Product photography. Sigh. It’s not exactly my area of expertise, I tell you. But if you want to sell things online, it’s crucial to take photos that not only make very clear what your product looks like but also have to appeal to the potential buyers. Basically that means no arty-farty, hipstamatic cool looks with vague colors (even though that looks quite cool), but clear and crisp pictures. So how do you do that, if you don’t have a classy studio, lighting and an state-of-the art techniques at your disposal?
Well, don’t worry. You only need a little bit of sunshine outside so there’s natural light in your home, a camera (yes, I have a DSLR but a snapshot camera will do just fine!) and a white sheet of paper, preferrably A3. Easy does it. In the second picture you see the surroundings in which I do my product-photography. Not exactly a fancy studio! In the third photo you see how you can place your white paper and your product. Don’t fold the paper though, because then you will see the creases! And then you just click away! Try to play with the material and with depth-of-field. That means playing around with sharp and unsharp areas. It makes a picture much more interesting if you keep areas (however, not the main point of focus!) vague. In the fourth picture you see that a picture hardly ever comes out of your camera perfect. You always need to adjust things in a programme like Photoshop. Not your area of expertise? Don’t freak out about all the possibilities in Photoshop. If you only adjust your levels (play around with shifting them to the left or right) you’ll come a long way. It makes your photo much brighter instantly. But don’t overdo it, you don’t want people to think you used a flash the size of a building! Oh and speaking of which: never use your flash, especially not directly at your product. It’s just ugly…
So, I’ve taken my picture, edited it in Photoshop, and this is the result. And hey, why take only one picture? In Etsy you can post five, so used them all! See all the different things I did with this necklace!
Wat heb ik veel geleerd van het lezen van je post. Dank je wel voor alle goede tips!
Goed om te horen zeg! Graag gedaan! En vragen? Stel ze gewoon, ik help je graag!
leuk zeg, ik ben op zoek naar een foto bewerkingen programma. Welke kan je aanbevelen?
Ik gebruik zelf photoshop, maar als je dat te ingewikkeld vindt (hoewel het best meevalt hoor, gewoon niet kijken naar alle miljoenen mogelijkheden die het heeft) kan je ook Photoshop elements gebruiken, dat is een simpelere versie ervan.