If you've never checked out The Grommet (www.thegrommet.com) then you should. What a cool, innovative, cutting edge company! And I got the chance to work with them last month photographing some new products for their website. The Grommet was started by two women who felt frustrated with the shrinkage of small, specialty retailers and the ascent of large, big box retailers that only want products to sell at predictably high volumes. They felt that the best ideas aren't winning and right now big companies are getting better at selling but worse at bringing you things worth buying. They wanted to change that.
Every week The Grommet's small team of employees chooses seven products from over three hundred contenders. They choose these products for appeal, quality, and also for obscurity. Then every weekday they launch at least one new product. One product I photographed for them was Wet-It! a super absorbent Swedish dishcloth.
Here is a screen shot of it being featured as the "Discovery of the Day" on their website. I had fun playing with the lighting and placement of props for this shot. I found that oil produced the best spill because it reflected the light in such a way that made it visible without being overpowering. See that lovely hand? It turns out my studio manager is also a talented hand model. But lets not let her head get too big for fear she'll leave me to pursue modeling full time!
Commercial product photography is my true love. I enjoy playing with lighting and shadows and moving an object around multiple times to get just the right angle. I love selecting just the right props and building a set. Being a perfectionist in an advantage in my field as, sometimes I move items a fraction of an inch to create the perfect shot. This might seem too persnickety for some, but I love it. Working on this Grommet project with their creative team was right in my wheelhouse. Thanks Grommet!
