Whether shots of a product are needed for a website listing or we need a white background shot on file so I can produce graphic assets with them, I often need to photograph white background images of our holsters.

This is something I’ve done with all different kinds of set-ups from full professional light boxes to a blank sheet of white card stock, some lighting and a camera. Getting these shots is second nature now for me, and a useful skill to downsize outsourcing work unnecessarily.

The biggest challenge of product photography at Galco is the varying materials our products are made from: Kydex, Nylon, various shades of leather and even more exotic materials such as Horsehide, Alligator, Ostrich, Shark and Stingray. These materials all handle light in a different way and needed different approaches to capture them authentically, and in the case of the custom Exotic holsters, with such high ticket items it is important to faithfully show what it will look like when it’s in the customer’s hands.

Of course, proper firearms safety and knowledge are always essential to guarantee not only safe handling, but proper demonstration of products to best inform the end-user.