Package Design - August 2013 - 19

CONVERTER’S CORNER

BY ED EMANUS

Plan Photos that Pop
Tips for taking photos that reproduce brighter
and cleaner on labels and other packaging.

H

Top, a cloudy
day can give
soft,
shadowless
light to an
outdoor shot.
Bottom, a
properly timed
outdoor shot
captures the
scene and even
the lowhanging clouds
but preserves
the contrast
and detail.

ave you ever seen packaging with photos that
are dull and void of detail? The problem,
especially with photos of outdoor scenes, can come
from a lack of contrast. For example, a photo taken
on a cloudy day seems to have shadowless light
everywhere. That’s because the clouds act like a
giant soft box.
This is not to say that you can’t get good outdoor
shots with some beautiful clouds in the background.
You just need to plan to add pop to these photos.
“Golden light” occurs up to one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset. During this time,
the sun’s light is slightly softened and tinted by its
horizontal travel through the atmosphere. With the
sun low in the sky, light kisses the tops of trees and
casts long shadows. This hard light exaggerates the
difference between highlights and shadows by
increasing contrast that reveals detail in every leaf

and blade of grass.
You can use this same principle for food and
product photography, using reflectors that create
brighter highlights, darker shadows and show detail
across every surface. Placing the main light behind
the subject at a low angle will have the light
“scrape” across the texture of the surface and exaggerate the differences between tonal values. Look
to create shadows dark enough to contain information but not so dark that they contain only noise.
This is why front lighting is known for decreasing contrast in a photo and delivering a “flatter”
photo. For this reason, camera-mounted flashes
should rarely be used—even for fill light.
Careful consideration of lighting might add
complexity to your package design project. But
smart planning and use of reflectors versus soft
boxes will bring out more detail and depth in your
photography. An increased tonal range helps packaging photos reproduce better on press, making their
packaged products more commanding on shelf. PD

Top, low, scraped
light turns up the
taste appeal for
this photo,
highlighting the
bright, translucent
colors in the salad.
Left, scraped light
spotlights the
texture in the
strawberries,
blueberries and
cereal ﬂakes.
Above, this photo
perfectly captures
the ﬂaky, tender
texture of the
salmon thanks
to the hard light
that accents the
ﬁlet’s veins.

For articles on similar topics, visit the Design Principles channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

Ed Emanus is the lead photographer at Cyber Graphics, a private design media service shop in Memphis, TN. Cyber
Graphics (www.cybermemphis.com) blends its creativity and
production expertise with the technological requirements of
flexographic printing to deliver solutions for brand management, package design, food photography, food styling and
package prototyping.
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Package Design - August 2013

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