Thursday, August 2, 2012

Product Photography Tips

  A few important things that come in handy when photographing product:

1. A light box with simple backgrounds.
FYI - You can build your own light box http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent (which didn’t go well for me and I didn’t like the fact that it didn’t clean up nice and compact).
photo from http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

2. A tripod and a remote shutter release.

3. Bright daylight bulbs.

4. Photo editing programs.

5. Focus...make sure you focus on your object, not on your other props!

6. TIME. Don’t rush yourself. Take the time to get things right!

Take pictures of your items at different angles. Stage your product with something that lends to it, not takes away.

Simple backgrounds are often best as your main focus is on the product itself.

I do tend to shoot in manual mode, rather than in Auto, giving me a lot more control over how my photo is going to turn out. This means adjusting your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance.

Here's just a small glance at the difference between Auto white balance and me adjusting the white balance:



REMEMBER, your customers can't pick up your objects and inspect them, so your photo has got to sell it!

If you have a product that you can easily reproduce a lot of and don't find yourself loving the photography end, consider hiring a professional photographer to do your photos. Even if it's just one to use as your man selling photo to grab the attention of potential customers.

More information on product photography along with some question and answers at Crystal Gayle Photography blog.

23 comments:

  1. Wonderful tips, Crystal ... thanks for taking time to share with us!

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  2. Thanks for the tips, Crystal.... I really need to get a light box!

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  3. Great information, thank you!

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  4. Great tips! These are really helpful. Thanks so much.

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  5. Thanks for the tips Crystal! Your photos are amazing!

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  6. I hate my photo's these days. I'm digging out my light box and going to work on setting up my lights and hope for some decent results. Thanks for the reminders.

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  7. WOW! I love what you can do with photos. I've GOT to do better.... *sigh* I'll practice on my newest scenes to be released this coming week.

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  8. Great tips! Thank you!

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  9. Thank you for sharing your expertise, Crystal!

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  10. what a great article!! glad you touched on white balance as many times people forget!!!!

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  11. I love crystals photography! I am working on mine, but definitely have areas I need to improve on!

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  12. I'm writing these down for when I can get a better camera I'll know what to adjust.

    Thank you!

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  13. I reallllly need one of those lightboxes.... its on the list!

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  14. Great tips! Thanks for writing this up.

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  15. now i need a tutorial on iso, aperature, etc. I learned them all many moons ago in photography class in high school, but i was more interested in the teachers assistant (my BF at the time)

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  16. Very interesting post with great tips, thank you Crystal for sharing
    now if only I can start working the magic with my camera and produce quality photos like you do :)

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  17. So that's where the magic happens! *grin*

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  18. Love the tips - thank you for sharing!
    Amy

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