Lifestyle photography is the best way to showcase your products creatively. No two photoshoot concepts for creative photography photoshoot are the same either. As a result, photoshoots can be much more interesting to put together due to the creativity involved. This blog will showcase one of our recent photoshoots that required creating a forest in our studio for a client.

The first step for any creative photoshoot project is creating and developing an idea. For example, our client wanted to showcase its camouflage range in its natural outdoors habitat. Mondoolfi studio is located in the centre of Birmingham, so we decided to bring the wilderness inside. Despite how daunting a task it may sound to start building something natural indoors, it brings many benefits. One of the main benefits is absolute control over the lighting. Natural lighting is complicated to control to achieve consistent lighting as it moves positions during the day and maybe covered by clouds.

We sourced our props from both a local park and our gardens. When sourcing props from the outdoors, it is essential to ensure you have the necessary permissions to take what you need. Plants, moss and logs could be home to thousands of different species. Disrupting them could not only get you into trouble but potentially cause damage to the natural ecosystem.

Setting up for the photoshoot

Setting up in the studio with natural props can be messy. This is especially apparent when working with soil. When taking product photos with natural props, you can be handling props from glitter to dried flowers.
We started by doubling up the tarp to fit the desired space and then marked out the corners of the frame using live view to ensure the structure was filled without wasting materials. Next, I set the scene with a base layer of soil. Then, I added sheets of moss; the moss/flowers must be fresh or preserved. Dry or fake flowers can be unconvincing if you plan on keeping them in focus; however, if they are out of focus, fake flowers are a great alternative. Just check out this product photo below. The flowers in the background of this photoshoot are artificial. But they aren’t in focus, giving the impression of a beautiful vase of fresh flowers.

Adding in the products for the photoshoot

Using larger logs to prop up the caps, we built up the moss using twigs and dried leaves to give a beautiful forest effect. Then it was a matter of playing around with the positioning of the hats until they looked aesthetically pleasing. Our client wanted to incorporate some negative space as these photos will eventually become a banner with text.

The caps are very well structured due to the material. However, to give them more shape, we utilised card strips on the mesh caps and stuffing to fill out the fabric ones. Filling out the caps also gave us more creative freedom with placement.

Next, we started putting together the lighting to mimic how the sun cuts through the trees’ branches and spills onto the forest floors. We used a bare bulb, and a white card with a rectangle cut out to achieve this. This technique directed the light like streams of sunlight. We also created rim light around the larger logs to create more depth whilst maintaining the natural lighting.

After some repositioning with the caps, it was time for the photoshoot. We took one initial image for the background and then individual shots of each hat with a spotlight on them. These additional shots will post-production to make the caps pop within the background without altering the stunning “sunlight” effect.

Final Result

After editing, this is the final result of the creative photoshoot. Let us know what you think below or on our social media.

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