LensMe Color Contact Lens Product Photography

Photographing color contact lenses is one of the most technically challenging tasks in commercial photography. Their small size, wet and soft texture, transparency, and inability to hold shape make them extremely difficult to control. Once the moisture evaporates, the lens deforms. But when it’s too wet, droplets on the surface make it look unclean. The ideal state is a delicate moment between drying and dampness—capturing it required repeated trials and precision timing.

Under strong lighting, even the tiniest dust particles, scratches, or water marks become visible—flaws that would normally go unnoticed. Every minute imperfection must be managed. Maintaining the lens’s position and shape consistently was another challenge. Because they can’t be easily fixed in place, frequent realignment and gentle adjustments were necessary.

Shooting the packaging was no less complex. Carton boxes may appear simple to photograph, but they’re often the hardest. Thin, warped paper stock doesn’t hold a true flat shape. Slight changes in lighting angle can distort the texture, embossing, or coating. To preserve legibility and visual texture, lighting had to be carefully tailored to each plane of the package—no two sides behaved the same.

These sessions demanded relentless focus. Some of these imperfections might pass unnoticed by clients, but to me, addressing them is where the most satisfaction lies. Ironically, the more sophisticated the package design, the harder it is to photograph. That’s precisely what makes it worth doing. I believe that true elegance in imagery often comes from the most complex process, hidden beneath a surface of apparent simplicity.