How To Create Product Photos With One Light
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Starting your still life photography journey can feel overwhelming. Seeing photographers in huge studios full of photography lighting and soft boxes can give anyone a serious case of imposter syndrome. Gulp. I want to banish that fear in this post, and show you a few techniques to create beautiful one light still life photography.
If you're looking to get started with artificial light, I'd recommend Joanie Simon's Artificial Academy as the place to begin.
Your 'one' light source might be natural light - aka window light - or a studio strobe, be it a speed light, mono light or continuous LED light.
Light - whether sunlight or artificial - behaves in the same way. How we modify and shape light is the same, regardless of the source.
All of the still life shots below have been created with just one light source, and bounce card where needed.
Here are some beautiful ways of lighting still life images.
Back Light
Back light is when light shines from behind the main subject in your image from the camera’s perspective. It’s most effective when your subject is shiny, transparent, or translucent like an oil, liquid or something gooey like a caramel sauce that picks up highlights in your food photography.
To create back lighting for still life photography, the light must fall from behind the subject. Put your subject in between your light source and the camera.
You can move your towards or away from the window to get different shadows and light falloff. Have a play and see what works best for your particular still life scene and the effect you want to achieve.
Side Light
Place your table next to the window, or place your light stand to the side of your surface to create side light in your still life photography.
As a general rule in product photography, it's best not to light your subject from the front. Front lighting is great for portrait photography where you want to create a soft, flattering, even skin tone. But for still life photos, lighting from the front can make your image feel flat and dull.
When we light from the side, we can make interesting shadows and add a sense of depth and dynamism to our still life photography.
You could use direct sunlight to add hard shadows to the image, or use a bare bulb for dramatic shadows if using a strobe. If you want to soften the lift for a more natural light look, use diffusion material like a soft box or umbrella.
Reflect light
When you're using just one light source, bounce cards will become your best friend to make great still life images. You can purchase white foam card from your local craft shop to fill in any shadows on the opposite side of your scene to the light source. You will be surprised at how much of a difference some foam card can make to lifting shadow.
(Similarly, if you are creating a dark and moody still life image, you can use black foam cards to create negative fill and add depth to the shadows.)
Are you looking for more guidance on your client processes, workflow, editing or pricing? I offer 1-1 mentoring sessions using the voice noting app, Voxer. If that’s you, I’d love to connect.
Helena is a professional photographer based in Bristol, specialising in product and food photography. She works with ethical and sustainable brands, creating joyful, story-telling product photos.