How to take good quality product photos?

When it comes to the online store, your customers judge a product and the trustworthiness of your brand by the quality of your product photography. Not everyone can afford to work with a studio that specializes in eCommerce product photography services but that is no excuse for blurry, unfocused photographs. 

Though professional product photography can never be replaced with clicks from your smartphone, as a business that is going online, you can also take a DIY approach to your site’s product photography needs. Here are a few useful tips:

Set Up The Table

If you’re shooting indoors, keep your table as close to the window as possible without having the shadow from the sill fall onto it. Use a creaseless white chart to create a seamless backdrop for small products. Tape one side to the table and the other to the wall such that it creates a curved surface for the product to sit on. 

Place your product in the centre of the flat section of the chart paper and set up your camera directly in front of it. Use a tripod to keep the camera stable. As far as possible, set up your camera close to the product so you don’t have to zoom in for the photograph. 

Find The Right Setting

When you’re taking photographs for your eCommerce website, you need to set your camera to take pictures with the highest resolution. If you have a RAW setting, use it. Set your camera’s white balance to auto and turn the flash off. 

If you need more light, add a lamp but never use the camera flash if you need a professional photography effect. You can tweak the exposure on your smartphone camera and increase it by a point or two. Lastly, wipe the camera lens clean before taking your first shot.

Frame The Product

How you position your product is important for product photography. It should ideally be in the centre of the frame and it should take up 80-85% of the frame space. If the product has a label with text, ensure that it is aligned and clearly visible. When you’re styling the product, use the Rule of Thirds. This involves dividing the frame into a grid of 9 blocks and positioning the product where two lines intersect.

Shoot The Product From Multiple Angles

The visuals on your website are all the customer has to compensate for the missing in-store experience. Hence, you must shoot the product from multiple angles. You need a frontal shot, side shots, a back shot and an angular shot. 

You should also take close-up photographs of detailing such as buttons, straps, controls, etc. For a professional photography look, these photographs should be taken against a plain white background. 

Use Simple Props

Apart from photographs of your product from different angles, your customers will also want to see at least one photograph of the product in use. Use props that are simple and complimentary to your colour scheme. Studios that offer eCommerce product photography services will choose props that are relevant and make your product stand out. For example, a teaspoon filled with coffee may be an apt prop for a cup but flowers may be a distraction. 

Once you’re satisfied with the shot, use photo editing software on your computer to retouch and resize the photographs for the website. Remember, nothing can replace professional eCommerce photography. Once you have the budget, you need to consider including professionally shot product photos on your site. If you need more information about setting up your online store, reach out to isgoing.online.