Product Styling 101: The Spiral Staircase
Working on-location with props provided by a host:
This note is particularly relevant if you’re going through this course as an Eva, but it can pertain to Sallys as well (think of this tip less for “shooting for clients” and more for situations where you’re shooting “in the wild,” such as while you’re visiting a smoothie bar or traveling and you’re not bringing props with you, per se, but working with whatever the environment has to offer you).
When you want to draw attention to your subject in the context of a lifestyle scene, using props that you have on-hand that are either the same as your subject (such as several beverages that are just different colors or flavors), or the same height as your subject (see the photo examples below), what you can do to to create a sort-of staircase effect is to place the items you’re shooting into a parallelogram pattern (like a slanted diamond shape), and then shoot from the 45-degree angle covered in Lesson One so that the eye perceives “different heights,” and therefore also perceives dimension in the image. If you don’t have four items to complete the shape, use three and imply the fourth:
For your assignment, make sure you’re in the private online community where students are getting to know one another, sharing before-and-after transformations, and seeking constructive feedback!
NOTE: We are aware of the audio issue in this lesson and are working swiftly to fix it! We hope to have this corrected for Tuesday, December 15.
Hello there! I’m your hostess, Alexis.
I’m the Original Subscription Photographer (& photo stylist) for creative professionals. I run my business in Portsmouth, NH. I’m super pumped to have you here!