Re: Looking for some feedback
Originally Posted by
Jaybeez
...a bit more attention to lighting would really make them pop.
Yes, this. Here's the thing about photography: it doesn't have to be documentary. IOW, just because the thing is black in real life doesn't mean it has to be black in a photograph. If you want people to see it, you have to pull the value up from black into the dark gray range where the human eye/brain visual system can discern texture and detail.
Absolutely the best way to do this is with lighting. The massive softboxes used in your examples are like what you'd use to light a young beauty's face for the cover of Vogue. The problem here is that your speakers aren't human faces. IMHO it's rather silly to treat them as if they are.
Your speaker photographs would almost certainly benefit from more directional lighting that can show some texture and detail.
What your photographer needs (what all photographers need, and that includes me; my 2nd edition copy is well worn) is a copy of Hunter and Fuqua's Light Science & Magic, the best book on photographic lighting I've ever found.
"If it sounds good, it is good." -- Duke Ellington