Blog | Manchester Food & Product Photography

Clients often come to me with challenging products to photograph and with Whitehouse Crockery it was no exception. Whitehouse Crockery is a Manchester based hire company that supplies charger plates, crockery, cutlery and glassware for both private and corporate events. Their product range is huge and always growing as they regularly invest in new stock, following market trends and customer demand.

Each product presents its own challenges due to the finish, shape and often reflective nature. Whilst I do have some standard lighting setups, I often have to modify these or create completely bespoke setups to overcome the problems I am faced with. This is where my experience comes in as I often know what type of adjustment is required. This could be anything from fine tuning the position of lights to the addition of harder light sources to pull out specific details of the product. When I shoot I am always tethered to the laptop and therefore I can see the results real-time. I never like to rely on Photoshop to fix problems that should have been fixed on the shoot. This is better for me and the client as it will almost always end up in a better end result.

As well as the lighting challenges, another key skill when producing a number of packshot type product images on several different occasions is their consistency. Images for their website must not only look good, but they must be consistently lit and processed. My approach is always consistent and I pay special attention to colour management and always compare against previous images, checking them side-by-side.

I have an excellent working relationship with Whitehouse Crockery and Marc Gough, Sales Director kindly provided me with this testimonial feedback – I have been working with Matt now for the past three and a half years and the vision he shares for my brand along with the attention to detail when photographing products for Whitehouse Event Crockery is exceptional. He has produced an extensive gallery of quality product images and some wonderfully creative tabletop shots for our Instagram feed that capture the uniqueness of what we do! I hope to continue the relationship for many years to come and would highly recommend Matt for Still Life and Product Photography.

Below are a selection of images which I have created for Whitehouse Crockery over the past few years. As you can see I have captured everything from simple packshot type product images on a white background, to creative Still Life images with creative composition and lighting which sometimes took hours to create.

Creative Product Photography:

Example Product Packshots:

Whilst print isn’t as popular as it once was, you can’t beat the medium for its ability to deliver a message with maximum impact. I often work with Manchester based design and advertising agencies that have created stunning logos, branding and design layouts and when you combine this with quality papers and textures, the final result is often nothing short of stunning. I guess that’s where I come in… its my job to represent the impact of quality printed work back through my photography. Whilst a core objective of the brief is to deliver photography that clearly displays the branding work, I also need to draw the viewers eye into the magnificent textures and creative foiling work that make this type of work a cut above the digital versions.

Over this years this has seen me to photograph a variety of printed branding work but I was recently approached by Matt Beadle of Landmark Branding, Manchester to create a number of images that would make the quality of his print work stand out from the rest. When I received the products I needed to photograph I was amazed by the sheer quality of the branding and papers. I was therefore enthusastic about setting up my lighting a creating some hopefully well received images.

Although the subject isn’t the most technically challenging to photograph it does require an attention to detail to bring out the key details and to ensure consitency from one image. Composition is also as important as lighting, in order to draw the viewers attention onto key details. This commission was completed in the studio using 3 to 4 lights, some lighting was diffused in order to provide consistent illiumination whilst other were gridded to provide impact.

When I delivered the final images to the client they were very impressed and this is the feedback which I recieved:
“We needed some high quality images of some of our best print work to promote our property branding agency. Matt helped me through the whole process and we were delighted with the detail, service and overall results. I wouldn’t hisitate to recommend Matt to other businesses.”

A selection of these images are now being used on the Landmark Branding agencies website https://wearelandmark.co.uk/ and below are some of my favourites from the shoot. If you are an agency with some print work you need photographing to a high standard then please do not hisitate to get in touch, I am always happy to discuss your brief and provide a written quotation.

Food, Drink & Still Life Product Photographer | Manchester | UK

Product Photography Manchester – Whitehouse Crockery

Photography of Printed Design Work