Mobile product photography is a key to selling products in this digital age. Here are six tips to ensure they come out perfectly!
Who says you need a big budget and an expensive DSLR camera for effective product photography? Certainly not the best photographers in the world.
Pulitzer Prize winners such as David Hume have been snapping breathtaking shots with smartphone cameras for years. Your iPhone photos aren’t going to be as good as Hume’s, of course — or those any pro photographer — but they also don’t need to be. Employ these six mobile product photography tips to make your merchandise look irresistible.
Elite coach Joe Hannon in action with Riding On Insulin.
- Shoot from different angles
As a maker, you treat your creations like works of art. How could you not? The hand-crafted care that goes into a made product is what sets it apart from department store throwaways. Show it off by taking photos from unusual angles which highlight the uniqueness of what you’ve made. For example: climb a ladder and shoot from above to reveal an unusual shape or sharp angles. Or shoot from the ground to capture the extraordinary detail you add in places customers almost never see.
Geode Bowls from Element Clay Studio.
- Use perspective and contrast
If your product is black, set it off against a light colored background. If your product is meant for city girls, shoot a guy holding your product while getting off the train but still miles away from the city. Providing this sort of perspective and contrast with smart mobile product photography can help shoppers get a feel for what makes your creation interesting. A powerful photo will also help prospects imagine themselves using your product in the way you intended, which is usually when sales take off.
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- Focus on the details
A look at the different angles and colors of your product is good. A closer look at the details is even better. Let’s say you’ve made a particularly unusual remote control glider. What are the little touches that make it special? Is there something in the cockpit? What about the wingtips? Take extreme up close photos that leave the background blurred to capture these add-ons.
The Manado State University Choir.
- Light it up
We didn’t talk about this at the open because it’s probably obvious. Put your product in the light and then stand with the light to your back when shooting. Add lights just out of the reach of the shot if you need to, but otherwise try to favor natural light in order to show off your product’s true look and feel.
- Remember to edit
While it’s always admirable to aim for the shot that needs no help, those pictures are like lottery winners: you know they’re out there, you’ve just never seen one. Don’t be afraid to edit a little to get the photo you want. Better to have that than to put up a shot that undersells your product, all in the name of some imagined artistic integrity. Get the picture you want and then roll the dice.
Action on the field at the Rebel 76 soccer camp.
- But don’t overdo it
A great photo won’t sell your product for you, but it’s also the closest most prospects will get your creation before making the decision to buy. That’s why so many of your peers are buying expensive camera gear, investing heavily in PhotoShop, or hiring professionals to take product “beauty shots” of their creations—even though there’s nothing beautiful about any of that process.
Instead, dare to be different. Good mobile product photography that shows different angles, perspective, and contrast, and which captures details in the natural light, all without over-editing, can be tricky. But in a market where so many products are touched-up like runway models, authentically beautiful products are more likely to stand out and get sold.
Want more advice? Read more about what your peer makers are doing. Or, if you’re looking for more creative inspiration, visit the Weebly Inspiration Center today.
