Shooting Kontour by Kleur Space: A Product Photographer's Notes
I'm Ross Charnock, a product and lifestyle photographer based in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), and I take on brand shoots across the Eastern and Western Cape, including Cape Town. This is a walkthrough of one of my favourite recent projects, a styled flat-lay and lifestyle shoot for Kontour, the decorative wall finish range from Kleur Space.
CLIENT
Kleur Space
INDUSTRY
Homeware brand
SERVICES
Product photography, Commercial photography, Brand photography
I'm Ross Charnock, a product and lifestyle photographer based in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), and I take on brand shoots across the Eastern and Western Cape, including Cape Town. This is a walkthrough of one of my favourite recent projects, a styled flat-lay and lifestyle shoot for Kontour, the decorative wall finish range from Kleur Space.
I'm writing it up in detail partly because it's a fun set to talk about, and partly because it's a good example of the kind of work I want more of: homeware brands in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth that need product photography which actually sells form, colour and texture.
Kontour's whole identity is built around colour, this range specifically pulled from the South African landscape, warm veldt tones, the shadow and drama of a kloof, coastal neutrals, cool moody greys. As a photographer, that's a brief I love and one I find genuinely tricky: colour perception shifts constantly with light, and texture is almost impossible to sell through a flat, glossy product shot on a white background.
How I Approached the Shoot
Styled flat-lay compositions. I worked with interior designer and head of Marketing Willow Tucker to lay out paint tins, texture boards, colour swatches, ceramics, candles, and printed reference photos on a warm, neutral surface that echoed the earthy palette of the collection itself. My goal here was for every prop in frame to belong tonally, nothing fighting the paint colours for attention.
Candid, in-the-moment shots. Alongside the flat-lays, I shot the actual colour selection process as it happened, hands flipping through a fan deck. I wanted these to feel unposed, because that's the moment a client actually goes through when they're choosing a finish for their own home, and it's the moment I think sells the brand experience far better than any product shot on its own.
I didn't do this one alone:
Client: Kleur Space
Photographer & retouching: me, Ross Charnock
Stylist: Willow Tucker, interior designer
Assistant: Azola Fumba
Kleur Space's Head of Marketing and Willow shaped a lot of the direction with me As much as making the set feel warm and lived-in, and that balance came out of working closely together rather than me shooting to a brief alone.
Get in touch
I'm based in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and happy to travel for shoots in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country. If you're a paint, interiors, or homeware brand looking for product photography, styled flat-lays, or lifestyle imagery, get in touch and let's talk about your project.
See the full gallery from this shoot on the full project page.
