Do you take pictures of your products?
It can be difficult, especially if you have never done it before.
Do you remember looking at a polished website with nice product photos?
It can be discouraging because you’re wondering how they get them to look so good.
Well, I’ve got some tips here to help you take better pictures of your stuff.
First Impressions
The first thing anyone sees on your site are your products.
Your main picture has to be good because it is the only thing people will see at first. To even get them to click on it in the first place is a big hurdle.
Your number one picture needs to be your best effort. One of the things that Etsy stresses the most is having good photos for your store.
Simple Background
The first thing anyone sees on your site are your products.
Your main picture has to be good because it is the only thing people will see at first. To even get them to click on it in the first place is a big hurdle.
Your number one picture needs to be your best effort. One of the things that Etsy stresses the most is having good photos for your store.
Simple Background
Many photos in the Etsy store have too many objects. Sometimes it is hard to even distinguish what is for sale. Adding distractions into the product photo is something you have to be careful about.
There can be a fine line between charming or rustic and just straight up junky.
What kind of impression do you want your customer to have? A well thought out background can not only keep from being a distraction, but it can add value to the photo.
There are countless ways to do this.
The most common styles include using a texture like concrete or burlap.
One of the most popular ways is using a white background.
Almost all the photos on Amazon use a white background. If one of the leading retailers uses this strategy then there may be something to it.
To avoid causing any confusion about your product you need to make sure to keep the background simple. That means a few things:
Textures are Terrific
A background such as a canvas bag or concrete floor are usually winners as long as the lighting is good.
Textures can generate a tone or feel for the product. Also, a contrasting texture lends itself to being an attractive photo.
A piece of handmade jewelry on a burlap bag/canvas is attractive.
It gives the impression that it is a one of a kind handmade piece.
Rustic Wood is Rad
Old, weathered wood contrasts well with most products.
This is one of my favorite tactics (as long as what you are selling is not also weathered wood of course).
Notice how the picture below incorporates not only some wood, but it contrasts with the purse.
Great photos will include many different strategies.
Natural Environment is Nice
Terrain and natural landscapes are great backgrounds for a lot of products.
A forest floor, for example, would be a great place to take pictures of a tent or a camping backpack.
Or maybe a nice manicured lawn for some garden gnomes.
White Background Will Work
One of the most common backgrounds is a white background.
It is clean, clear, and customers will not get distracted by anything else.
Also, it is normal and expected so you don’t have to worry about any unwanted reactions to your photo.
How to Do it
If can be difficult to get a good white background, but there are several tutorials on it online.
One simple thing you can do is buy a physical white background made for taking product photos.
These are usually white sheets that lay flat and then curve up so it does not have any edges.
Soft Lighting
Harsh, yellow, incandescent lighting is not flattering for most products.
You don’t want your customers wondering if you actually meant to post on craigslist.
A soft, bright, white light is what you should be looking for. A soft light will create soft shadows and make your product appear fresh and clean.
How to Do it
You can do this by making the light source larger than the object.
Natural lighting can do this, but it can be difficult to capture the sun’s light at the right time.
The sun is actually a hard light source. The best time to take photographs outdoors (as far as products go) is when it is overcast.
The clouds spread out (diffuse) the sun’s light and make it soft.
If you are taking a picture outside, then you need to pay attention to the type of lighting that you are getting.
A reflector can help you get softer lighting by reflecting the sun towards the harsh shadows.
It can be hard to take advantage of a situation like that.
Getting the timing right is too difficult.
Its easier to recreate this lighting inside a studio or somewhere in your house.
You will need to build a light source that will recreate this environment. Several tools available on Amazon will do this like some soft boxes.
Great Camera
The equipment is the basis of your photo, so make sure that you do not try and cheat it.
Product photography is somewhat demanding.
People will be analyzing these photos and you want it to be as flawless as possible. A great camera can go a long ways towards doing all the work for you.
There are a ton of tips and tutorials on how to take great pictures with an iPhone. The truth is it will never have the physical ability to capture images as high quality as a DSLR.
There are some articles online comparing the iPhone’s picture taking ability with other cameras.
In my opinion, the iPhone does an awesome job for what it is, but it just can’t capture all the details that a DSLR can.
A good point and shoot camera may work for you, and an iPhone might even work for you in the right situation.
Whatever you do, make sure that the camera is not your weak link. Are you confident that the camera you are using is doing the best possible job? If so, continue.
Editing
You will not need to do much editing besides cropping and arranging your photos.
As far as color adjustments go, it is risky to change the picture too much. You want your customer to have the best impression of what they are about to buy.
One of the common edits you will make is putting in a white background. To do this you will need some sort of photo editing software like Photoshop.
This can be time consuming, so you might consider buying a gig on Fiverr or hiring a freelancer. Sometimes this is the best method because it allows you to focus on more important tasks.
Practice Taking Product Photos
One necessary element with product photography is practicing it.
Don’t get discouraged if your images don’t look as good as Nordstrom’s or Zappos’s. They don’t always need to.
You just need to have pictures that your customer likes and enjoys viewing.
Comment below and let me know if these tips work for you!