The Client and Their Brief
Temple Spa is a premium skincare brand. They came to us for a set of packshots that were, in their words, “easy on the eye.”
The packaging was being updated, new products were being added and standardised product imagery is always a valuable asset for beauty brands.
The result needed to feel considered and premium, while still functioning as straightforward product photography. Ownable assets are more desirable than ever, so the ‘box shots’ were briefed to sit at quite a steep angle — something a little more stylish to move the photography away from simple packshots.
In the first phase of updating Temple Spa’s product photography we shot, Jars, bottles, boxes, tubes, tins, and reed diffusers. This also extended to gift sets with and without the contents showing. See examples below.
What We Did
Controlling the gloss
Glossy packaging can split opinion when photographed. Some prefer a bright, obvious highlight, while others prioritise readability. The best imagery finds a middle ground — it feels on brand, adds style and still lets the packaging do the talking.
For Temple Spa, we developed a refined highlight along the left side of the packs. It is relatively sharp at the edge, then gradually becomes softer as it moves across the surface. This was combined with harder specular highlights on the top edges and shoulders.
The combination gives the packaging enough reflection to describe its glossy finish and rounded form, without creating the large, harsh white highlights that detracted from the well-designed packaging and its distinctive names.
The treatment was particularly useful on the transparent products. The controlled reflections give the packaging something to react to, helping the clear materials feel more tangible and realistic rather than looking flat or artificially rendered.
The result is a subtle lighting treatment that gives the products shape and a sense of luxury, while keeping the packaging itself easy to read.
Finding an ownable perspective
Packshots don’t necessarily have to be photographed completely straight-on.
The original boxes were presented at around 45 degrees, which gave us an opportunity to develop a perspective that felt more distinctive while still keeping the products clear and commercially useful.
They also sat nicely when overlapped in post-production with the jars and bottles, working particularly well within a square crop where some other arrangements felt less successful.
Some of the jars also worked particularly well as pairs, allowing us to stack them and introduce a little more visual interest without compromising the clean packshot aesthetic.
The aim was simply to find a more distinctive way of presenting the products.
Solving the transparent packaging problem
Some of the Temple Spa products were transparent, which created another challenge.
The products needed to remain visibly transparent, but the text and graphics printed on the reverse of the packaging could be seen through the product and became distracting.
Rather than compromising the lighting or making the product look artificially opaque, we dealt with the issue in post-production, carefully removing the unwanted rear text while retaining the natural appearance and transparency of the packaging.
It’s a small detail, but these are often the details that make the difference in professional packshot photography.
Easy on the eye
For Temple Spa, the brief came down to a simple idea: make the products look beautiful without making the photography shout.
The controlled highlights describe the glossy finishes. The considered perspectives give the products a little more personality. And careful post-production keeps transparent packaging looking clean.
The result is a set of premium skincare packshots that feel polished, consistent and, importantly, easy on the eye.
How It Looks
The Results
The finished photography gave Temple Spa a consistent set of product images that reflected the premium positioning of the brand while retaining the character of the packaging.
Rather than relying on a heavy lighting effect to communicate the glossy finishes, the photography uses subtle highlights and carefully controlled reflections to create a softer, more refined result.
The combination of considered lighting, distinctive perspectives and detailed post-production also means the imagery can work across the brand’s product range without every photograph having to look identical.
For a luxury skincare brand, sometimes the most effective approach is knowing what not to add.
Looking for packshot photography that feels like your brand?
We create considered product photography for brands that want more than a standard packshot. Talk to us about your next project.
