Perfume & Cosmetics
image © Bret Doss, All Rights Reserved
Perfume bottles are often the branding signature of a product line. Branded scents and cosmetics may be the most accessible products to a larger target customer base. One quick pass thru any cosmetic aisle in any retailer, and you will see how critical photography is as part of communicating the brand: as the products themselves are not physically large (e.g. lip gloss), imagery is used to draw the eye, communicate the nature, color, design of the product as well as the mood and emotion associated with the brand.
For this perfume portfolio shoot, I chose to create a feeling of luxury and indulgence for the Versace image: I carefully styled white satin around the product, and designed the lighting in a way to emphasize the sparkle and facets of the bottle design, to capture a reflection of the bottle in the gold case (tying the two items together) and to convey a “gold bullion’ association for embossed metal name plate.
I took a different approach with the Loreal cosmetics, creating a lighting/set approach that makes a modern, stage-like setting. The cosmetics are the heroes of the images, the only source of color, all light directed at the products.
Negative space in all of the images allows for text to be added, whether it be point-of-sale displays or print advertising in magazines.
One long but fun and rewarding day of shooting in the studio — I love days like this!
image © Bret Doss, All Rights Reserved
image © Bret Doss, All Rights Reserved
all images/content © Bret Doss, all rights reserved
Seattle Commercial Photographer 
Leave a Reply