Product Photography - Taking Those Great Photos That Sell
Lighting is Key The light source is of key importance in your overall photo shoot setup.
Typically for indoor shots, you'll want 2 light sources - one is the main light for either direct light on your product, or it can be diffused in some way, such as using a light tent.
Then the second light source is typically fill or reflection-diffusing light to take away from the shadow effect.
Lighting TIP - rather than buying lighting equipment such as lights, tripods and a light tent, try shooting outdoors on a cloudy day - this can often have the same effect as a great set of indoor lights and diffusers, and without any shadows (assuming it is in fact cloudy when you shoot).
Lighting TIP 2 - Returning back to indoors shooting, try to set up your primary light source above and to the left of your product - this way the shadows will fall to the right and behind your product and can be more easily cropped out of the photo.
Backgrounds The background your product is placed in front of is also very important - you can use an image editing program like Photoshop after the shoot to crop and remove the background, but you may also like to use a light colored or white background for the shoot and leave the background in the shot.
Just remember that the background color can't clash with the color of your product; particularly with clothing and apparel.
There are commercially available free tools to help you match colors or at least avoid putting that fire-truck red tee shirt in front of that chartreuse background! Tripods to the Rescue Many digital cameras today, even lower end cameras, come with a tripod screw mount on the base of the camera.
Use this for best results for shooting your products - this saves much aggravation with fuzzy images - even a slightly fuzzy image (we've all seen them on eBay) can detract from sales, so a tripod is well worth the investment.
Higher End Camera Tips We won't get into a discussion here on what the best digital camera is for shooting products - that could be a whole separate article (which is probably covered elsewhere), but one tip we've found invaluable is setting your camera's exposure levels using a 'grey' card which is simply a piece of grey cardboard placed in front of your product - you can then use your higher-end camera's recommended exposure (shutter speed and aperture levels) based on its readout of the image (many cameras will do this nowadays).
Equipment Summary Starter Budget - even with a modest budget you can take significantly better pictures for your web store or even eBay with just a few key tools.
Assuming you have a digital camera, you can likely just use that camera if you're on a tight budget, and wait for a cloudy day to shoot outside.
Then you only need a background, which could be as simply as a white sheet laid across a table.
You may not even need photo editing software in this case.
Even if you do, there are shareware, freeware and trial programs available to get you going without any costs.
Intermediate/Advanced Budget - Once you get the hang of it, you may want to upgrade your camera first, to a higher end model, typically an SLR camera with a zoom lens and a camera that will adjust shutter speed, aperture, etc.
Then a good investment is an indoor setup with a light tent, at least two lights on tripod bases, and a few incandescent bulbs (very important).
No matter what your budget is, you can make tremendous improvements in your product photos and see a large jump in sales as well by following a few key tips involving lighting, backdrops and equipment.
Also, feel free to experiment with your own ideas and how you believe your product should be represented, lit and shot.
We wish you the best of luck with your online business.
Typically for indoor shots, you'll want 2 light sources - one is the main light for either direct light on your product, or it can be diffused in some way, such as using a light tent.
Then the second light source is typically fill or reflection-diffusing light to take away from the shadow effect.
Lighting TIP - rather than buying lighting equipment such as lights, tripods and a light tent, try shooting outdoors on a cloudy day - this can often have the same effect as a great set of indoor lights and diffusers, and without any shadows (assuming it is in fact cloudy when you shoot).
Lighting TIP 2 - Returning back to indoors shooting, try to set up your primary light source above and to the left of your product - this way the shadows will fall to the right and behind your product and can be more easily cropped out of the photo.
Backgrounds The background your product is placed in front of is also very important - you can use an image editing program like Photoshop after the shoot to crop and remove the background, but you may also like to use a light colored or white background for the shoot and leave the background in the shot.
Just remember that the background color can't clash with the color of your product; particularly with clothing and apparel.
There are commercially available free tools to help you match colors or at least avoid putting that fire-truck red tee shirt in front of that chartreuse background! Tripods to the Rescue Many digital cameras today, even lower end cameras, come with a tripod screw mount on the base of the camera.
Use this for best results for shooting your products - this saves much aggravation with fuzzy images - even a slightly fuzzy image (we've all seen them on eBay) can detract from sales, so a tripod is well worth the investment.
Higher End Camera Tips We won't get into a discussion here on what the best digital camera is for shooting products - that could be a whole separate article (which is probably covered elsewhere), but one tip we've found invaluable is setting your camera's exposure levels using a 'grey' card which is simply a piece of grey cardboard placed in front of your product - you can then use your higher-end camera's recommended exposure (shutter speed and aperture levels) based on its readout of the image (many cameras will do this nowadays).
Equipment Summary Starter Budget - even with a modest budget you can take significantly better pictures for your web store or even eBay with just a few key tools.
Assuming you have a digital camera, you can likely just use that camera if you're on a tight budget, and wait for a cloudy day to shoot outside.
Then you only need a background, which could be as simply as a white sheet laid across a table.
You may not even need photo editing software in this case.
Even if you do, there are shareware, freeware and trial programs available to get you going without any costs.
Intermediate/Advanced Budget - Once you get the hang of it, you may want to upgrade your camera first, to a higher end model, typically an SLR camera with a zoom lens and a camera that will adjust shutter speed, aperture, etc.
Then a good investment is an indoor setup with a light tent, at least two lights on tripod bases, and a few incandescent bulbs (very important).
No matter what your budget is, you can make tremendous improvements in your product photos and see a large jump in sales as well by following a few key tips involving lighting, backdrops and equipment.
Also, feel free to experiment with your own ideas and how you believe your product should be represented, lit and shot.
We wish you the best of luck with your online business.
