. A hair product is shown applied, on dry or wet hair depending on its use.
How to photograph a fragrance?
A perfume bottle combines glass, coloured liquid and a metal cap: three materials that reflect light differently. It is first shot alone on a neutral background, so the colour of the juice stays true, then with its box. The styled shot comes next: a set designer works with materials that evoke the notes, wood, citrus, flowers, without hiding the label.
Swatches and skin tones: showing the true colour
A foundation, a lipstick or an eyeshadow is judged on its shade. Swatches are shot under the same light across the range, so two close shades stay distinct on screen. Showing the shade on several skin tones helps the buyer picture it. During the live shoot, you compare the photo with the product and ask for a correction before the session ends.
White background or styled: which images for the product page, Amazon and social media?
For the product page and marketplaces, white is the base: Amazon requires a pure white background for the main image, with the product filling most of the frame. The following images can show the texture, the product worn and the styled scene. For Instagram and ads, the set and colours carry the brand's world. One shoot can produce both, so you do not book two sessions.