Product Photography Tips for Candle Brands
Calling all candle makers! I know, candle product photography can be tricky because you need to convey a sense of the mood and fragrance without the customer being able to pick up the product and smell it.
In this post I’ll share how you can use colour, props, surfaces and textures to create candle photography that will wow your potential customers before they've even purchased.
Capture multiple types of shot
When selling your candles on Etsy or Not on the High Street, it’s important to have multiple product photos, taken from different angles, for customers to look at. A few ideas for different set ups to photograph include:
Product shot on a white background - (you can simply use white paper or any white surface)
An image taken straight on to showcase the branding
Taking pictures of the candle both in and out of the box
The candle within a styled home environment to showcase its scale in comparison to other objects
The candle in a group of other scents or products in your collection
Show what’s unique about your candle product
There are a lot of beautiful candle brands out there. Drawing attention to what’s unique about your candles is important.
This might be the style of wick, the type or colour of the wax, the containers you’ve put them in, the branding and design or the ethos behind the business. These are all things to consider showing off in your candle product photography so that potential customers can quickly and easily understand who you are and how this product will fit into their home.
Taking photos to demonstrate scale
It’s hard to know how big or small something is when purchasing online. You can include the dimensions in the product description, but an image says a thousand words and it’s much easier to show your customer through your candle product photography.
Place your candle within a styled home scene with other objects like flowers, vases, coffee mugs, books etc so people can get a sense of your products’ size.
Create mood to reflect scent
If you have a really musky, woody, earthy scent that feels wintery, style it with dark props, surfaces and linens to evoke a cosy mood to reflect the fragrance of the candle. Similarly, if you have really fresh, spring-like scents, create a bright and airy scene with different surfaces like white wooden boards and bring in pastel colours.
You can also pull out the scents of your candles quite literally i.e cutting open fruit like pomegranate, figs, lemons etc to show a more literal representation of your candles’ fragrances.
Show lighting the candle
Set your camera on the self-timer, mounted to a tripod so you can capture your hand lighting the candle with a match. Adding a human element to the images adds a sense of dynamism.
Capture a smoke shot
It can look really dramatic to blow out the candle and capture pictures of the smoke coming off the candle. You’ll want to put your camera on a continuous burst mode so you can take lots of pictures quickly so you have the best chance of capturing a good smoke shot.
I hope these tips help you to create some beautiful images of your candles. You can use natural light and the props you have in your home already to create really impactful candle product photography.
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