Product shoots are unforgiving. Unlike a lifestyle or event shoot, there's no "getting a usable moment" fallback - every surface, reflection, and colour has to be exactly right, or the client sees it immediately. The good news is that almost every problem we've ever seen on a product shoot traces back to a detail that could have been settled in the brief, before anyone booked a studio day.
Send us your platform specs before the shoot
E-commerce, print, and social all want different crops, backgrounds, and file formats. A marketplace listing typically wants a pure white background at a specific minimum resolution; a print catalogue needs high-DPI files in a completely different colour profile; a social campaign wants square or vertical crops with room for text overlay. Knowing this upfront means we shoot the right number of angles once, instead of discovering a gap after the gallery is delivered and needing a costly reshoot or awkward crop.
Colour accuracy starts with the product in hand
We ask for a physical sample wherever possible - screen and print colour can drift from the true product colour, and for cosmetics, food, and beverage brands, that drift is the first thing customers notice, especially when a product is ordered online and arrives looking different from the photo. We shoot with colour calibration targets in frame and check the final files against the physical sample before delivery, rather than trusting our monitors alone.
Surface and material choices change everything
Glass, metal, and glossy plastic all reflect studio lights differently, and what looks like a small adjustment in lighting angle can be the difference between a clean product shot and one full of distracting reflections or hotspots. We ask about packaging materials before the shoot so we can plan diffusion and reflector placement rather than discovering the problem once the product is on set.
Decide: clean pack-shot, or styled lifestyle?
A white-background pack-shot and a styled lifestyle shot solve different problems - the first is for catalogues and marketplaces, the second is for campaigns and social. Most brands need both, and mixing them into one shoot day (with the right prop and styling budget) is far more cost-effective than two separate sessions, since lighting and camera setup can often be adapted rather than rebuilt from scratch.
This applies just as much to apparel and merchandise as it does to food and beverage - a studio pack-shot for a catalogue looks completely different from an on-model campaign image, and clients who need both should plan for on-model looks and product-only shots on the same studio day.
Product video needs its own shot list
If the brief includes a product shoot for video as well as stills, plan for both from the outset - video needs continuous, flicker-free lighting and often a slower, more deliberate camera move than a stills setup, and trying to shoot both formats on the same lighting rig without adjustment usually compromises one or the other.
How many angles do you actually need?
For e-commerce, four to six angles per product (front, back, side, detail, and any functional feature) usually covers most marketplace requirements. Hero campaign images typically need fewer, more considered setups, but with more time invested in styling and lighting per shot. Deciding this split before the shoot day means the schedule reflects where the time actually needs to go.
Frequently asked questions
How many products can you shoot in a single day?
For simple pack-shots on a white background, 30-60+ products per day is realistic. Styled or lifestyle shots require more setup time per product, so that number drops significantly depending on complexity.
Do you provide styling and props?
Yes - we work with a network of prop stylists and can source backgrounds, surfaces, and props to build lifestyle scenes, or work from props and styling direction you provide.
What file formats will we receive?
We deliver high-resolution masters plus platform-optimised exports for whichever specs you've given us - e-commerce, print, or social - so you're not left converting files yourself.
Can you shoot both product photography and product video in one session?
Yes, and it's usually more cost-effective than separate sessions, provided both formats are planned for in the brief so lighting and scheduling account for each.
