Achieve a sophisticated look for your product photos with black on black photography

Rich, dark colours are commonly used in product photography to market luxury products. In colour psychology, black is a timeless classic that gives off the feeling of elegance and sophistication.

Photogaphing your subject on a black background is one thing, however it's much more difficult to create a striking image of a black product on a black background.

We were inspired by this stunning cover image from Foodography to find out exactly how challenging it was!

Foodography magazine cover with aromatherapy bottles set against a backdrop of black leaves

So how do you capture this kind of photo without melting your subject into the black background?

We challenged food and product photographer Perkin to find out and recreate this photo using his own equipment at home.

Read below to find out how he did it and have a shot at this challenge yourself!

Props and materials

To recreate the black foliage effect Perkin used:

Artificial leaves and a rose with a mix of real leaves
A black glass tile bought from a local hardware store
Black backdrop with a backdrop holder
Vase and reed diffuser bought online

Setting up the shoot

To prepare the studio, Perkin placed his set up beside a window to introduce natural light. A black piece of paper was used for the background and a black glass tile placed underneath to create the reflection effect. He mounted his camera on a tripod and positioned it in front of the subject.

For the props, the leaves were spray-painted black to set up the scene. Perkin used small Styrofoam boxes to make some leaves stand up and secured them with Blu Tack. Other leaves were taped directly on the backdrop.

Camera equipment and settings

F8, ISO 100, shutter speed 0.8
Side lighting by the window
White illustration board was used as a reflector
Tripod
Mirrorless camera - Sony A6500, 18-105mm F/4

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Post-production and editing

Perkin's shot already looked beautiful straight out of the camera but to make the photo dark and moody, just a few enhancements and retouches were done using Lightroom. He played around with a few sliders and primarily adjusted the exposure, shadows, and blacks.

He also removed the dust particles found in the surface using the clone stamp tool in Photoshop for a neater and cleaner setup.

Black on black pointers

Bringing the right balance of colour such as a gold accent adds depth to the scene. Closely similar to the reference photo, Perkin wrapped a gold ribbon around the neck of the vase and placed a glass bottle with a gold cap behind it.
Perkin used a reflector to bounce off the natural light from the window. This brings out the detail in the black product that we can't normally see.