Luxe for less: How we recreated premium commercial photography effects at home

In this digital age, we’re surrounded by advertising at each touchpoint. It's estimated that many of us are even exposed to up 10,000 ads each day! Brands are being challenged to keep up a supply of fresh content while differentiating themselves from their competitors - all with rapidly declining budgets.

Marketers are expected to do more with less and continually come up with innovative solutions to engage more consumers with their messaging. Technology is helping provide new ways of working and alternatives to traditional agencies such as online content creation platforms.

Consumer technology has advanced to the point that it's now very accessible—and affordable—for every day creators to access high quality photographic equipment. Online courses and information sharing is helping to make the types of creative effects that were once limited to teams of professionals in commercial studios available to curious creative minds to try at home.

Introducing the Recreate Challenge

As curious creators ourselves we wanted to discover what was involved to achieve premium photography effects fit for a glossy magazine. Was it possible to replace a studio and a team of lighting techs, stylists and photographers with just one person working from their kitchen benchtop?

To find out we handpicked creators from the Creatively Squared community and challenged them to recreate a commercial advertisement from home. Based in five different countries around the word, each of our creators rose to the challenge and proved that it’s possible to create professional product imagery on a shoestring budget. All you need is some good old-fashioned creativity and resourcefulness!

Are you ready to know exactly how they made it possible and see the results?

#1 Flawless Foundation Splash

Creative mum-of-two and Australian photographer Jemma Johnson was challenged to get that sexy texture and splash effect that many premium beauty brands like Bobbi Brown, Nars, Dior, and Giorgio Armani have used in their advertising campaigns.

Inspiration vs. result

Jemma was able to get that flawless foundation splash without breaking the bank to tip out 45 bottles of foundation. How? Simply by creating her own foundation coloured liquid by experimenting with milk and cream. And voila—with the right combination of the solution, she had the right colour and consistency to get a couple of shots that captured the perfect splash!

Read the full tutorial to find out how it was done Create a Flawless Foundation Splash to Photograph Beauty Products Like a Pro

#2 Luxury Black on Black

Photographing a black product on a black background and making it pop takes some creative expertise. This luxe recreation was inspired by a stunning cover image from Foodography and was amazingly recreated by food and product photographer Gerard Perkin from the Philippines.

Inspiration vs. result

To create this scene Perkin took a trip to the garden to spray-paint some artificial leaves for his black foliage. Want to know what’s even better? He only used natural light throughout the entire shooting process. With just a little enhancement in Lightroom, he was able to achieve a sophisticated and elegant look for his product photo.

Read the full tutorial to find out how it was done Achieve a sophisticated look for your product photos with black on black photography

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#3 Conceptual Drink Splashes

Creating drink splashes may a complicated and messy process but talented Russian photographer Elena was successful in recreating that famous drink splash beverage brands love to use in their commercial photos.

Inspiration vs. result

To create the splashes, Elena experimented with different techniques in pouring the liquid from its packaging and moving the glass in different directions. Using multiple burst shots and focus stacking techniques, she was able to compile the effect she wanted.

Read the full tutorial to find out how it was done Squeeze The Creative Juice Out Of Your Photography With Conceptual Splashes

#4 Frozen Ice Effect

A resourceful photographer from India, Khushboo Soni, took on the challenge of adding a unique twist to product photos by freezing objects with ice.

Inspiration vs. result

In this recreation piece, creating clear ice was the challenging part. Khushboo discovered a technique to produce clear ice and control the freezing process by using insulated boxes and facing the perfume bottle upwards so its label would be positioned where the ice appears clearest.

Read the full tutorial to find out how it was done Learn a cool way to photograph your product frozen in ice

#5 Petri Dish Experiment

Who would’ve thought that glass Petri dishes from our old science class experiments would make excellent beauty product imagery? Food and product photographer Katya Ozler (@katyaozler) from Istanbul, Turkey recreated the Petri glass concept with her own unique spin.

Inspiration vs. result

Katya started by composing the Petri dishes in her frame and sourcing hazelnut oil and food colouring to create the oil effect. She was then able to achieve a clinical scene by positioning her light from underneath the glass platform where she placed the Petri dishes.

Read the full tutorial to find out how it was done Add a Clinical Edge to Your Product Photography with Petri Dishes

What do you think about our recreations? Considering the average cost of producing just one of the inspiration photos would likely run into the tens of thousands of dollars we think our creators did an incredible job!

If you'd like to tap into the collective creativity of our community we'd love to help. Book a demo or get in touch via our website for more information.

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