Product photography... Ideas and inspiration, please

[andrewdoeshair]

Long story as short as possible, I own a small hair product line, "ADH" (Andrew Does Hair) with 2 very basic products- ADH Dry has a matte finish, and ADH Wet has a glossy finish. We wholesale to 140 salons and barber shops and retail through my website, but the driving force for the brand is my Instagram content, which I try to keep as far from looking like blatant advertising as possible. Lately I've been fiddling with ideas to slip in a picture of product where at LEAST the viewer may say "neat picture" and not just feel like I've showed them a bad commercial. I'm pretty new to photography, and really new to using any flash, so please go easy on me if my methods so far have been less than adequate. I took these first for fun, second to learn, and way at the bottom of the list was to promote my brand.

Boring and basic, but I've had needs for shots like this, so I have dozens stored up. These jars were part of a collaboration with a men's salon who exclusively caries our products.

This was just pressing the (slightly translucent) jar up against the end of a speedlite. My forearm is concealing the speedlight. Thought the glowing jar in my hand was neat(ish)

This one was frustrating to get in focus. I used one of those Petzval lenses and anything outside the center is nearly impossible to get sharp, while the center is still just really hard. But I wanted that over the top bokeh and even my 50mm F1.4 didn't get as artsy as this.

This was 5 incense sticks in a ditch I dug out of the product. A rolled up piece of paper kept the flash right on the smoke without leaking onto the black poster board.

This one happened today, out of extreme boredom. I figured it might look cool to have a jar peaking out of a forest of wild hair, and then since I was using the Wet product, I sprayed water all over the place while I took the picture. I'm running out of ideas. This one felt like I was trying too hard.

So that's what I've got so far. Next week I'm going to light some on fire, or throw paint on a stack of them. I don't know... Can you guys direct me toward some good inspiration? Anyone care to throw some ideas my way? I would greatly appreciate it, or any advice. Thank you!

 

[Tim Tucker]

Don't think in such absolute terms, such as here is the product and this is the background that I've set it against to explain what it is, (though on the floor with the discarded hair is a little too close to some peoples shudder response ). Ask yourself, are sellng the object itself, is it the jar that makes it attractive? Or are you selling a lifestyle product, confidence in a bottle? In which case you may consider turning it on it's head, take a shot of style and confidence and associate your product with it. The simple clean first shot is the only one that really appeals.

 

[tirediron]

Since these are products I will never use, I'm probably the ideal person to give you an unbiased response, so here is my first impression to each of the product shots (not the set-up shots).

1. Borrrrrrrrrinnngggggggggggg.

2. Cool. What is it? (I can't tell if it's a bottle, a sign, or what).

3. Purple bubbles? WTF do they put in that s**t?

4. Incense? Groovy man!

5. Greasy container, greasy hair? GROSS!

In my mind, these products are not large enough, nor dramatic enough to stand by themselves in a shot. My initial thought would to create a set where you have a person using the product and by use of very shallow DoF, have the product large and in sharp focus in the foreground, and person(s) softly focused in the background.

 

[andrewdoeshair]

Thank you for the feedback!

A little more about the product (I didn't want to make this post feel like an advertisement by talking about the product too much, but I suppose more info would help)... Out of context the images I shared don't really say anything about the product, but most of my content is aimed to do that. Most of the images I use to promote it are of hair, where the jar "happens to be in the background." The thing that helped my brand grow so much is that I'm really honest about what ANY product is able to do, and I encourage learning about how to use a hairdryer if you want expertly styled results (the biggest font on the back of the jars says "good hair doesn't come from a jar" and then describes how a hairdryer works). To most men a hairdryer is new, scary, foreign, expensive, and his friends may make fun of him for using one, but that's part of the reason I was able to get noticed- most themes in men's hair products are to aim for a faster and simpler processes, for the guy that has a busy lifestyle, but that attracts customers who kind of care about results, while my aim has been to connect with the type of consumer who wants new, scary, foreign, expensive things that their friends just won't understand. SOOO, much of what I post to advertise the product looks like this...

Hairstyles with jars conveniently placed behind models

Don't recoil looking at the back of this haircut. This was a deliberately obscure haircut that the model requested so he'd stop getting booked for Old Navy ads. I was happy to have something so unusual and polarizing to post. Some people hated this cut, some people loved it.

Model blow drying his hair (I didn't take this particular picture, I know that is probably against the rules here, to post other's work, but I hired the guy and paid for the image, it's not stolen or being used without permission. This is just to further the story behind my request in the original post)

The "guy with hairdryer" has become a recurring theme on my Instagram, although I rarely put thought or effort into the shots and am not stoked on any that I've gotten. This one was actually used in an online article by GQ. It was weird that they never reached out to me for permission, but I got credit so I was just stoked that GQ knows I exist. This was one of the first pics I got after buying my first DSLR, I know the focus is horrible and the color is "meh" but now that I'm looking at it again I want to go do some better ones...

So I do very much appreciate the responses so far, but I guess what I specifically want to get some help or inspiration to do is showcase the product itself in unusual or remarkable ways, not necessarily to show who uses it or how they use it; I'm already doing that with most of my content. Although now I'm kind of liking the idea of never posting the kind of product-centric shots I'm talking about, and letting the jar become like Bigfoot photos. Let some fable and folklore build around the jar... I've been trying not to look at other product companies to see how they're doing this, because I don't want to do what they do. I kind of want to dig through alcohol ads and mimic some shots with the jar on a mahogany table next to a cocktail or something, but then that's all irrelevant "storytelling" too... Hmmmm....

 

[andrewdoeshair]

I don't know... Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions. I hope this isn't like going to a guitar forum and asking someone to tell me how to write a song about my life. I was hoping for some "oh one time I saw a neat photo of a soup can doing this..." and then I could go try to mimmic the soup can with my jar.

 

[tirediron]

This is along the lines of the concept that I had in mind, but WHY is his thumb over the label?????

The "guy with hairdryer" has become a recurring theme on my Instagram, although I rarely put thought or effort into the shots and am not stoked on any that I've gotten. This one was actually used in an online article by GQ. It was weird that they never reached out to me for permission, Although now I'm kind of liking the idea of never posting the kind of product-centric shots I'm talking about, and letting the jar become like Bigfoot photos. Let some fable and folklore build around the jar... I've been trying not to look at other product companies to see how they're doing this, because I don't want to do what they do. I kind of want to dig through alcohol ads and mimic some shots with the jar on a mahogany table next to a cocktail or something, but then that's all irrelevant "storytelling" too... Hmmmm....

That's a great idea, BUT... the problem I see with it in your case is that your container is too generic. It would work if it had a unique or recognizable shape or a distinctive colour such as the Coca-Cola bottle, or Kodak yellow, but unless the label is clearly visible, it's just another small container with white cream in it.

 

[astroNikon]

^^ as mentioned Product containers are easy to get lost with. Single color labels are also much cheaper than multicolor ones. Ink transfer most costly than a plastic stick on label or wrap. The key is having it distinctly displayed in a shop. The pyramid stacking shown in the background of one of your photos is the normal display. It keeps the product highly visible and if no other products are near it, singularly visible from competitive products. If the hair stylists are the ones pushing the sale, then that is the best scenario.

If you move into retail stores where the products are lined up one after another on multiple shelves then the basic container starts losing it's visibility. You'll probably stay most profitable not going into a retail shelf environment as container design and advertising starts being more key in customer purchase decisions. Doing demo days, etc is great for the retail store as it provides customers exposure to the product without having to buy it, but that requires much more time & money.

I don't have any input into your shots as you are just experimenting. But think like a customer and how you can expose your product to something that they would buy. But remember, the hair stylist is your best friend in a salon. Make sure they know the attributes to your product as they'll probably drive more sales. And whatever our do, don't undercut the salon by your website price.

 

[ronlane]

I don't know... Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions. I hope this isn't like going to a guitar forum and asking someone to tell me how to write a song about my life. I was hoping for some "oh one time I saw a neat photo of a soup can doing this..." and then I could go try to mimmic the soup can with my jar.

Isn't this what pinterest is for? You may have better luck getting ideas for products that you could swap out your jar for.

 

[andrewdoeshair]

Pin... Terest? I never thought to look there. I thought it was all recipes and crafts. Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out

 

[ronlane]

Pin... Terest? I never thought to look there. I thought it was all recipes and crafts. Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out

I have an account there and still don't totally understand it. You can search just about anything there. I've done it for posing for families, seniors, girls, boys, etc.