Blurb: Product Photography

Product photography production and post-production for self-publishing bookmaking company.

Blurb, prior to this photoshoot, had no imagery of their product and relied solely on externally purchased mockups and free image sites: Unsplash and Pexels. Utilizing my education in photography and network, I took the initiative and responsibility of producing Blurb's first ever product image library. In collaboration with other teams I coordinated and executed every step of this shoot and ultimately was able to save the company ~$40k in expenses through my unique contribution.

Considerations

Externally purchased mockups were inaccurate to Blurb's product, prevented continuity, and limited control and creativity. Budget was minuscule and cost savings were of utmost importance—the shoot needed to be economical and resulting mockups needed to be flexible to any use-case, long-lasting, and foolproof for anyone to use.

Employer

Blurb

Role

Designer

Design Solutions

Art Direction
Photography Production
Photography Post-Production

Planning & Production

Each component of the process was accomplished in collaboration with relevant team leads.

Component 1

Product identification

Identify what products needed to be photographed, taking into consideration various spec configurations like: cover type, page count, paper type, end-sheet colors, linen colors, etc. This ensured that the entire catalog of product was captured and that no unnecessary products were ordered, minimizing cost.

Component 2

Shot list and art direction

Specified needed shots and angles: individual products at various angles, detail shots that highlight specs (cover type, end-sheet, etc...) , and numerous assortments, pairings, stacks, and positions. Determined shadow size, direction, depth, and sharpness, lens distortion, camera angles, depth of field, environmental lighting, and background color.

Component 3

Contractor and equipment acquisition

With cost savings as a priority, I utilized my personal network to source studio space, a prop stylist, and equipment (backdrop, camera, lenses, software, lighting, props, etc.).

Component 4

Product acquisition and inventory

Helped build and order each book and was responsible for receiving and transporting product to shoot location. I then created a system where each product was assigned a number and reflected in the file naming convention. This allowed me to keep track of what angles and products had been captured already and what products were remaining, it also allowed for quick communication with our prop stylist, as well as easily navigate images and accurately identify products in post-production.

Component 5

Execution

I began the shoot by prioritizing closed book shots, which allowed for softcover books to maintain their shape and hardcover books to go uncreased. I also photographed in batches by angle in order to maintain a consistent book and camera angle. I started with the largest format book to ensure it, and all smaller sizes, would fit into the determined frame. This allowed me to keep the integrity of the book sizes and therefore allow for size comparison (especially important for web needs).

Post-production

In order to utilize these images to their fullest capacity, resulting images needed to be made into editable mockups. This allowed for full creative control when editing, easy compositing, and easy art application. It also allowed for a variety of book content to be represented on the website and other marketing material. During my time I produced over 100 of these mockup files.

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