Carry-On Luggage Adventure Lifestyle Product Photography in Los Angeles

Back in March of 2024, I bought a carry-on luggage suitcase for my trip to Tokyo and Berlin, but I also wanted to work on some product photography around Los Angeles with a new product before I left.

For this series of shoots, I planned to visit a few different locations (Venice Beach, Downtown Los Angeles, and Griffith Park) to capture the carry-on luggage in a few different environments, and also work with model and actress DeAnza Banuelos for a quick lifestyle photoshoot featuring a model.

For this quick blog post, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite product photos taken at the time. The photos were captured with the Sigma 35mm and 85mm ART prime lenses, and edited in Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Carry-On Luggage Design

I wanted to purchase a carry-on luggage suitcase that would be lightweight enough that I could travel with since it was a prop for photoshoots, but also something that would be able to fit a lot of items since I would travel out of the country with it.

The luggage features a durable silver polycarbonate hard shell and a long adjustable handle. For these photos, I decided to focus on the exterior design rather than the multiple compartments inside of the suitcase.

Lifestyle Product Photography at Venice Beach

For my first time photographing the carry-on suitcase, I worked with DeAnza for some lifestyle product photos that would feature a model at Venice Beach in the morning. Before the shoot, I sent over a mood board that I was looking to go for a more minimal and editorial style. She came prepared with a simple wardrobe that fit the mood of the photoshoot. 

Unfortunately, the weather ended up being foggy and overcast at the beach and there wasn’t much space to work with where we took the photos. Since we were also shooting other products during this time, we captured only a few photos with the carry-on suitcase. That being said, I’m still happy with how the photos below turned out.

For these photos, I went with the Sigma 85mm lens as it looked best to compress the shots and still capture DeAnza’s face with minimal distortion. The first image was a clean shot of the model at the beach with the luggage, while I wanted to incorporate a bit of the Venice Beach Pier with the second photo.

One of the biggest obstacles with outdoor product photography without additional lighting equipment is that you are reliant on natural light, which can change at any moment. If we weren’t short on time, I would have explored more of Venice Beach with the suitcase, but I knew I’d be capturing the image of the carry-on in other locations.

Lifestyle Product Photography in Downtown LA

Downtown Los Angeles is one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles to do all kinds of photography (street, lifestyle, product, etc.) There are a lot of different textures that you can find in this part of the city, so I decided to adventure through different locations in the morning until something caught my eye.

Near the Walt Disney Concert Hall are some stairs that I thought would make nice compositions for simple product photos with the carry-on. I like that there is minimal color in the photo, but it goes well with the silver casing of the suitcase.

The steps and the rails on the stairs provide simple but clean leading lines for the suitcase. The Sigma 35mm lens is wide enough to capture these elements while still drawing attention to the carry-on.

Another spot near the Concert Hall was on the top of steps that oversaw a small cherry blossom tree. This tree only shows its pink color around March and there’s only one angle that I could use where the luggage could stand still on its own (the tree itself is on a bit of a slope).

For the photo on the right, I came across a gold plated door with a beautiful design that I thought would also make a nice backdrop. The gold and silver colors complement each other, as well.

Griffith Park Luggage Product Photo

This final image was my favorite one taken during this series of product photography with carry-on luggage.

The photo was taken before sunset and when the sky was partially cloudy. The evening light diffused by the clouds made the photo take on a somber look that fit perfectly with the mood I have been going for in the previous images.

In this photo, I like the color of the green grass and small yellow flowers add a perfect amount of color and contrast with the achromatic color of the suitcase. When taking photos in nature, I often try to incorporate color in the image rather than aim for neutral colors. I also decided to keep the handle half-opened up for this shot.

Captured with the Sigma 35mm lens, again there is enough space to capture the environment of this beautiful location, but I can still get close enough to showcase the luggage design.

Final Thoughts

For these photos, I wasn’t looking to create images that were incredibly cinematic, but simple images that captured the design of the suitcase in some of my favorite locations around Los Angeles.

Since this photoshoot, I have learned a lot about outdoor product photography and have started consistently working with models in my lifestyle product work. Models are able to add a variety of poses and expressions that match the theme of the photoshoot and offer versatility in the final image.

However, a good starting point for outdoor product photography can be to work in natural light and explore compositions with different-sized products. 

Thanks for reading and until next time.

If you’d like to see more examples of my outdoor lifestyle product photography, you can see some of my product photo galleries listed below.

Lifestyle Product Photography: Watches

Lifestyle Product Photography: Tech Essentials

Lifestyle Product Photography: Travel Bags

For full behind-the-scenes photoshoot posts, you can view some of the blog posts below.

Commercial Lifestyle Beach Campaign Photography in Santa Monica

City Fashion Lifestyle Photoshoot in Downtown Los Angeles

Luxury Watch Outdoor Lifestyle Photoshoot at Venice Beach, Los Angeles

Commercial City-Style Sunset Photoshoot in Downtown LA