Case Study: Lifestyle Appliances – Product Photography

Case Study: Lifestyle Product Photography

The Brief

Lifestyle Appliances — specialists in cabinet heaters, BBQs, coolers and outdoor living products — needed a trusted photography and video partner to keep pace with a growing product range and an increasingly competitive market.

The brief evolved over what became a near-20-year working relationship: consistently high-quality imagery across both controlled studio environments and real-world outdoor locations, delivered in formats ready for product catalogues, e-commerce listings, brochures and digital marketing campaigns.

The Creative Process

Products like outdoor heaters and BBQs present a specific creative challenge: they need to look credible and appealing in context, not just competent against a white background. A cabinet heater photographed in a bare studio tells you very little about how it lives in a garden or a hospitality setting.

Darren and Julie’s approach was to plan each product category separately — studio shots for the clean e-commerce work, and considered location setups that would put each product in an environment that genuinely sold the lifestyle proposition behind it.

Every shoot was preceded by a conversation with the Lifestyle team to understand what the product needed to communicate and where the images were going. That brief shaped everything: the location, the light, the styling and the angle.

Preparation

Studio shoots were set up around controlled lighting rigs designed to reveal the quality and finish of each appliance — brushed metals, matte surfaces and textured plastics all need different treatment to read well on screen and in print.

Location work required more logistical groundwork: identifying outdoor settings that matched the brand’s aesthetic, scheduling around weather and natural light, and transporting and rigging products on site. For larger outdoor appliances, this meant coordinating with the client’s team on delivery and setup before a single frame was shot.

Execution

The studio sessions moved efficiently — Darren and Julie working in close collaboration with the Lifestyle team to work through the product schedule, adjusting setups as needed and capturing the range of angles and close-up details required across different platforms.

Location shoots brought a different energy. With outdoor BBQs and heating products photographed in use, the team had to balance lighting conditions, backgrounds and the practical realities of shooting products that are designed to be fired up and used. The results needed to feel genuine, not staged.

The consistency of the long-term relationship meant communication was fluid throughout — Lifestyle trusted the dpix team to make creative calls in the moment without constant sign-off.

The Result

Lifestyle’s product range was transformed into a library of commercial imagery that has supported catalogue launches, website updates and social campaigns across nearly two decades. The photography became a key part of how Lifestyle communicates quality and innovation to its customers and retail partners.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with dpix for almost two decades. Darren and Julie’s exceptional photography and videography skills have played a pivotal role in elevating our brand image and showcasing our products’ true potential. Their creativity, attention to detail, and professionalism shine through in every project. We couldn’t be happier with the results and look forward to many more years of collaboration.”
— Lifestyle Appliances