Product and commercial

The shots a product needs, and the light, shadow and edge each takes.

Every shot on this shelf is a job somebody pays for. A packshot goes on a marketplace listing, a hero three-quarter goes at the top of a product page, a ghost mannequin goes on a clothing site. Two things settle all ten: the shadow under the object and what happens at its edge. Get those right and the product sits solid and separate. Get them wrong and it floats, smears or dissolves into the background. The cinema catalogue publishes Product as a shot type, and that one is the moving shot: a slow push in, or an orbit around the thing on a turntable. This shelf is the still.

The catalogue shot

3

Three shots a shop listing cannot open without. The product alone, the product turned, and the whole line together.

On white: The product alone on pure white, lit so its own edges still read.

The product alone on pure white, lit so its own edges still read.

Hero three-quarter: The product turned 30 to 45 degrees so the front, the side and the top all read at once.

Hero three-quarter

The product turned 30 to 45 degrees so the front, the side and the top all read at once.

Range shot: The whole product line in one frame under one identical light.

The whole product line in one frame under one identical light.

Laid out and lifted

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Three shots decided by where the product sits: flat on a table, up in the air with nothing under it, or pulled apart along a line.

Flat lay: Camera straight down on objects laid out on a flat surface, with the shadows killed.

Camera straight down on objects laid out on a flat surface, with the shadows killed.

Floating product: The product lifted off the surface with nothing holding it up.

Floating product

The product lifted off the surface with nothing holding it up.

Exploded view: The parts of the product pulled apart along one line, in the order they assemble.

The parts of the product pulled apart along one line, in the order they assemble.

Close, wet and worn

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Four shots that go past the object itself: the material up close, the liquid in the air, the empty garment and the working hand.

Macro texture: One small part of the product fills the frame so the material reads.

One small part of the product fills the frame so the material reads.

Splash shot: Liquid caught in the air around the product and stopped dead.

Liquid caught in the air around the product and stopped dead.

Ghost mannequin: A garment holding its own shape with nobody inside it.

Ghost mannequin

A garment holding its own shape with nobody inside it.

In use: A person holds, wears, pours or operates the product, and the product stays the subject.

A person holds, wears, pours or operates the product, and the product stays the subject.

Shoot one of them

Copy a prompt into an image model and pay for that one run. No subscription.

Open an image model

Other look groups

Colour film stocksThe colour stocks, and what each does to skin, to sky and to green.12 colour stocks Black and white film stocksThe stocks, and what each one does to grain, to skin and to the sky.8 black and white stocks Slide and instant filmThe positive stocks, their narrow latitude, and the wording for each.8 slide and instant stocks Camera and formatThe ways to size a frame, and the wording that gets each one.8 cameras and formats Darkroom and processThe changes made to the film itself, and the wording for each one.6 darkroom processes Historical processesThe processes from before the film roll, and the wording for each.10 historical processes Photographic genresEach genre written as the lens, the light and the distance that make it.16 photographic genres

Cinematic techniquesShooting a video rather than a still? The same reference, for the camera in motion.

The on white packshot, because a listing cannot go live without it. Add a hero three-quarter for the top of the product page, then a texture crop and an in use frame to fill the gallery.