15 Cheap Tricks Advertisers Use When They Take Photos Of Products

There was a time when every photograph taken was a drain on resources. One piece of film exposed, hours spent in the darkroom to see how the photograph turned out to be, and then re-doing it again if it didn’t look like you wanted.

It is not so anymore. You can see if the photo looks good right after you take it and you can literally take thousands of photos of the same thing and edit them in a couple of hours to make the chosen one look the best.

And this luxury is something the photographers use without any compunction. And that is why every advertisement, how ever small, looks like it is holding the best-looking human or a product in its frame.

1. Soap bubbles on milk and coffee to make it look like a freshly poured cup

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Ever wonder why the milk and coffee in the photographs look so awesome? Why even normal coffee has froth more than a cappuccino?

It is because they put actual soap bubbles on milk, because soap bubbles survive longer and hence the milk/coffee in the cup can be photographed multiple times for that perfect shot.

 

2. Oil to show maple syrup because engine oil looks so much better than actual syrup

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Maple syrup tastes good, but the same cannot be said about its photogenicity. You know what looks like maple syrup and is much more good looking?

Engine oil. Yes, engine oil is poured on pancakes when they click their photos so that it looks so much better.

Yum.

 

3. Most of the fashion shoots have female models with hair extensions

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Anyone who has tried to grow their hair long will know the struggle that comes along with its maintenance. The tangles, the frizz, the split ends. And the models in the ads have hair like Rapunzel. How?

Hair extensions.

The fact remains hat good hair cannot be advertised without a good face. And not all good faces have excellent hair. But what with today’s technology and camera skills, we can show that with ease.

 

4. Glue instead of real milk to photograph the perfect bowl of fruits and cornflakes

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When you put corn flakes into your bowl of milk, you probably have 2-3 minutes before it becomes a soggy mess. And in the photos, the milk looks pearly white and so thick!

That’s because the photographers use glue instead of milk to photograph these products. Cereal will not get moist in glue and milk will appear deliciously thick too.

 

5. Mashed potatoes instead of ice cream in ice cream photos

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Mashed potatoes look exactly like ice cream when they are scooped on a cone. And better still it doesn’t melt at all. And even better, it can be dyed with the perfect artificial dyes so that they look better.

Also, mashed potatoes does not melt under bright lights used in photography.

The next time  you pass by an attractive billboard of mouthwatering ice cream, remember, that it is just mashed potatoes you are seeing.

 

6. Mashed potatoes to be used to stuff in pies and cakes so that they don’t collapse while photographing

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Mashed potatoes are also a good filler, not in the sense that they fill your stomach, but are also awesome at filling up pies and cakes. Cakes and pies also melt under harsh photography lights, and if you leave them around for long, they will lose their “fullness”.

Mashed potatoes come to the rescue here too!

 

7. Burgers are held up using cotton balls, toothpicks, and cardboard for the perfect picture

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Have you ever noticed that burgers in real life look so much different than the ones in the photos?

That is because they are usually held up with cardboard and toothpicks. That is why a tall burger like in the pictures stay in perfect shape, while the real burgers are all sloppy when you eat them.

 

8. Placing insects in fridge to slow them down, so that they don’t fly away during the photoshoot

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Have you ever wondered why the insects do not fly away when photographed from up close? That is because they put these insects – including beautiful butterflies inside fridges so that they have slower reflexes, and won’t fly off when you photograph them.

 

9. Putting cardboard between layers of cake, because who wants to waste a whole layer of cream for a photograph?

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The photo above is self-explanatory.

Thank your stars that they do not give cardboard in real cakes.

 

10. Shoe polish is used on kebabs for the perfect charred look

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Don’t we all love the perfect charred skin of the meat that gives it the signature smoky flavor?

Sometimes photographers put shoe polish on the cooked meat to give it the perfect charred look.

 

11. Fabric protector sprayed on pancakes so that they do not absorb the syrup while the photography is going on

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Maple syrup is usually absorbed by the pancakes, which makes it taste delicious.

But this won’t do while photographing them. So they are sprayed with fabric protector, so that there is a layer that will keep the pancake from absorbing the syrup.

 

12. Glycerin is applied on beer bottles so that they look glossy and shiny and chilled

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Why do all the beer bottles look so nice with the condensed water on it?

In real life, when water condenses on a surface, it usually trickles down. But when you coat the glass with glycerin, it holds small droplets of water in their place, giving it the attractive look we all love.

 

13. Clay used to keep forks and spoons at the places while photographing dishes of food

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That spoon in the picture above will not stay like that in real life. It will slide down in your food. In such pictures, clay is used as a binding agent to keep the forks and spoons in their places for the perfect picture.

 

14. Paper towels are placed on ice cream cones to hold the sprinkles in place

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Sprinkles never ever stay on the ice cream cone you are eating. Half of them fall down.

That’s why photographers use paper towels that are wet and put sprinkles on them. They hold all the sprinkles in place.

 

15. Hairspray is applied on grapes and fruits to make them look glossy and attractive

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Hairspray makes your hair look gorgeous, no?

Turns out it makes your grapes look awesome too. That is why fruits in photos look so fresh and glossy. Because of hairspray.

As long as they are not putting any of that inside the food we eat every day, it is all well and good.

After all, it is the job of advertisers to convince us to buy their products.

Even if the method requires shoe polish and hairspray.

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