I often have clients ask me how to best photograph their products to use on their website and/or in their catalog. They ask me this because product photography is a service we offer to our clients and we do a good job of it, so they trust my advice. To do it well takes years of practice, the right tools and plenty of patience. This being the case we can’t give you an exact formlua of how to photograph your product on your own in a simple blog post. What we can do is give you a few tips on how to proceed in the right direction.
Purchase A Nice Camera
The most popular question I get is “What camera do I buy?” I usually respond with “What’s your budget look like?” Ideally you want to get an SLR camera with removable lenses. This will allow you to have full control over your exposures. However, most people can’t afford this route. If you’re in the same situation, then I recommend you look into the nicest point and shoot you can get with the following specs:
- The largest megapixel resolution you can afford (at the time of this post cameras are running around 12 megapixels)
- A long focal length zoom lense (preferably with a macro feature)
- Optical zoom. Stay away from digital zoom. The latter will give you an undesirable pixilated image.
Create A Small Photo Set
You’ll need a nice place to photograph your product. The size of your set will depend on the size of your product being photographed. In most cases a small tabletop photo set will do. You can search online to find a commercially made set, or you can just use a simple table with background paper to eliminate noise in the background.
Buy A Tripod
You’ll need to hold that camera steady. Don’t skimp on this step, it’s worth the investment. Camera shake will give you a blurry image. It’s best to avoid this if possible and have a sharp image to make your product look nice.
Invest In Simple Lighting
This step is optional. You can get away with the flash on your camera. However, on-camera flash generally creates flat lighting. By mounting your flash unit(s) off your camera you will be able add more depth to your images, creating a more interesting product. By getting creative with your lighting you will separate yourself from the amateurs and become a pro.
Invest In Image Editing Software
After you’ve photographed your product you’ll need to edit them in an image editing software program. You may need to rotate the image, crop, color correct, touch-up product blemishes or knock out the background. Being that we have a professional photo studio we exclusively use only the best – Adobe Photoshop CS5. If this is beyond your budget . . . then I recommend you do a few searches online to find an image-editing tool that is in your price range.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Don’t get discouraged from your initial round of shots. The more you experiment the better you’ll get. Whenever you come across an issue, research the problem and find a solution. You never know, it may be as simple as using some duct tape and a few hidden wires to hold up your product. You can touch them up later on to show your complex item hanging in space.
