[BetteT]

Most outdoor fashion photography is done in the shade ... if they don't have shade they face the model away from the sun to get it into shadow, and then reflect sunlight or use a flash on her face ... or they use a scrim (sort of like a white sheet streched on a frame) to put the subject in shadow. So the same would apply with product shooting too. Sunlight is only used when a strong, harsh shadow is needed (rarely a good idea on a model's face) ... otherwise it's in the shade. Take a close look at editorials that have been shot outdoors ... you'll see what I mean.

Product shooting is difficult because the lighting needs to be even more precise ... and if the product is shiny, the photographer needs to deal with the relfection of himself and the crew ... which needs to be obscured so you can't see them.

There are stylists and photographers who specialize in product shoots ... and they have a whole bag of tricks to make thing appear better than they really are. I don't know the tricks yet ... I'm just learning myself ... so everything I do is by trial and error. I'm just starting to build a portfolio of product work because I would like to do more of it, and I find it's very hard to get things to look as good as we see in magazines.