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Apple is well known for the simple, no-frills product photos that highlight its lineup of mobile devices and as it turns out, a lot of work goes into capturing those images. The Verge interviewed Peter Belanger, a photographer who has worked with Apple for years, to shed some light on Apple's creative process.

In the interview, Belanger reveals that Apple exercises extreme attention to detail when it comes to product photos, providing him with both sketches and a comprehensive shot list.

productphoto.jpg
The team at Apple always has a really well developed shot list and sketches of what they need. I work with their talented art directors to translate those sketches into photos. We start by getting the position of the product and then move forward on lighting. Because Apple products have such carefully selected materials it is incredibly important to light the product in a way that will showcase the various materials accurately.
As depicted in the photo below, Belanger uses an intricate setup of lights and equipment to accurately highlight the design of each item that he photographs.

belangersetup.jpg
I pick an area to start with and think about how that material needs to be described. Once that section is done I move on to the next. This is how my sets get so complicated! I need to have control over each and every surface so when the client asks for a highlight to be elongated, I can do that. It's similar to working on a file in Photoshop: you don't do all your work on one layer. I think of my lights as layers that I can adjust individually to get the desired results.
Belanger goes on to explain that most of his work is done in the camera, but that post production is used for the finishing touches. He captures the majority of his images with the Canon 5D Mark III, using a 24-70mm lens. Belanger's full interview, which details more of his personal creative process and the tools that he uses, can be found at The Verge.

Article Link: Apple Photographer Details the Process of Capturing Product Photos
 

bushido

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Mar 26, 2008
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interesting i always assumed those shots are actually just renderings on the computer. u know .. like the food you see in commercials being plastic
 

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
almost all professional photos are fake. they are photoshopped to death and taken under ideal lighting conditions. thousands of photos are taken to select a few choice ones

like the food photos for fast food ads. they go to whole foods market of all places to find the best looking veggies
 

komodrone

macrumors 6502
Apr 26, 2011
499
0
dude holding iPhone in the commercials probably OD'ed on diazepam. no way is anyone's hands that steady.
 

Kissaragi

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2006
2,340
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interesting i always assumed those shots are actually just renderings on the computer. u know .. like the food you see in commercials being plastic

I always thought they were renderings too. Would certainly be easier!
 

juanm

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2006
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He's also probably registered on this very forum to whine about the lack of Mac Pro updates...
 

576316

macrumors 601
May 19, 2011
4,056
2,556
Will be interesting to have a read of the full interview. I'm not too sure about the claim that most of the work is done in camera. As far as the lighting then yeah, I guess. But Apple's product shots are too high res and polished to come straight from a camera. Those photos clearly go through an intense session of Photoshop to end up looking so pristine and almost like 3D renderings (which would be easier to start with)!
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Still very interesting to see this but I thought I had read something about their product shots before:
http://www.imore.com/54-frames-photo-apple-produces-product-shots
http://www.cultofmac.com/146758/how-does-apple-get-its-amazing-product-shots-video/

And did they change guys or do they have more than one?

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/975700



I thought they had to use real food nowadays. I'd have to google that.
 

Mums

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Oct 4, 2011
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interesting i always assumed those shots are actually just renderings on the computer. u know .. like the food you see in commercials being plastic

I always thought that they were renderings too - they're such great product photographs. Thanks for the article!
 

GREEN4U

macrumors 6502a
Mar 24, 2010
678
392
They should take their product photographs with their product. Let's see how good it really is, hah.
 

Moonlight

macrumors 65816
Jul 9, 2002
1,131
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Los Angeles
This guy is hilarious. Does he have no idea that his photos get taken to the agency and worked on in photoshop for days after he is "done". They get cleaned up, screens added, textures redone, hi-lights painted, glass cleaned, lighting fixed, logos reimported from vector art, etc, etc...
 

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
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NorCal
almost all professional photos are fake. they are photoshopped to death and taken under ideal lighting conditions. thousands of photos are taken to select a few choice ones

like the food photos for fast food ads. they go to whole foods market of all places to find the best looking veggies

Doesn't make a photo "fake." Staged and well prepared, but it's still a photograph out of camera. Depending how much PP is done could arguably make a photo fake though.

No he doesnt. He uses a Phase one back and a Sinar camera
The mark 3 is just a handheld day to day workhorse

Source?
 

bushido

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This guy is hilarious. Does he have no idea that his photos get taken to the agency and worked on in photoshop for days after he is "done". They get cleaned up, screens added, textures redone, hi-lights painted, glass cleaned, lighting fixed, logos reimported from vector art, etc, etc...

you didnt even bother to read the article did you? ;)
 
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