Sofia Latif - A Case Study
Sofia and I have been working together for around two years on regular shoots for her simplified skincare business, Sofia Latif. Her business is a collection of simplified, pro-ageing skincare products including under-eye oil, face oil and body oil, amongst others.
I love Sofia’s ethos so much, that I’m going to let her words speak for themselves:
“Our blends respect the differences in skin that come with age, regenerating and strengthening with pure seeds and flower oils. A fusion of Indian and African wisdom brought to life through experience, hand-crafted in small batches with a planet-conscious ethos.
Our mission is to give women the confidence to show off their skin and hair as these change with age, without the need for complicated beauty routines. Using the time at the end of each day to reconnect mind to senses, soothing mood and skin at the same time is a more holistic approach to wellbeing.”
Approach
Our approach to photographing her products really reflects her ethos and values. Sofia is always looking for simple, uncomplicated set ups that put her products at the front and center. To do this, I love keeping the props to a minimum, weaving in little details to hint at a bathroom, a bedroom or a make-up stand, but without cluttering the scene.
Her colour palette includes pink, grey, gold, black and light green, so we always strive to weave these colours into her shoots, whether it’s the backgrounds and surfaces we use or the props and linens that just hint at her brand colours.
This helps to ensure that the images sit together really cohesively across time and across the different platforms she uses. Overall, Sofia likes a light and bright, fresh and crisp aesthetic, so I keep this in mind for every set up we create.
Lighting
I typically use a one-light set up to capture her items with a rectangular soft box. Using a rectangular soft box can help minimise reflections in glass in comparison to an octagonal softbox.
Of course, there’s always some level of reflection so I will typically take each image into Photoshop in the retouching process to get rid of the light that glares off the bottle as well as the dust flecks. I do this using a mixture of the clone stamp and the content-aware fill tool. It might sound super fiddly for every single image, but it makes the difference between a professional and a not-so-professional finish.
Special Attention
Sofia has spent so much care and attention to create some beautiful branding and I love to position my light slightly to the side, but slightly to the front so the light rakes across the gold in her logo to really make it pop. Accentuating that detail really showcases the luxurious and elevated nature of her products.
Experimentation
It’s amazing to work with a client for a longer period of time because you can more easily fall into a sense of rhythm, instinctively knowing what the person likes and doesn’t like, which makes for a more efficient and smooth working relationship.
Occasionally when I’m trying to mix things up, I’ll throw in a really dark and moody scene or something really off the wall that has Sofia raise her eyebrows!
I never want to get stuck in a rut or for my clients to feel the work has become boring or too ‘samey’. Sometimes she loves a slightly fresh take on something, and sometimes she doesn’t. When she doesn’t, I’ll always plot an extra scene as a back up to make sure she has enough content, but it’s worth the extra work to keep pushing things forward and playing with new thoughts.
After working together, Sofia said:
“I have loved working with Helena. She is talented, creative, easy to work with, and has a wonderful eye for knowing what is right for the brand. She really gets under the skin of the brand and products, and proposes great ideas. Her photos are really beautiful and stand the test of time. She takes lifestyle photography to the next level. I highly recommend her.”
Take a look at my video services or view the rest of the articles on my blog for more product photography tips and resources.
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.