In short: On an infinity cove, light the white wall separately from the product, bring the wall about a stop above the subject, and keep the product two to three metres forward. Light the product with large soft sources, use black flags for glass and white bounce for fill, and fix every distance so a range matches.
On a cove the background does most of the work if you light it properly. Light the white wall on its own, put the product well forward of it, light the product with large soft sources, and use flags and bounce to control reflections. Each product then takes minutes to change, and the whole range comes out on the same white. This guide gives you the plan view, a lighting layout for the common cases and the habits that keep a range consistent.
When a cove is the right tool
Most small products never need a cove. Our guide to cove or tabletop product photography goes through the decision. In short, book the cove when the product is too big for a table, when a person is in the shot, when the floor has to disappear, or when the product has to move on a turntable or in a film.
The White Space is 5.3m by 7.1m with 4.5m to the lighting grid. There are no windows or roof lights in the building, so the light you set on the first product is the light you have on the last, and no cloud changes the day.
The plan view
Think of the room from above, in four zones from the wall towards the camera.
| Zone | What goes there | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Wall | The curved white sweep, lit on its own | The background is lit separately so it can reach white without lighting the product |
| Product position | Plinth, table, floor or the 1m turntable, two to three metres forward of the wall | Distance stops the wall light wrapping round the product and flattening it |
| Lighting zone | Key, fill and edge lights to the sides and above | Shape comes from the sides, not from the camera |
| Camera | Tripod, tethered to a laptop, at the far end | A longer lens from further back keeps the perspective natural |
Mark the product position and the camera position on the floor with tape. Every shot for the range comes from those marks.
A lighting layout for white
Work in this order. It is the order that saves time.
- Light the wall first. Aim a separate group of the house lights from the grid at the sweep and put them on their own dimmer channels, so the wall can be set independently. Bring it about a stop above the product, then check it with a meter or a waveform. It should be even from the top of the wall to the front of the floor, not merely bright.
- Add a key light. Use one large soft source, diffused or bounced, above and slightly to one side of the product. A bigger source gives softer shadows and gentler reflections.
- Add fill. A white bounce board on the opposite side lifts the shadow side without adding a second light. Bounce is part of the house grip.
- Add edge light if the product needs it. Narrow soft sources behind and to either side draw a clean edge on bottles, packaging and jewellery.
- Flag what you do not want. Black flags on C-stands stop light hitting places it should not, and they paint dark lines on glass and metal. Flags, bounce and C-stands are all in the grip included with every hire.
We cover the wall-lighting logic in detail in lighting a cove to white, and to black. The same ideas apply here.
Four product cases
A packshot on white. Product on a white surface, wall lit, one soft key, one bounce. Shoot front, back, side and three-quarter views from the taped marks.
Glass and bottles. Clear glass on a white background loses its edges. Put black flags beside the bottle so it picks up dark lines down each side, and use a bounce card behind or beside it to give the glass a bright body. This is the case that needs a setup of its own, so allow time.
Shiny metal. A shiny object reflects whatever is round it, including the camera and the crew. Use a large soft source, flag out anything you do not want reflected and keep people away from the product side of the set.
A product that turns. The 1m turntable is in the house grip. Keep the product centred on it and the camera on the taped mark. A full turn needs a clean background all the way round, which is where a cove helps.
Keep a range consistent
A catalogue looks like one catalogue only when every image has the same light, angle and white. Do five things:
- fix the distance from wall to product, product to camera and the lens
- write down the dimmer levels, the camera settings and the modifier positions, then photograph the set
- use a grey card or colour chart at the start of each set-up
- shoot by setup, not by SKU, so each look is lit once and reset only when the product changes
- name files from a code on the shot list, so they drop into your store without renaming
With the camera tethered, a client in the viewing area can watch frames arrive as you shoot and agree a selection before they leave. The studio has fibre internet for sending files afterwards.
Before the day
Get the products ready before they arrive. Our guide to preparing products for a studio shoot covers cleaning, spares and shot lists. If the images are headed to Amazon or another marketplace, check the marketplace's rules for white backgrounds and pixel sizes first, with Amazon and e-commerce image specs. To decide whether you need packshots, lifestyle shots or both, read packshot vs lifestyle.
Common mistakes
- Lighting the product and hoping the wall follows. It comes out grey.
- Putting the product too close to the wall, so the wall light flattens it and throws a shadow.
- Fingerprints and dust on glossy surfaces, which have to be retouched out of every frame.
- Unflagged reflections of the camera or the crew.
- Changing the light halfway through the range, then trying to match it in editing.
- No scale shot, so a 30ml serum and a 500ml bottle look the same size.
What it costs
The White Space is £295+VAT for a half day and £395+VAT for a full day, with the house lighting and grip included and crew on top. The studio hire page for product photography has the details.
Related guides
- Amazon and e-commerce image specs
- Packshot vs lifestyle: which images you need
- Food photography in a studio: styling, light, hero shots
- Commercial, corporate and advertising photography explained
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
Why use an infinity cove for product photography?
A cove has no join between wall and floor, so the background reads as one continuous white without retouching. It also fits large products, people and moving subjects that a tabletop sweep cannot hold. Small, static products may not need one.
How do you get a pure white background on a cove?
Light the wall separately from the product, evenly, and about a stop brighter than the subject. Keep the product two to three metres forward so the wall light does not wrap round it, and check the white at the top, middle and bottom of the wall.
How much does it cost to hire the cove for product photography?
The White Space is £295 plus VAT for a four-hour half day and £395 plus VAT for a ten-hour full day. House lighting and grip are included, and crew is booked on top. A tabletop-only day of small products often fits a half day.
granary.digital · 01243 884993 · studio@granary.digital · The Old Grainstore, Adsdean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 9DN · Prices exclude VAT unless marked inc VAT