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ffatsatina
Participating Frequently
August 18, 2023
Question

How do I lighten backgrounds on product shots?

  • August 18, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 384 views

Hi can anyone help with advice on how to lighten my background on these product shots please? If I use curves or contrast it effects the sharpness of the item. It's my first product shoot and want to get it right. As you can see the leaflet it's going on shows varying backgrounds. 

 

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    1 reply

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 18, 2023

    Lighting, lighting, lighting.

     

    Use a backlit translucent base for this. Note how the backlighting here almost (but not 100%) takes out all the shadows from the main light. This is straight out of the camera:

     

    For the main light, in cases like this, nothing beats a large softbox or other diffuse light sources.

     

    Few people realize how much lighting setup is required in good product photography. It is not just a question of taking a snapshot and then "fixing it in Photoshop"! While that can sometimes be possible, it is easily ten or more times the working hours spent. Time is money.

    F
    ffatsatinaAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    August 18, 2023

    Thank you so much. I took them in a product light box with over head light
    - and I e other light source - there are a lot of shots so need to know
    how to correct them in photoshop or RAW. Any pointers greatly appreciated
    👍🙏--
    [Link removed by moderator]

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 18, 2023

    If you have to do it in Photoshop, there is no other way than to make a mask for the object, so that you can adjust the background separately.

     

    Photoshop has a wide range of selection tools to make the mask. This is basic Photoshop functionality and watching a few tutorials demonstrates them much better than I could do in the limited space here. Although some of them are more or less "automatic", expect to do some manual cleanup to get a good result. This is always a bit of work.

     

    Once you have a good mask, it might be enough to just use a Levels adjustment and lift the black point to lighten the shadows.

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