Next month I’m going to be running a Product Photography workshop in Leeds so I thought I’d share a few easy tips to improve your product photos.
Improve your product photos
Lighting
Do them during the day when you’ve got some natural light. Proper lighting is crucial for good product photos. Use natural light or invest in studio lighting to ensure that your products are well-lit and visible in the photo. You can get a little studio set up from Amazon and they’re pretty cheap.
Location
If you’re planning on using natural light, place your products on the floor in front of north facing large window or door (patio doors work really well) – I often stand outside and shoot back inside. Or if the weather is good I’ll do them outside – usually in an area of shadow that faces towards the brightest light.
Avoid days where there is strong sunshine (it means you’ll get harsh shadows-unless you want that obviously).
Make use of real life
Show the product in a real life setting…
- Bath bombs… run a bath light some candles, place it on some towels on the edge of the bath
- Candles – create a dinner place setting with nice plates and cutlery and show a hand lighting the candle.
- Jewellery – show rings on fingers also holding other things. Maybe a glass of wine, a pair or sunglasses, or reading a book?
Shadows
If your shadows are really strong/dark use some silver foil or a piece of white card to reflect some light onto the shadowy area (prop it up to the side of what you’re photographing).
Although this isnt necessary if you want shadows in the photos (there is a current trend where people have strong shadows of exotic plants in the background).
Backdrops
If you’re using a backdrop behind the product, don’t place the product right up to the backdrop. Leave a little space between the product and the background if you can. It will mean you don’t have a harsh shadow behind the product and if your backdrop isn’t perfect will hide any flaws or marks.
Flatlays
If you’re doing flat lays you can use so many different things for the base that you will take photos on.
Consider sheets of wrapping paper, blankets, wood, wall paper or buy a board from somewhere like PHOTOBOARDS – they are amazing!
Props
Use more props than you think you need unless you’re just doing a shot for something like Amazon. Whilst you don’t want the picture to be overly busy, you do need to paint a picture.
Also consider the scale of your props. I use side plates rather than a full dinner plate for food shots (partly so you don’t have to cool enough for the whole street to fill the plate).
Upgrade your phone
Are you using your phone? Consider getting one of the newer phones that have portrait mode (you’ll get the nice blurry background if you do.).
Edit your photos
Use photo editing software to touch up your product photos and make them look their best. This may include adjusting the color, exposure, or contrast and can generally be done on a phone app.
Overall, good lighting, unusual backgrounds, different angles, photo editing, props or accessories, and showing the product in use can all help improve your product photos.
And if you’d like to spend a lovely couple of hours learning more with me, have a look at the Workshop I’m running in February.
And when you’re ready, here are three ways that I can help you:
1) Visit my blog for tips on VISIBILITY.
Every week I discuss strategies to improve your visibility, get over your fear of visibility and my latest shoots. Read here
2) Plan a bespoke photoshoot.
We can plan a shoot based on what you actually need (read more) or you could join me at a Branding Day.
3) Join ‘Visibility School’.
Visibility school is a membership group where you get 12 months of photoshoots, a fab little Facebook group and a Visibility Toolkit (new for 2023 members) . Read
