r/productphotography

I’m in the process of completely rebuilding my booth setup for high production e-commerce product photography and am looking for lighting level recommendations. Specifically lux levels you use/prefer or recommend.

Details:

Booth will be two walled roughly 4’x4’ with cyc walls and I’m shooting into the corner.

Walls will be white with options for a neutral grey or black backdrop

Products will be 4” to 24” in either width or height, with the rare item smaller or larger

Illuminated area will be roughly .9 square meters or 9 square feet.

I’m using a multi-camera setup and products will be on an automated turntable

I’m not looking for the perfect single image here, good quality is fine with 8 - 12 images per item and high production rates

Continuous lighting is a must and will be LED to reduce heat

Most items will be shot with a semi-hard light to define details but will add modifiers at times to get soft light.

Light panels will be PWM controlled to allow for variable lumen output.

Looking at 3 panel setup

Since I’m basically starting from scratch I’m looking for some thoughts on lux levels for this area. Presently I’m at about 500 lux and I don’t feel it’s enough. I’m not getting the shutter speeds and aperture I want at times. Much of this could be the lights I have, (cheap no-name panels), the booth, light placement etc. Aiming for up 1500 lux with the new setup but some sources say 2000 or higher?

So, thoughts on lux levels? What do you use? Also, how would you change that for the different backgrounds, especially black?

Thanks for any thoughts.

So I've done product photography before in a studio, but this is my first time trying with my at home setup, i think i need better lighting, anyone have any good recommendations for at home studio lighting options?

https://preview.redd.it/871gbnwg47bh1.jpg?width=2592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7191decb552ed0d26ecac1791662207436ec258

Hi all, I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right spot but I work for a company that makes furniture and we have a product showroom that we are gonna use for photography aswell since the walls are pure white.

However, the carpet is a brownish color and we need something we can roll onto the floor then roll a bed onto to make it look professional in photos. The background may end up being cutout anyways but having a white background would make it a very clean contrasting background thats just better overall.

Any suggestions on what we should use to put on the floor thats white, durable and can be used over and over again without getting damaged would be great. Thank you :)

I recently moved countries and have taken up a 9-5ish product photography job which I hope to move from in 6-8 months/ a year. But along that, I want to keep my portfolio fresh and keep shooting on the side.

I've been working as a photographer for 2-3 years now with a portfolio built around product and beauty shoots. I'm still figuring out equipment for my small apartment and thinking about doing more editorial work using window light instead of strobes (something I'm more used to)

I'd also like to bring in more local brands and names into my portfolio, ideally names much bigger than what I've worked with so far.

Is it common to reach out to brands directly and ask if they'd send products in exchange for shooting and sharing images with them? Would love to hear how others have approached this or any advice on getting started.

In an effort to keep this subreddit focused on product photography, all AI-related posts should be kept to this thread which will be updated regularly.

This includes topics like:

• Discussing the future of the product photography industry with AI on the rise
• Promoting, discussing or showing off the results of an AI app
• AI workflows
• AI-related memes

I do think there are some good conversations being had about the impact of AI, but I'd like to keep it to this thread.

Any AI-related posts outside of this thread will most likely be removed. Let's do our best to keep conversations civil.

Feel free to reach out with any comments, questions or concerns. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’d love to get some honest thoughts from people in the Product Photography, creative, branding, and product marketing space.

I’ve been running a product photography and video studio for about 13-14 years now. Most of my work is focused on higher-end product photography — jewelry, watches, beauty, skincare, fragrance, and similar types of products. Over the years, I’ve worked with brands across the U.S. and also some international clients.

I’m not saying that to brag at all. I’m saying it because my whole business has been built around real photography, lighting, styling, retouching, precision, and making products feel premium. That’s the lane I know well.

But lately I’ve been thinking a lot about AI.

Not in the sense of cheap “AI product photos” where someone uploads a product and gets a random fake-looking image back. I’m talking more about a white-glove AI creative service — something more curated and art-directed.

For example:

1. AI campaign visuals using real product photography as the foundation
2. AI lifestyle scenes when a full production isn’t realistic
3. Maybe even AI product videos or social ad concepts built from real studio assets

The question I’m struggling with is this:

Should a premium product photography studio start offering AI creative services, or does that risk making the brand feel cheaper?

Part of me feels like this is where everything is heading. Clients are already asking about faster content, more variations, social ads, motion, AI backgrounds, and campaign ideas. It feels like ignoring it completely might be a mistake.

But the other side of me is cautious.

I don’t want to dilute the studio’s identity. I don’t want clients to think, “Oh, now they’re doing AI, so maybe the real photography isn’t as premium anymore.” I’ve spent years trying to position the studio around craftsmanship, lighting, detail, and luxury-level visuals.

So I’m debating a few options:

• 1Offer AI as an add-on service under the same studio brand
• Create a separate AI-focused brand or sub-brand
• Only use AI internally for mood boards, concepts, and pre-production
• Avoid offering AI publicly and stay fully focused on traditional photography/video
• Position AI as a premium creative direction tool, not a replacement for photography

I’m curious how other photographers, agency people, brand owners, and marketers see this. Would you trust a premium photography studio more if they offered high-end AI creative services?

Or would it make the studio feel less specialized and less luxury?

Also, for those of you working with brands, are clients actually asking for this now, or is it still mostly hype? I’m genuinely trying to think this through carefully before putting anything out there.

Would love to hear how others are handling this shift.

I am looking to hire a photographer to take basic product photographs approx 200-250 quantity.

Photos with basic white background
Availability: 2 days between July 3-July 10
Products: Table lamps, placemats, fruit baskets, framed paintings , handbags, scarfs, cushion covers.

Leads will be appreciated.

Budget: Around ₹ 15k, negotiable based on portfolio

I’m seeing more ecommerce brands use AI to transform simple product photos into lifestyle shots for ads, social media, emails, and landing pages.

The appeal is obvious. Instead of organizing an expensive photoshoot every time you need new creative, you can upload a clean product image and generate multiple realistic scenes in minutes.

Some of the tools that seem to come up the most are:
- ChatGPT Image Tools
- Photoroom
- Pebblely
- Dreamina
- Canva
- Google Product Studio
- Shopify Magic
- Amazon Ads Image Generator

That said, I’ve noticed the biggest challenge isn’t generating a beautiful image, but keeping the product accurate.

Some tools slightly change:
- Labels or text
- Colors
- Packaging
- Logos
- Product proportions

That might not matter for social content, but it can become a problem if customers receive something that doesn’t quite match what they saw.

It also seems like AI images work best as secondary marketing assets, while real product photography is still the safer choice for primary product listings.

I’m curious what everyone’s experience has been.

Which AI image generator has given you the most realistic results? Have you found one that consistently preserves product details?

Would love to hear what tools people are actually relying on in production.

Hi all! I just finished college and was looking for advice in getting clients, or finding work. My main goal is to work at an agency. I've spent the last few weeks updating my website with all my current work and adding it to Instagram. Is it worth putting my product photos on linked-in? Is there a good way to reach out to clients/work? Or finding work assisting on sets as a PA. Any advice would be great!