Sun-Drenched Sophistication:
Elevating Jergens Sunless Tanning Products to the
Niche Luxury Space through Texture and Light
The Brief
Client Goal:
The brand needed to transition from typical e-commerce product shots to an editorial style, summer lifestyle aesthetic treatment in order to present a more sophisticated presence in their print and online marketing.
The Challenge:
The overarching mission was to elevate a legacy mass market cosmetic brand to the niche luxury skin care space.
Mass-market self-tanners often suffer from a stigma of looking "messy" or "orange." The visual challenge was to break that perception and present the product as a premium hydrating self-tanning ritual. I needed to create imagery that didn't just show the bottles, but visually communicated a high-end niche luxury self-tanning product through sun-drenched tropically themed visuals.
I took the original 2022 product photo series—which I had created to break from typical e-commerce product shots to an editorial-style summer lifestyle aesthetic—and with suggestions and help from Google Gemini added key environmental elements to suggest the niche luxury and hydrating aspects.
S O L Tanning Serum: This image was generated in Gemini from my original as it would be difficult to get the drop shot exactly as needed, and without a female hand model. Many generations finally produced the winning photo. Gemini made it the correct color once but never again, so I had to composite in my original bottle (minus the cap and dropper). The final result is stunning.
Product Group Photo
Creative Direction & Strategy
The Visual Concept: My original concept for the photos was to suggest, through a ‘constructed reality’ set in the studio, a tropical lagoon setting with clear water, textured stucco-colored pedestals and blue sky with wisps of white clouds. I particularly wanted the pedestals to have this texture to simulate the feeling of an exclusive tropical water setting like you’d find at a resort or private pool patio.
Lighting and Texture: The scene needed to be lit by simulated sunlight, which I created with studio lighting. To achieve this I used hard high-key studio light placed up high and at a 45-degree angle to the set. I painted several rectangular boxes and lids with an off-white textured paint to use as the pedestals. I carefully lit these to bring out the texture where the light hit from a side-on angle. This shows the texture relief. I felt this was a key aesthetic element in creating a sunlit environment.
Atmosphere: Also important are the palm frond shadows and shimmering water ripples. Not just a decorative addition, they create organic depth and a sense of time and place.
Composition: I made the pedestals different heights create interest, movement and eye-flow through the images.
The Execution
Process: I used a studio strobe fitted with a 30-degree grid to narrow the focus of the light so that the subject was lit without over-lighting the background.
Tools/Techniques: I used custom set fabrication techniques to create the tropical water setting: large white plex for the ‘water’ surface and to simulate a horizon line for the effect of space and depth; small boxes hand-painted with textured paint to simulate the stucco-like texture; one studio light up high for natural light emulation and two white reflector cards to bounce light onto the subject(s); and sky blue poster board clamped to a boom arm for the background. For the original photos, I used a medium-sized reflector card covered with foil to reflect clouds onto the background. For the 2025 Water Mousse reshoot, I generated a blue sky and clouds with Gemini in Photoshop, then screened that layer back over the original for a perfect subtle sky effect. (See Water Mousse product texture photo below)
Product Texture
Two new photos were created from the existing singles to show examples of the product texture, so the audience can get a ‘feel’ for the products.
Macro/Detail: Sky Blue poster board background
with foil-reflected clouds; pedestal hand-painted with
textured paint.
S O L Water Mousse: This image was photographed using the original recreated set and lighting. Here again, I needed to show product texture. As noted above, this photo uses a Gemini-generated sky, composited over the blue poster board background and screened back for a subtle fair weather sky, essential for communicating the feel of the ‘place.’