Clipping Paths in Commercial Photography

In my 14 years of shooting commercial photographynot they have many hundreds of products they
I'm frequently being asked to shoot a customersbasically require cataloging so resources and time
object in front of a simple white backdrop. In mostscales are understandably tight.
cases this is because the client needs to place theIn these instances the easiest, most affordable and
product on a white printed brochure page or webnormally most productive solution is in the creation of
page and also because products often contrast wella post-production clipping path. Produced in
against a white background, bringing out their colour,professional image manipulation software like Adobe's
intricacy and punchiness.wonderful Photoshop, clipping paths are hand drawn
For a couple of subjects the job of keeping avector paths that once utilised isolate and separate
beautifully lit, well exposed and sharp product whilstthe product from the background and effectively
making a flat true white background from corner toallow the product to be dropped onto a infinite
corner is indeed doable. By way of example I'venumber of backgrounds. It may be compared simply
recently shot a collection of black boots for a clientto taking a pair of scissors to a printed magazine,
and because of the innate contrast between thecutting the desired object out and dropping it onto a
black of the boot and the bright whiteness of thebackground of your liking!
backdrop the sought after effect was easilyThe good point about clipping paths is that not only
achieved with fairly straight forward lighting.can you precisely alter the exposure, colour caste,
On the other hand satisfactory results aresharpness and contrast of the product individually
troublesome if not impossible to accomplish for onewithout effecting the background, you can then
very simple reason:paste that object onto any background of your
When photographing most items I always shoot in ataste, as many times as you desire. One week you
way that highlights the best characteristics of themay perhaps decide to drop it onto a white web
product itself which doesn't necessarily create a trulypage the next week ask your designer to print up a
white background. Correct lighting of the object willmailshot with a whole selection of products, all
hence often result in underexposure of the backdropappearing as if they were photographed at the same
so that it appears an unpleasant and uneven shadetime. So as to give your cut out product a more 'real'
of grey. Take as an example a photograph of afeeling you may well also ask your designer or
white paper plate. To bring out the surface texturephotographer to attach a soft drop shadow, both to
and detail of the plate the photographer would havegive it authority on the page and create a gentle
to somewhat underexpose this area, but bytransition between the products boundaries and the
exposing for the brilliant white background the detailpage.
on the plate would be lost and consequently appearThe relative low-priced service of clipping path
flat and 2-D.creation enables today's photography clients the
Obviously these problems can generally be overcomeperfect solution to the dilemma of photographing on
with extensive and time consuming photographicmass product shots on a limited budget, especially
lighting solutions such as flagging the object. A 'flag'when the final output of the image file is unclear or it
effectively creates a physical obstacle in betweenmay require multiple media outlets. The rewards are
the studio light and the item, therefore shading thetwofold as they also allow the photographer to fully
object so that it sees less light while subsequentlyexploit the aesthetic properties of the product
increasing the intensity of light to the backdrop. Thiswithout worrying about the final appearance of the
is lovely if the client has the budget for what I callbackground.
'bespoke' product photography, but more often than