How to Create Simple Seamless Background Product Shots

You’ve probably seen the product photographs with a full colour background without any distracting elements in the scene. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could replicate this for shots of valuable possessions? With the amount of buying and selling that happens online, wouldn’t you like to have the edge by having some attractive, clear shots of your product?

Well, it’s not impossible to replicate this with some very simple and cheap gear and I’m going to show you how.

The Setup

The whole setup is simple enough. You need a light source, a background with support and for the purpose of fill (if needed) some sort of reflector.

For the background I attached coloured card paper to a carboard box I had lying around using clothes pegs. You want to get paper that is long enough to cover the top down background and a base which allows you to get multiple angles of your product.

Lighting was provided for free by the sun through a bare window. Unfortunately this means shooting at a particular time of day because you don’t want the sun shining straight through and giving you harsh shadows. Position the setup so the light source is coming from the front left or front right corners of the product. Of course you can use a flash unit as a source of light.

If the room isn’t lit up well enough by the sunlight you might end up with a dark side to your product. To solve this add some fill lighting on the opposite side of the light source. You could use white card paper to reflect some light onto the product and also add attractive reflections.

Extras

There is a lot more you can add to the mix to spice things up.

• Use a piece of plexiglass under the product and over the chart paper will give the product a pretty reflection.
• You will almost certainly need to correct white balance as the sunlight and room wall colour is going to project warmer colours. (https://digital-photography-school.com/introduction-to-white-balance)
• If using a flash unit, the light needs to be diffused to eliminate harsh shadows.

Some Examples

Here are some shots I took using a black and white chart paper as a seamless and all with natural sunlight.

Should you have any photography related questions, I’d be more than willing to help. Catch me on Facebook, Twitter andGoogle+.

I am an amateur photographer (terencepereiraphoto.com) based in sunny Oman. I can be caught spewing tips and sharing my photographic adventures on my blog.