When your product is lifesaving medical equipment it is important to have top product photographers on your team.
This product is used in the care of newborns with respiratory issues and was photographed on white seamless paper and lit “high key” style. This means that the background is lit to render completely white, and then the product is lit independently. Because the background is lit slightly brighter than the product, there won’t be distracting shadows.
Images on white backgrounds are also referred to as “high key”. Lighting for high key requires experience; too little light on the background and it will look muddy and there can be shadows from the product, too much light and there will be “halation” around the edges of the product from light bouncing back into the lens from the overly lit background. When a product touches the floor as this one does, it’s nice to include a slight shadow from the legs, or wheels in this case. Without these shadows the product would look unrealistic. A viewer can get a better idea of perspective if there are some shadows in a high key image. These shadows can be captured by lighting the product in a way that allows them to appear, as was done in this case, or added in post production. We like to include shadows in the original capture because it looks more realistic. This product involved the challenge of having 2 screens where information is displayed during use.
When we photograph products at Barnet Photography in our studio in Costa Mesa, CA, usually a representative of the client is present, especially if there are multiple products to photograph, with different views, and there is not an exact “shot list” with specific angles to complete. During the set up of this product the clients discussed whether they wanted information on the screens included in the photographs. This can be done of course, in several different ways. At Barnet Photography we try to be as cost effective to our product photography clients as possible. If we know that information on the monitors is going to be part of the final image, we can photograph the product with the information being displayed. Often that means doing an extra exposure for the monitors only, that will be added in post easily, since the product was not moved, and the size and angle of view are consistent with the overall image. If this is an afterthought, the “adding of information on the monitors can be more complicated and costly. In this case, after several minutes of discussions, the client decided to go without information. I think that was because of 2 reasons. Information on the monitors without a power cord coming from the unit would suggest that the item is battery operated, and it is not. Also the information display could change in the future rendering an “older version of the image unusable by the client. These are the issues we must address during a product photography assignment. Since we have a great deal of experience in this type of studio photography, we often pose these questions to our clients during a meeting before the session so they can be prepared on the day of the shoot.
This item is from a neonatal intensive care unit that is filled with life-saving medical equipment and one of the most important items in the neonatal unit are new-born respiratory assemblies that can be moved around as needed. Barnet Photography’s product photography clients include manufacturers of medical equipment such as this product. It was photographed at the Barnet Photography Studio in Santa Ana, California and is about 5 1/2 feet high on a stand with wheels.
Location: Santa Ana, CA.