The correct kind of lighting is vital to commercial photography. Lighting can make a product look wonderful, or it can create hideous shadows and reflections that turn your commercial shoot into a nightmare. Commercial photography professionals utilize specialist lighting to get the best out of a shot, bringing the product into the foreground and giving it a crystal-clear focus. Use strobe lighting to give a product depth when shooting long-range photographs, as these can give a flat product a dramatic three-dimensional effect, and use lighting boxes below the product for closer work.

The best commercial photography professionals use more than a white background to give the product an attractive quality. Sometimes, the minimalist method of shooting is not the best. Creating the right kind of atmosphere for a product is part of your role as a commercial photographer.

First, get your lighting right: home lighting is not always right for a shoot, so bring in dramatic or colored lights for a better mood. Then, set the 'stage' for your product. Imagine a story where the product is being used: for example it would make no sense to shoot a chainsaw in the living room (unless you were using it as part of a complicated editorial shoot), so put things in their rightful place.

In commercial photography, it is fairly rare for a product to be photographed straight-on. Instead, try photographing the product from different angles. For a refreshing take upon a kettle, for example, go in very close, and then take a picture with the kettle in only 50 percent of the shot. Try photographing flat objects from the side, or tall objects from below. When you change the eyeline of a product, you change the appearance of the product, making things which are everyday seem new and exciting.

You could also do this on commercial fashion shoots: a background can become something to play with, rather than just a set-piece. Toy with your products, and you will get better photographs.