How to photograph products in glossy or foil packaging

Glossy pouches, foil wrappers and laminated boxes look beautiful in person and terrible in a bad photo. Instead of a clear label, you get a white blaze of reflected window, a dark patch of your own phone or a mirror full of your messy room. The reason is simple: shiny surfaces act like small mirrors. Once you understand what the pack is reflecting, you can control it. I cannot promise a perfectly glare-free result every time, but these steps get you close.

Understand the mirror problem

A reflective surface shows whatever is in front of it, angled the same way. If a window is behind your phone, the pack reflects the window. If a lamp is above, the pack reflects the lamp. Glare is not a fault in your camera. It is a light source bouncing straight back at the lens.

Your goal is to make sure the thing being reflected is soft, even and dim, or to point it somewhere the camera will not see.

Move the light, not just the pack

Hold the pack and slowly tilt it while watching your phone screen. You will see the bright spot slide around. Find the tilt where the label is clear. Then, if you can, also move the light source to the side so it hits the pack at an angle. Light from the side or from slightly above and to one corner usually avoids bouncing straight into the lens.

For a flat pouch, a tiny tilt backwards, with the top leaning away from the camera, can shift a reflection out of the label area. Check each edge of the frame before you press the shutter.

Soften the light with a diffuser

Hard, direct light makes sharp, bright glare. Soft light makes a gentle, wide sheen. You can soften light cheaply:

• Hang a thin white cotton sheet or tracing paper over the window
• Place a sheet of white paper between a lamp and the pack
• Shoot on a day with even cloud, or in open shade near a window

Our guide to using window light for product photography explains the basics. Avoid on-camera flash, since it creates a hard white spot. See should you use flash for product photography.

Try a simple light tent

A diffusion tent is a box with translucent sides that surrounds the product and spreads light evenly from all directions. You can buy a small one or make one from a cardboard box with the sides cut out and covered with white tissue or baking paper. Put the pack inside, and light the tent from outside. Because the light reaches the pack from a wide, soft surface, the reflections become wide and soft too. Cut a hole in the front for your phone lens. Our post on shooting shiny and reflective products covers more.

Polarising ideas

A polarising filter can reduce some reflections, and some phone clip-on lenses and filters exist. They can help, but results vary by material and angle, and foil often still glares. Treat polarising as an extra, not as the answer. Clean, soft, well-placed light matters more.

Control what the pack can see

Look at the pack and ask what it is reflecting. Often it is you. Wear a plain dark top, stand to one side, and remove bright objects from behind the phone. A black card held just outside the frame can cut reflections of a bright area by giving the pack something dark to reflect.

Use more than one shot if needed

If you cannot get the whole label clear in one photo, take two. One shot can show the front and the logo, another can capture the ingredients or the details panel from a slightly different angle. You can also add a straight-on photo of the unopened pack for the label and a second one at a gentle angle for the shape.

Edit lightly

After shooting, lower highlights a little and avoid heavy brightness. Do not retouch the label text so that it differs from the real pack. See how to brighten product photos without ruining them.