I was recently sent a Hanji leather pen case from an ad agency that wanted me to do something with it. What better way to feature a product like this than to do a full product photography shoot? In this article, I'll walk you through the entire process, from the equipment I used to the various scenes I set up and the challenges throughout the process.
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Here are a few other videos related to the equipment I was using.
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| The Hanji leather pen case. |
The product itself is a very nice roll-up style case. On the inside, it has two different areas for pens or pencils with protective flaps at the top. There's also a zippered pouch for other small items. To keep it closed, a long leather strap wraps around the case. My goal for the photoshoot was to feature all these different aspects in the final photos.
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| The pen case is opened. |
The Equipment
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| Equipment being used for this photoshoot. |
Here’s the equipment I used for this photoshoot. These are B&H affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases!
- Nikon Z5 camera
- Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8
- Nikon Z 40mm f/2
- Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8
- Macro Extension Tubes: These were very important. The pen case is a relatively small product, and to get those detailed close-up shots of the stitching and texture, I needed to get closer than my lenses would normally allow. Macro tubes are a great alternative if you don't have a dedicated macro lens for your camera system.
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| Close-up of the macro extension tubes. |
Lighting:
My lighting setup is a dedicated area I have arranged for this kind of work. It consists of two continuous lights.
- Key Light: A Weeylite Ninja 20 with a large softbox. This is a constant light, technically for videography, but it works perfectly well for photos. I had it set to 20% power, which was fine. This is the maximum power it can run at with the low fan setting.
- Fill/Back Light: An LED panel light positioned higher up on the other side of the table, pushing light downwards and somewhat from the back.
This creates a clamshell-style lighting setup. Using that term is probably wrong here, but you get the idea. The lights are not quite key plus hair light with the panel positioned further back than the main light on the left. So when I used the term clamshell I meant more of that when considering they are projecting the light more so top-down with the parallel positioning being at opposite table legs on each side.
Anyways, this gives me results I'm happy with in my limited space. Both lights were set to a color temperature of 5,600 Kelvin, and I matched this setting in the camera to get a good baseline for color.
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| A close-up of the Weeylite Ninja 20 continuous light. |
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| The panel light on the other side of the table. |
Props and Backdrop Materials
To create different scenes, I used a variety of materials I picked up from Michaels the craft store.
- Foam Sheets: I had two large sheets of foam, one brown and one gray. These turned out to be my favorite background materials for the shoot. They absorb light well and provide a very different texture compared to paper, giving a nice, smooth transition from the table surface to the wall.
- Cardstock: I had some small squares of colored cardstock and one with a map printed on it. The map was of the United States, which didn't really make sense with a Korean pen case, but I took a few test shots anyway.
- Pens and Pencils: I gathered various pens I had on hand. The best option was a wooden pen, which looked a bit more high-class. I also used some of my favorite Zebra branded pens.
- Other Props: To show off the zippered pouch, I used tiny Polaroid Go photos. I also had a pencil sharpener that fit into the zippered pouch of the case.
- Gaffer Tape: Often used in television, film, and photography production, gaffer tape is a heavy-duty cotton cloth tape. Its key feature is that it can be removed cleanly from most surfaces without leaving behind a sticky residue, making it ideal for temporarily securing cables, props, and backdrops.
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| Gray and brown foam sheets. |
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| Colored cardstock paper. |
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| A variety of pens, including silver Zebra branded pens. |
Staging the Scenes and Compositions
With all the equipment and materials ready, I started building different scenes. My process is to just start taking photos to get motivated and let ideas develop as I go.
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| The limited area I had to work with. |
Simple Compositions
I started simple, just photographing the product with its packaging. Nothing too exciting, but it's a good way to warm up and start thinking about angles and lighting.
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| A top-down photo of the pen case lying next to its light green packaging box on a black surface. |
Using Backdrops
Next, I moved on to using the background materials. I tried the colored cardstock and decided on a purple one, which I think created a nice color combination with the teal of the pen case. Because the cardstock was small, I had to get very close, which made keeping everything in focus a challenge.
For extreme close-ups you should consider focus stacking multiple exposures. I didn't do this for the photoshoot but to get results that can be used in some commercial contexts you'd need to get more of the product in focus with techniques like that.
Focus Stacking: This is a digital image processing technique that combines multiple images taken at different focus distances to give a resulting image with a greater depth of field (DOF) than any of the individual source images. For macro and product photography, where depth of field is naturally very shallow, focus stacking is often necessary to render the entire subject in sharp focus. [cite: Gemini Pro but verified by me...]
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| A close-up photo of the teal pen case on a purple cardstock background. See how some of the case isn't in focus. |
Another option might be small apertures, but that has its own set of downsides like the potential of diffraction and the need for long exposure times.
The foam sheets were my favorite to work with. The brown foam gave the photos a warm look, while the gray was more neutral. The foam absorbs light well and creates a smooth, non-reflective background. The sheets weren't quite as large as I would have liked, which limited some of my compositions, but they generally worked well. I used a small USB power adapter to prop the case up in different positions.
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| A photo showing the pen case resting against a hidden USB power adapter. |
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| A portion of the pen case with brown foam as a backdrop. |
Telling a Use-Case Story
To give potential customers an idea of how the case could be used, I started adding props. I placed my wooden pen and other pens into the slots. I put the little Polaroid photos into the zippered pouch to show what it is able to hold.
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| A photo showing multiple pens and small Polaroid Go pictures arranged in and around the inside of the case. |
I also used the macro tubes to get detail shots of the manufacturing quality, like the stitching, to highlight the craftsmanship of the product.
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| A macro photo showing the fine stitching detail on pen slots. |
My favorite setup from a visual perspective was creating a full "use-case story." I used some NASA-themed coloring pages I had colored in a live stream months back, a set of colored pencils, and a pencil sharpener. The goal was to build a scene that tells a story about what you could potentially do with this pen case. It created a colorful scene that showcases the product in action, highlighting the pen slots with colored pencils and the zippered pouch with the sharpener.
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| A wide shot showing the pen case filled with colored pencils, lying on top of NASA coloring pages. |
Challenges and Things to Consider
Even a mock photoshoot like this comes with its challenges and learning moments. Here are a few things I learned or would consider for next time...
Use Manual Mode: I started in Aperture Priority but quickly switched to mostly Manual mode. When you have fixed lighting that you control, there's no need to let the camera make exposure decisions for you.
Bigger is Better for Backdrops: I was a bit limited in my compositions because my backdrop materials were relatively small. Always expect you'll need larger materials than you think.
Consider Focus Stacking: For some of the close-up shots, focus stacking would have been a great technique to get more of the product in sharp focus. It requires more setup with a tripod as well as post processing, but it's an important option to consider for product photography. An alternative could be smaller apertures with a tripod and long exposures.
Use a Circular Polarizer: The product's box had a glossy finish that created a lot of reflection. A circular polarizer filter could have helped reduce or eliminate that glare. Unfortunately, I didn't have one that fit the lenses I have available in Nikon Z mount.
Check Your Gear: I realized partway through that my panel light was set to a higher power level than I intended. It's always a good idea to double-check all your equipment settings before you start taking photos.
Despite the minor challenges, this was a very fun product photoshoot. I enjoyed the creative process of building scenes and trying to best represent all the features of that Hanji leather pen case sent in.