When I started photography, I wanted to try all photography genres so I could later decide what I love most. I got a call from a friend about his mother's online clothing business and that they needed a catalogue for Instagram. I had never shot a catalogue before and wanted to learn by doing. We shot the catalogue with model Danah Hamdan.

The photoshoot started using a textured background with paintings on the wall, which looked lovely. However, I wasn't a big fan for multiple reasons, so I decided to do a white background catalogue in the middle of the shoot. It looked much better and more professional.

I decided to use my two Speedlight for the photoshoot. The first Speedlight is attached to an octabox for the key light, and the other Speedlight is attached to a softbox for the fill light. I also put a reflector under my key light to fill in some shadows. I managed to create a low contrast ratio to add a bit of depth to the image while maintaining a soft look. I didn't have a light meter back then, and I depended a lot on the LCD screen on the back of my camera, which was not the best way, but I managed to do it. The following diagram shows the lighting setup of the photoshoot.

Because I shot many images during the photoshoot, it was practically difficult and time-consuming to edit them one by one using Adobe Photoshop. I had to edit them in bulk using Adobe Lightroom only.

After the photoshoot, I learned that product photographers use a colour checker to ensure that the colours of the products are as accurate as possible. To do that, they would use a colour checker at the beginning of the photoshoot and later adjust the colours in the editing software and get the exact colours. I didn't own one back then, so I had to guess the accurate colours via visualization.

White Background

Textured Background

The Gear I Used

I hope you learned a lot from this blog. If you are interested in a one-on-one training session, drop me a direct message on my Instagram account.