Tablets and smartphones are probably the most photographed objects for eCommerce. Almost always, these images are kept very sober. In order to do justice to the extremely colourful design of an iPhone 14 and its packaging, I have staged one in the same colourful way.
The underground and background are still very reminiscent of a conventional shot for an online shop: a white reflective acrylic plate and a white cardboard. But already the main light is atypical: a standard reflector (1) coming vertically from above, whose angle of light is severely restricted by a narrow honeycomb, bathes the objects in a dominant spotlight. Only one light additionally illuminates the smartphone: to precisely control the reflection at the bottom right of the display, a Picolite lamp with projection attachment (2) flashes onto a diffuser (3) positioned to allow reflections. The exact gradient of this reflex (size and sharpness) can be easily controlled via the templates and the lens of the attachment.
A fill light, which is usually needed when using a spot, is not necessary here because the white underground already reflects enough light to lighten the shadows.
The stylised "mountain" in the background is illuminated with two more P70 reflectors (4 and 5). Their light cones are in turn restricted with honeycomb grids, which allows the colour gradients to be positioned precisely. The filter foils used reflect the colours used in the design of the packaging. Since a glossy acrylic plate was chosen as the underground, the background colours also appear here.
The photographs were taken with a medium format camera and a focal length of 125 mm. At aperture 11 and a sensitivity of ISO 100, the shutter speed was 2 seconds (necessary for the exposure of the display).
