Selling an old shoe on ebay… or proudly sharing your gorgeous new products online, you’re much more likely to generate interest with clear and beautiful images that show it off in the best light (literally).

Reflect your branding

If your business has an online presence it’s not only important that you show off your products in great imagery, but consider that any image you use online,  any picture that includes you, your products or services, is a reflection of your business and your brand.

This blog post shows how to take beautiful, simple and effective photos of your product for use online, in your own home and without the need for expensive or tricky lighting equipment.

 

Find the Light

The most important aspect of any image is light, because basically a photograph is a recording of light and how that light interacts with your subject.  Sharp strong light that you find in direct midday sun, or right next to a window as the sun is streaming in, will produce strong shadows and leave part of your subject in the dark.

Aim to find soft, even light in outside shade, or close to a window with non-direct light (just like below) that will fall beautifully over the item you’re photographing and show it off in the most flattering way.  Even though the light is soft, we still need it… so don’t step too far away from the window or you’ll find you don’t have enough light and your image will be too dark.

[box type=”info” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Technical Tip: Set your subject up 45 degrees from a large window or soft light source [/box]

In the image below the subject is on the table, I was shooting from the blue bean bag, and the light was streaming in from the side windows and the window behind me.

 

Keep it Simple

The best rule for composing an image to show off a product is to keep it simple.  An uncluttered background, and simple styling will ensure your beautiful object or item is front and centre.   Have fun playing with the layout of your items, and style the product in accordance with your brand.

 

 

Shallow Depth of Field…

Shallow depth of field is where your camera focuses on a slither of detail and everything else falls away in a nice blur.  By using shallow depth of field we can highlight particular items or aspects of the subject in sharp detail in contrast to the blurred background of everything else.  In the image below you can see that the flower is lovely and crisp, and the far edge of the tea cup and saucer are in soft focus.  This is achieved by using a lens that let’s you select a wide aperture, such as the 50mm 1.8.  The other benefit of shooting with a wide aperture (a low f/stop number) is that you’re able to let a lot more light into your image, so you have greater flexibility on where you can shoot and you don’t need to use flash or be outdoors.  If you find you can’t get this with your kit lenses, you might want to check out the might Nifty Fifty lens which is fantastic value for money and a great investment in your photography!

The image below was shot with an aperture of f/2, shutter speed: 1/125s and ISO: 400.

 

… or your iPhone

So the benefit of shooting in lovely soft light is that your equipment becomes far less important, and even using an iphone  you can capture images that show off your product beautifully.

 

Practice Tip

Find a suitably well lit room in your house and set up a shot 45 degrees from a large window.  Now move your subject closer and further away from the window and watch how the light interacts with your object as you move it in and out of the light.

 

Keen to learn more?

If you found this post helpful share with your friends online, or check out Click Love Grow’s photography course to help you take your own fabulous products online here.