Photographer Peter Belanger Describes the Process Behind an Apple Product Shoot

Photographer Peter Belanger describes the creative process behind an Apple product shoot in an interview with The Verge.

Belanger has done photography work for huge companies including eBay, Nike, Pixar, and Square. His go to camera is the Canon 5D Mark III with a base 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.




When asked to describe a shoot for Apple, Belanger said:

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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. 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.
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Many more details about how Belanger got started, his influences, and tools can be found in the full interview linked below. You might also enjoy the video below that shows the making of a MacWorld cover.


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