Outdoor Product Photography
Night-time, large-scale product photography presents several challenges, but can lead to images with a unique look and atmosphere.
As a product photographer, I mostly work with products in my studio. It’s not a huge space, though, and when local furniture company Woodberry of Leamington Spa asked me to capture images of their ranges of outdoor furniture, it would have been impractical to try to photograph them on my own premises.
So, what are the practicalities of outdoor product photography, and what do you need to consider if you want your product shot in an outdoor environment?
The Weather
Probably the biggest headache for product photographers working outdoors! Unless you are looking for a very specific effect, a calm, bright but overcast day is best. This gives the most flexible conditions to work with, as it’s easy to use the natural light as a base and add flash to highlight product features and/or make it stand out from the background. Strong sunshine carries the risk of harsh shadows and overexposed bright spots, neither of which do your product any favours. Gusts of wind can blow things over (lighting equipment is particularly prone to this!) and ruin the arrangement of props and decorations. Rain is a nuisance in almost any scenario - the only exception is probably if you are looking to demonstrate something’s weather resistance.
The strong sunlight on the day of this outdoor photoshoot produced some hard shadows, but the overall look suits the sun parasols being featured.
A tight deadline meant this set of tables and parasols had to be photographed after a spell of heavy rain. It wasn’t ideal, but sometimes you just have to make the best of the conditions on the day.
An overcast but bright day is ideal for an outdoor photoshoot. This patio heater was photographed without additional lighting.
This picnic table was photographed on a day with sparse cloud cover. When the sun was shining, the shadows were harsh and distract from the product.
Ten minutes later, the clouds rolled across and the light hitting the table became much softer. The subtle shadows give a far more attractive product photograph.
Time of Day
As the sun moves across the sky, the light changes. The direction from which the light is hitting the product and its surroundings is the most obvious factor to keep track of, and in summer the sun gets much closer to being directly overhead than in winter, when it comes in at a much shallower angle. But the direction isn’t the only variable. The colour, or temperature, of the light “cools” as the sun rises, i.e. it changes from a yellowy light as the sun rises to a more blueish tone in the middle of the day, before warming again towards sunset. This is one reason outdoor product photography may not be an option if you want perfect consistency in your images from shoot to shoot and from one product to another.
Photographed in the middle of the day in January, this scene’s long shadows help give the suggestion of a summer’s evening.
Night-time product photography like this “party-ready” gazebo can only be done convincingly when it’s dark. This is much easier to arrange during winter months, due to the long hours of darkness compared to the summer.
Seasons Change
Depending on how much of the background location needs to be shown in the product photos, you’ll need to consider the time of year as well. Here in the UK (and many other countries around the world), spring, summer, autumn, and winter all have a very distinct look. This may not be a problem, but if you need photos for advertising campaigns that need to be put together in advance, bear in mind that the season in which the photos are taken may not reflect the time of year that the photos are supposed to represent. The most obvious example of this is Christmas campaigns - often shot during late summer due to print deadlines, when it can be difficult to create convincingly wintery scenes without bringing in Hollywood-level special effects!
An evergreen hedge and a large roll of artificial grass helps this product photograph avoid any particular seasonal association.
Even in this detail photo of the underside of a picnic table, the lush grass and small flowers identify this as a spring scene (it was photographed in May)
Location, Location, Location
The final factor in creating great product photography on-location is… the location! There are many aspects to a good setting for the photos, but a few of the most important are as follows. Firstly, it needs to look good from multiple angles, so that there can be some variety in the look of the shots (not essential for every product, but much better to have and not need than not to have). Secondly, with a nod to the factors mentioned above, it may need to have some kind of shelter from rain or excessive sun. Thirdly, there are practical considerations, such as whether there is enough space to arrange everything, and how easy it is to bring products in and out of the shooting area (assuming of course that the product can be moved at all).
Photographing this large gazebo could only be done in one location, because it was too large to move. If your product is on a similar scale, or difficult to move due to weight, consider carefully where it is positioned prior to the photoshoot.
For this photo, the customer wanted to show a group of their wooden picnic tables. Obviously, this would not have been possible without a suitably sized patio!
The gazebo shown above also comes in handy as a setting for furniture photography, providing shade for the shoots and keeping the rain at bay.
The same corner of the gazebo with its retractable side panels down produces a more monochromatic setting, which suits this more urban dining set.
Product Photography on a Customer’s Premises
If you don’t have (or have access to) a suitable location for your product photography, it could be worth talking to your customers. If they have bought the product and have set it in attractive surroundings, that could be an ideal solution. Not only does this showcase your products in a relevant setting, but it also helps other customers with similar environments imagine how your product might suit their own property. The most important thing to bear in mind with photographing on a customer’s property is to ensure any disruption to their business is kept to a minimum - whether that’s by arranging the shoot for a day when they are closed to the public or taking the pictures before / after normal operating hours (bearing in mind any impact this may have on the available light, of course).
Photographed shortly after installation, these picnic tables are set off very nicely by the lush green pub garden in which they are located.
The beautiful gardens and interesting buildings surrounding the furniture in this hotel courtyard make for an attractive showcase for these dining sets.
The tables and benches at this Warwick pub are not newly installed, but the photograph shows the products in a commercial setting, and demonstrates how they age over time.
Let’s Take This Outside…
If your product is too large or heavy to move around, or just suits an outside environment better than a studio one, please get in touch. I’d be very happy to discuss your requirements and work with you to create some fantastic outdoor product photography.
