Getting Started With Beautiful Product Photography
Written by Artriva StudiosThe perceived value of your products is directly impacted by the quality of your product's photographs
If there’s one thing that’s true when it comes to e-commerce, it's that the perceived value of your products and the trustworthiness of your business is often judged by the quality of your web design. And a big part of having an attractive website these days also means having high-quality, beautiful product photographs.
Showcasing your products with high-quality images can also be the winning difference between a conversion and no sale at all.
This is particularly true if you’re also distributing your products where they are displayed alongside those of your competitors like on Flipkart / Amazon.
What You Need To Get Started
- A Camera
- While Shooting on a DSLR & a fancy f1.4 lens is awesome, most of the time its not needed. There are some awesome Point & Shoot cameras and Phones that do the job if you are going to use the photographs on online market places.
- A Tripod
- Never underestimate the need of a good tripod.
- A good tripod can eliminate shake and help you get sharp images.
- If you do not have sufficient light, it allows you to use longer exposures without blur.
- Background(s)
- White is the most common, though for some products a contrasting colour makes your product stand out. If you are selling on your own custom website a contrasting background can also make your website stand out from the crowd.
- Light tents can be an excellent thing to buy if you want even soft lighting.
- An acrylic sheet can be a good buy as it can be easily cleaned and prevents cloth / surfaces from getting soiled.
- If white / transparency is what you want as a background, make sure to avoid all off-white colours.
- Reflectors
- When using light from a window /working with a single light source one side may be too dark / too bright
- You can have control over the shadows by using a reflector.
- Simplest and cheapest of reflectors can be a piece of thick cloth or paper.
- Note: Black removes light and can be used to block of excess light
- A Table / Working Surface
- It is generally not advisable to work at floor height, use a table or an elevated surface
- Light Tents or a table for photography is a good investment
- A Right place to work
- Depending on your needs and facilities available on hand you can choose between
- A place with lots of natural light
- A darker room where you can control all available light
- Whatever may be your choice, select a place with less wind, away from distractions ample space to unpack products shoot and pack them back. Yes, you can have shoots without ruining your products.
- Depending on your needs and facilities available on hand you can choose between
- Small Items
- Clips, pins, tape, glue etc : you name it , you stock it. Though these items are least expensive and easily available you never know when you when need it during a shoot.
General Tips for Shooting
- Set your White balance right
- Approx 5.5k for natural light / flashes / strobes
- For LED / Fluorescent / Incandescent bulbs - shoot in RAW as this generally allows you to correct WB after shooting
- Take a test shot of a 50% gray card or keep it in a corner of your frame (while photographing), this can come really handy while fixing white balance
- Do not mix different light sources of different white balance
- Set your camera to use sRGB
- This is the default colour profile used across the web (a default fallback if no colour profile is mentioned)
- This will give you an idea of how the end result will look during each stage of your workflow
- As a thumb rule
- Use the lowest ISO setting
- Keep a fast shutter to avoid blur / use a tripod if that is not possible
Latest from Artriva Studios
- Fraud Alert : (Featured on - Amazon/Flipcart/Hopscotch/IKFW(India Kids Fashion Week)/Myntra) Casting for Children
- Photo Print & Framing (COVID - SERVICE)
- Guidelines for Studio Usage (Prevention of spread of COVID-19)
- Updates related to COVID-19
- What to check before booking a Photo Studio for your next project