When people cannot touch a product, they judge it by the pictures. You do not need a studio for that. You need steady light, a background that stays out of the way and a few shots that answer what a buyer would ask.
Light comes first
- Use a window, not a lamp. Put the product beside it, out of direct sun, where the light is soft.
- Turn the flash off. It flattens the shape and makes shiny surfaces glare.
- Hold a piece of white card opposite the window to bounce light back into the shadows.
A background that gets out of the way
A sheet of plain paper, a bare table or a smooth cloth is enough. The aim is that the eye goes to the product and stays there. Strong patterns, clutter and a crooked edge all pull it away.
The four shots a buyer needs
- 1The whole thing, straight on, with room around it.
- 2A close-up of the detail that decides the purchase: the stitching, the finish, the label.
- 3Something that shows its size, such as a hand holding it or an everyday object beside it.
- 4The product in use, in the kind of place it will actually live.
Consistency is the brand
If every product is shot against the same background, at the same angle and in the same light, the shop looks organised before anyone reads a word. It also makes your future photographs quicker, because you only have to repeat what you did before.
Edit lightly, and honestly
- Adjust brightness and contrast, and crop to straighten and tidy.
- Check that the colour on your screen matches the real thing. A product that arrives a different colour is a return, and a bad review.
- Do not remove marks or flaws that the buyer will see on the real item.
Put the real product beside its photograph on a phone screen. If they do not look like the same object, reshoot.