Carolina Product Photographer | Kate Benson Photography | The Mad Olive e-commerce: photographer and consultant

by | Jun 29, 2017 | ​ Professional Photogr..., Charleston e-commerce ..., Product

(Just taking a picture while I pour the beer for no other reason than to see if I can do both at the same time and make it work)

 

Tomorrow I’ll be shooting a creative still life shoot in studio and on location here in Charleston, SC. The client is The Mad Olive, a wonderful couple who reached out to me asking for help making the transition from an Etsy storefront to their own website. In an incredible story of entrepreneurship, the two started their Etsy shop selling custom engraving/etching on many different gift products. Quickly sales grew and they were soon giving up their other occupations, hiring help and full time. That store lead into another Etsy store which grew in success even faster than the first.

When Lauren called me, we discussed the art direction and I guided her through the steps of making choices on how to present the images to clients. We knew that this would be two shoots, an e-commerce shoot and a creative still life shoot with props and set. They love soft shadows and color pallets but wanted to move away from the Etsy style of images for their website and marketing photography (Etsy shots are usually prop and set heavy, as well as really busy). A neutral background color was selected and I sent them previews of the shooting as we went along. One of the cool things about being and e-commerce photographer is finding a way to keep images consistent and fit together despite the varied subjects and materials being captured. I also love consulting for e-commerce and helping guide my clients to find images that will reach their customers more effectively. What works for Etsy isn’t what works best on your own websites most of the time.

In the spirit of being excited for tomorrow’s shoot, here are a few of my favorite shots from The Mad Olive’s new e-commerce photography. All the product will have etching superimposed on it later. But shooting them blank allowed their team to have maximum return on their investment (love that ROI) for each image since it will be able to get used multiple ways. Here are a few beautiful wood products:

Not surprisingly, my favorite shots were the more finicky glassware shots. I love playing with reflections!

And on that enticing note, everyone, have a safe and happy July 4th weekend!

Charleston Fashion Photographer | Kate Benson | Zacasha 2016 Boho

by | Aug 9, 2016 | ​ Professional Photogr..., Charleston advertising..., Charleston Fashion Pho..., Fashion, Product

How do I talk about Zacasha? Do I write about the designs that you can’t help but want to collect all of? Do I talk about how fascinating a business Jennifer created and how it just exploded into something bigger and better than anyone ever imagined? I guess you have to know Jennifer the owner and designer to know what Zacasha really is. Working with her free spirit and creative mind is like chasing genius. You can try and follow along as best you can but will never catch up. She works and reworks everything she contacts and you can’t help but be swept up in the spirit of this creative process and applaud the art it produces.

I shot their 2015 campaign and this spring (yes, it’s taken that long to write about it) I photographed the 2016 campaign. Jennifer had 2 days of shooting, a Boho day and a 1920’s day. These are a few of my favorite images from the Boho day.

The colorful free feeling of the boho shoot mirrored Jennifer’s spirit. It was such a privilege to work together again. Jennifer on top of being a very talented designer and business woman also is a fantastic stylist and art director.

I have to start with those shots of Tamara from Elite Miami. Tamara really got excited at the casting, her boho energy matched the brands, and on set, she moved and danced in the true spirit of the shoot. She chameleons into the character you give her and won the hearts of everyone on set.

Our second model was the gorgeous Jade from Wilhelmina. Her exotic beauty was a perfect canvas for both our shoot days.

There were way too many beautiful shots to choose from, I shot close to 2,000 photographs that day. So as you can imagine, the idea of going through them all and choosing favorites has been overwhelming!

So here are just a few more, and maybe, with any luck, I’ll get to go through these later and find my true favorites. In the meantime, let me know which of these is yours. I’ll take any help I can get editing this batch!

 

This last shot really captures how I feel trying to pick a favorite.

Charleston Fashion Photographer | Beija Flor Jeans shoot | Kate Benson Photography

by | Aug 1, 2016 | Charleston advertising..., Charleston commercial ..., Charleston Fashion Pho..., Fashion, Product

If you saw my post with my new business card designs (or my Instagram), you may spot a familiar shot or two here. These were shot for Beija Flor Jeans and the product is truly great. I’m anxiously waiting for it to cool down so I can wear my 3 new pairs (yes, 3!!). These flatter your behind like nothing I’ve seen before, and who doesn’t want that (sure beats that time I bought Burberry Jeans a size too small so my booty would look awesome and broke the zipper)?

I was on set in Miami when they called to discuss a new add campaign. They wanted to do something in the Charleston area but were still playing with ideas. Ironically, when they first suggested jeans on a boat, I was not on board (pun intended). However, the mother/daughter team behind Beija Flor patiently discussed the in’s and out’s of the brand with me so I could help conceptualize the project. There was no formal art director on this shoot so I wanted to make sure that I could deliver the company’s vision and energy. What came across to me clearly was that these jeans were something women had been waiting for. The cuts lifted and accentuated all the right curves and the waistline was high enough to move around in without being restrictive. The product is great and I identified with it quickly!

Part of what the ladies emphasized were their colors. Blues and whites dominated the brand’s palate and soon it became clear that a boat was exactly where to shoot.

Early morning I joined our model Brittany Harvey (with Directions USA), makeup artist Pamela Lesch (with Prime Time Pretty), and the Beija Flor Jeans team, Kathy, Emilie, and Anna at the hotel and then headed over to our fishing yacht.

Throughout the day, the rain held off and gave us some beautiful light. Brittany looked amazing in the jeans and did a fantastic job modeling. She really embraced the energy that fit the brand.

As always, I’m so excited to have new work to share and am really happy to have met and worked with Beija Flor Jeans. I love being a based in Charleston fashion photographer!

Charleston Product Photographer | Amazing Amazon Photography

by | Jul 27, 2016 | ​ Professional Photogr..., Advice, Charleston advertising..., Charleston commercial ..., Charleston e-commerce ..., Charleston Ecom photog..., Charleston Ecommerce p..., ​Charleston Photographer, Charleston Product Pho..., Charleston Still Life ..., Charleston website pho..., Charlotte product phot..., e-commerce photographer, Ecommerce Photographer, Product, Product Photographer C..., Still life photographe..., Still Life Photographer

It may not be common knowledge but I have a second business and website that I’ve been building called Product Photo Lab (PPL for short). The website is still in the works, but there is some basic content up there. Finding openings in my schedule to fix and revise the work in progress that is PPL is really tough. Recently though, despite the website not being as ready as I would like it to be, I’ve been getting contacted and doing some work through it. This isn’t my usual work, as you already may have guessed by the title of this blog post, but I’m really excited that the website is starting to generate some calls, and therefore enthusiastically making time to do the work.

One of the unexpected places that I’ve been contacted to produce images for is Amazon listings. These shoots are usually pretty quick but the clients are looking for something a bit more refined to help their products stand out and hopefully get that coveted number 1 ranking on Amazon.

I’ve learned quite a few of tips on how images sell on Amazon in this process. Products in environments and in use will generally outsell those that are just plain white shots. Additionally, Amazon does require the first shot to be on an all pure white background (which has some specifics to it as well, most of my readers already know what “pure white” is but if you don’t, it’s is a rating of 255 in all color channels). So this has presented interesting challenges (which I love). One client, had a glass water bottle that he sold as a set of 6 and single. Here was what the bottle started with:

Photographing a clear empty bottle isn’t very flattering. So I filled it with water letting the light gradient throughout the inside (trick one).

Then we put very carefully selected liquids into the bottles so the colors wouldn’t get dark and murky (trick two).

Lastly, I asked how he felt about fresh plants in the bottles, which he seemed willing to entertain, and viola!

I was able to product a collection of photographs for him where the shots met Amazon’s specifics but the shots had enough color and vibrancy to pop off the page when compared to other bottles! Happily, he is already on page 1 for his requested search terms and selling like crazy! After discussing what the client needed, I composited 6 of these shots together to create his opening image on Amazon. Here is a look at what he sent me for art direction (also what the competition happens to be showing).

This is what his listing looks like this today:

As I mentioned before, I’ve worked with quite a few Amazon clients lately. Here are a few more shots just to give you an idea what being a product photographer in Charleston is keeping busy with!

This client wanted in environment and shots with a model using the product:

Product Photographer Charlotte and Charleston | From Dallas with Love | Crown & Buckle with Motto

by | Jul 22, 2016 | Advertising, Charleston Fashion Pho..., Charleston Product Pho..., Charleston website pho..., Charlotte product phot..., e-commerce photographer, Ecommerce Photographer, Product

Flash Back Friday today bringing you the final product photography for Crown & Buckle’s new Black Label line. I shot this earlier this year on studio location in Dallas TX. Thomas, proud owner and visionaire behind Crown & Buckle teamed up with superstar branding agency Motto to bring me in on this shoot. Sunny and Ashleigh from Motto had a strong vision for the sleek and sophisticated images that needed to be incorporated into the launching of Black Label. Crown & Buckle makes beautiful watch straps and we wanted to make sure that the photography for this line illustrated the quality of these products.

I’ve had the pleasure of working remotely with Motto before but this was the first time we were able to all get together on set. It’s great that I can work with clients from almost anywhere in the country without having to be there in person, but this shoot Motto wanted to be on set for and they really brought their vision with them. It was a great day!

Since the product C&B sells is straps (not watch faces) we had the intriguing challenge of making sure the straps were the star of the shots. As a product photographer, I always hope to get to do this kind of work because it is equally challenging and rewarding to do.

That day, as well as within a short time after (back in Charleston), I photographed images on brand for their website and social media pages. This is the final product:

 

For more Charleston product photographer work, visit my site katebenson.com!

Fashion and Product Photographer | Charleston, SC | New Business Cards

by | Jul 20, 2016 | Charleston Fashion Pho..., e-commerce photographer, Ecommerce Photographer, Fashion, Product, Still Life Photographer

As you can imagine, as is true every time a lull in my photo blog comes, I’ve been quite a busy bee lately (So you can be busy as a South Carolina Product Photographer)! A small preview of the time transpired since my last post in May is this: I bought a house (yay!!), moved, shot thousands of pieces of clothing and more than a few pretty cool products, travel to Miami a few times, met and photographed lots of beautiful models (in both Miami and Charleston) and somehow, finished a book. A single book. Since May. Because life is a spin of working and mom-ing with a bit of sleep and food here and there right now. So as I sit in my new office with boxes still very packed around me, I sit to type another overdue blog post. The boxes will have to wait.
A quick preview of some of my new photography comes to light in my new business cards. Last week on an impromptu road trip around South and North Carolinas to meet with some of the people based here that I’ve started working with (or would love to have the chance to work with), I was rather embarrassed as I handed out my very old, desperate for an update, business cards (I sit shaking my head as I write this). Let’s just say, they did not match my work at this point. So off to Moo.com I went and with the help of some restrictions (yes, I HAD to have gold foil on mine and no, there was no room in the budget for custom placement, so the templates were inevitable) I created a few pretty new cards to introduce my brand.

The cards will have 4 different images on the front, 2 fashion, one lifestyle and one product. Being a versatile product photographer and enjoying the crossing of thresholds that let me still play and explore creativity, I wanted cards that could be specific to the needs of each client. So without further adieu, here are 3 of my 4 designs (one will be shown and given out after the images release).

Besos!

First, a shot from a recent shoot in Charleston for Beija Flor Jeans:

Next, a favorite of mine from a photoshoot for Boca Terry:

Third, a sophisticated still life for Crown & Buckle:

Lastly and not nearly as exciting, my contact info:

As always, head on over to my website for more based in Miami and Charleston product photographer work!

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

By joining you agree to our cookie and privacy policy.