Process & Development
My process, research, ideas and inspiration behind the project.
INITIAL Ideation
Concept planning
Shoot Planning
Styling prep
Research
Shoot 1
Details:
When: 02/02/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 3 x Elinchrom Lights
1 x Snoot
1 x Dish + Grid
1 x Strip Box
Shoot Plan:
Objective of this photoshoot was to get a sense of the style I was going to shoot the series in. I wanted to play with lighting and styling and build a bit of a rhythm during the shoot.
Lighting plan:
Snoot angled at the backdrop for separation and added dimension.
Grid and dish to illuminate one side of the subject matter. Positioned at the same level as the subject matter.
Strip box as a slight fill on the other side and on the background.
Styling:
Experimenting with the current props
Reflection:
What worked?
Having a light streaming across the backdrop works really well. It separates the subject matter from the background whilst also building added drama and dimension to the photograph making it more visually interesting.
What didn’t work?
The styling of the plastic tubs didn’t quite work. I may need to rethink those and try and find a better way of styling them potentially.
What next?
I would like to try and explore the effect of changing the backdrop colour on a few of these shots. I also want to try and take some time to plan out some more concrete styling plans.
Shoot 2
Details:
When: 04/02/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 3 x Elinchrom Lights
1 x Snoot
2 x Dish + Grid
Shoot Plan:
For this shoot I had some more intentional plans I wanted to follow. I mostly wanted to experiment with pairing food and bags together on a couple different backdrops.
Lighting plan:
Grid angled at the backdrop for separation and added dimension.
Snoot to illuminate one side of the subject matter at a specific point for emphasis. Positioned at the same level as the subject matter.
Grid and dish to highlight the top half of the subject matter from the other side.
Reflection:
What worked?
I love the cohesion created when pairing food of the same colour as the bags, I think it worked really well in these photos. I particularly love the chocolate and cherry shots.
What didn’t work?
The lighting on the cherries needs a bit more oomf to it. A lot of the detail is lost to shadows.
What next?
I would like to reshoot some of these with slightly more refined lighting.
Next I would also like to come up with some more shot plans to work with.
Shoot 3
Details:
When: 11/03/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 2 x Elinchrom Lights
2 x Snoots
1 x Grid and Dish
Shoot Plan:
Coming into this shoot I had 3 key shots I wanted to get. So I took my time trying to get those.
Lighting plan:
For the shiny objects I will use perspex as a diffuser. For the rest I plan to use snoots to create really contrasting lighting.
Reflection:
What worked?
The styling of the watches with the dominos works quite well however the lighting isn’t executed very well. I may try and shoot this again.
What didn’t work?
The white backdrop is just a bit lacking overall. I feel as though these shots would look a lot better with a darker toned backdrop.
What next?
I will reshoot all of these concepts on a different background and with more refined lighting.
For the shiny objects I may experiment with using scrims.
Shoot 5
Details:
When: 02/03/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 3 x Elinchrom Lights
1 x Stripbox
1 x Dish + Grid
1 x Small Snoot
Shoot Plan:
For this shoot I am planning on capturing 3 main compositions I have planned. All of these are on a brown backdrop so will shoot them at the same time.
Lighting plan:
Strip box to provide better illumination to the shiny objects and bag.
Grid onto the backdrop for extra dimension and separation.
Snoot to fill the left side of the objects dramatically.
Reflection:
What worked?
This shoot is probably the most successful so far. I came in with a really clear vision of the shots I wanted to get out of it and I think that shows.
I love the play of light where the holes in the basket have been cast onto the bag. It adds something really interesting to the shot and is something I want to explore further.
What didn’t work?
Not sure how I feel about the fabric in the milk crate. This might work better if I replace it with butchers paper or even baking paper?
The silver clutch isn’t as effective as the other one I don’t think. I will need to find a different way to display it.
What next?
I am really happy with the number of angles captured for each of these bags. Next I want to try and capture more close-ups of them as well as of some similar textures too perhaps.
Experiment with switching the lighting sides.
Shoot 6
Details:
When: 05/03/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 1-2 x Elinchrom Lights
1 x Square soft box
1 x Large Sq Soft Box
Shoot Plan:
The key objective for this photoshoot was to shoot as many of the shots with ‘shiny’ objects as I could. I planned to do this shoot on this day as there was teacher availability in the studio if I had any questions.
Lighting plan:
To preserve the original colour of the objects I was photographing I needed to use a larger soft box as well as a white card to reduce reflections where needed.
Styling:
Experimenting with silver platter’s primarily.
Reflection:
What worked?
The watches look really good with the buttons, particularly the Gucci one. However I am concerned that (despite being second hand) it is too expensive for the project concept.
The green purse on it’s own looks great on the brown background.
Using a white card helped to reveal the watch’s metals really effectively.
What didn’t work?
The shoot with the green purse docent look as good on the brown backdrop as it did on the white. The colours are too contrasting.
I managed to gain a lot of the reflections back on the top half of the objects but the lower half is still a bit dark so I may need to reshoot and build a tent situation to control the highlights further possibly.
What next?
Will attempt to shoot the green purse again against a white background.
Will also consider shooting the watches against a black perspex as this could be really effective.
In general I would like to try more experimental lighting techniques so I will create a mood board of those.
Shoot 7
Details:
When: 16/03/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 3 x Elinchrom Lights
1 x Small Strip Box
1 x Small Square Soft Box
1 x Large Strip Box
2 x Scrims
Shoot Plan:
The goal for this photoshoot was to capture most of the smaller accessories, particularly the ones that would be impacted by reflections such as the jewellery, watches and sunglasses.
Lighting plan:
A soft box from either side and then two scrims in front of two of the lights to minimise reflections. I also put a reflector attached to a C-Stand over the subject matter to reduce reflections from above. When Shooting this I experimented with turning off various lights so that I could build a composite image if required later for more desirable lighting.
Reflection:
What worked?
Having this lighting setup felt really seamless. I loved being able to turn various ones off and on for a range of lighting experiments with each styling. I loved the effect the scrims gave too. The lighting is sculpting but also soft and subtle which works well. The scrims were particularly effective in the jewellery.
What didn’t work?
I wasn’t quite able to manage as many of the reflections from above as I would have liked so I may redo a couple of the shots.
What next?
I want to try and capture some similar shots on a couple other backdrops. I may need to get some more jewellery for that though.
Shoot 8
Details:
When: 17/03/26
Where: PSC Studio
Lighting: 3 x Elinchrom Lights
1 x Small Strip Box
1 x Small Square Soft Box
1 x Large Strip Box
2 x Scrims
Shoot Plan:
This shoot follows from shoot 7 as they were on consecutive days and I was able to leave my gear setup across that period. For this shoot I had a couple ideas involving food packaging and veggies that I wanted to try.
Reflection:
What worked?
The lighting again worked really well today. I will use this setup again in the future.
Styling accessories in food packaging looked really cool.
What didn’t work?
I didn’t quite get the angle right on some of the overhead shots. I may need to use a dedicated tripod for these so I will have to reshoot them.
What next?
I will reshoot the overhead shots using a dedicated tripod. I will also work to come up with some more ideas for the beige and green backdrops.
