BUSINESS: The Importance of Good Product Photography

So, when it comes to product photography what are your options? Essentially there are two:

1. Pay for some professional product photos by a professional photographer; 

2. Rely on the kindness of a friend who just happens to be a good amateur photographer or learn to take decent shots yourself.

 

Professional product photography could be considered expensive and out of reach for the average maker, but we caught up with Tina Crawford of TobyBoo who recently opted to have her products professionally photographed by Kellie of Kellie Spicknell Photography who begs to differ. Tina explains to us just what she feels you are getting when you opt to go for a professional.

 

  

“I like to take a photo – sometimes I love to take a photo - but for some reason when it comes to my work that's where the love ends. For me, making and designing is almost like being a surrogate parent – the moment it's created my job is done! One thing that dawned on me while photographer Kellie Spicknell was waving her magic wand over my work and taking amazing images was, I'm not sure I want to be the one to do the photography. Having a front page picture is everything to a maker, front page of Etsy, NOTHS the list goes on – they need great pictures, not necessarily the best products. Would it affect my work if it was left to me to take the photo? Take my picnic blanket for instance. I loved embroidering it but if I was doing my own photography I might well have stopped, knowing full well that the folds would make it a nightmare to shoot. The post-making stage is another job – that's why there are PR companies! 

 

 

I decided a few weeks ago that my worrying about taking decent shots of my own work was becoming detrimental, so I decided to invest in professional product photos. I chose Kellie Spicknell as she ‘got it’ as soon as I explained my idea. The day came and Kellie didn't let me down, I got to see the results instantly as she had her iPad and it was a joy to see images that didn't need any post-production on them – she could have used film! Kellie has done more than take an amazing portfolio for me, she's given me a new proud feeling in my work – every time I looked I couldn't believe that they were 'my' creations. There is no point in having the most fantastic piece that you've made if you can't show just how fantastic it is and the only way to do that is either in the flesh, if it's in a shop or gallery, or more likely on a site or in a magazine; so where does that leave me? With beautiful shots that showcase my work so well I might just make it to the front of a site.... or magazine.”

 

Tina recently went to the Liberty open call to present her Tobyboo products to the buying team and one of the comments made was "lovely photos" and when Tina explained that she had them professionally shot the feedback was "really, really worth it". Something to think about!

 

Kellie Spicknell offers workshops on how to take your own product photos which you can read about here: http://ukhandmade.co.uk/local/scene-improve-your-product-photography-kellie-spicknells-photograph-your-craft-workshop

 

Whilst professional product photography isn’t necessarily expensive, it may still be unaffordable for some, which brings us onto option two – phone a friend or do it yourself! If you’re lucky enough to have a friend who is willing to spend the day shooting product photos for you for free then good for you, but the more likely scenario is that you will need to learn to take decent shots yourself.

 

Before you say "I can’t afford a decent camera" be assured that no fancy SLR cameras are required! These are all  tips on how to improve your product photography at very little expense.

 

Believe it or not you don’t need an expensive SLR camera with a variety of lenses and equipment to get a decent shot, a cheap digital camera with a minimum of 3 megapixels is more than adequate. It is worth reading the manual and understanding what the settings do because, although the automatic settings are easy and are great for your average snapshot, with a little bit of effort you can achieve more professional looking shots if you know what you are doing and avoid a lot of post processing on the computer afterwards.

 

Use your camera on its manual setting as this allows for use of the function menu to change the settings as required. Up the exposure setting a couple of notches (good if it’s cloudy), change the light meter from evaluate to spot meter, switch off the flash. 

 

 

 

Set the quality and resolution setting to high to prevent grainy images and the two settings we suggest to set to automatic are the ISO and the white balance setting - this is the bit where you choose what type of light you are photographing in. AWB is automatic mode, you will also see cloud and sun symbols for photographing on cloudy or sunny days and choices for photographing under artificial lights. 

 

 Not having the white balance set correctly for your environment (left) can cause the white areas to look blue or orange.

 

Last but not least is the macro setting (the little tulip symbol you usually see on the dial on the camera) so you can get in nice and close and fill the shot with your product so that customers can really see what they are looking at. You should spend a bit of time playing with the settings and see what they do to get the results you like.

 

You could of course spend money on proper studio lamps and table top light tents, both of which can be bought fairly cheaply online, but you can achieve the same results as long as you have a place in your house with natural lighting and large sheets of white card or paper. With the camera set correctly the results should be pretty good! 

 

One piece of equipment that does make life easier is a tripod so it can be worth investing in one. Apart from preventing camera shake, not having to pick up the camera between shots (especially if you are doing lots of products in one go) is a godsend. Again these can be picked up pretty cheaply.

 

 

You need the product to be well lit from the front but not in direct sunlight as this will cause over exposure. The spot meter setting in your camera will help to ensure the photos are as bright as possible – using the evaluate setting will create dull backgrounds. Watch out for heavy shadows but using a white sheet of card or a piece wrapped in tin foil will make an excellent reflector to bounce and direct light evenly over your product.

 

See p85 to p88 of the Summer 2011 issue of UK Handmade magazine for a master class on lighting your shots by professional photographer Luke of Way Ahead Photography!

 

 This demonstrates the difference between the evaluate (left) and the spot meter setting (right).

 

The standard product shot used by professionals time and time again has a white background. You can mimic a studio background drop by using a large sheet of white paper, tape the top end against a wall and allow it to gently bend onto the table top or chair, which means you will have a seamless background with no horizontal lines showing behind the product and gives you an opportunity to move the product around and get the best angle for the shot.

 

 

If you want to play around with different coloured backgrounds keep them light and neutral avoiding overly strong colours which may detract from what you are trying to sell. The same applies to textures; anything too textured and patterned will interfere with the overall effect. Another rule is to use a colour that contrasts with the colour of your product – for example if you are taking a photo of a pink bag, shoot it on a green background so the pink bag stands out, putting it on a pink background will make it disappear.

 

 

Another way to display a product is to use props or shoot it in a setting. Think about the function of your product and keep your setting relevant. If you make pots, for example, display them on a table with flowers and a few complimentary items in the background. Don’t overdo it though and keep the product you are selling in the foreground. If you are selling earrings, hanging them off the side of a nice plain mug can be an effective way to display them and show the viewer how they hang. Take your time and experiment – to pull this kind of shot off takes practice and perseverance. The right results can be very compelling and can put you ahead of your competitors if done well. 

 

 

Whichever way you choose to display your product spend some time looking at your product and turn it around looking at all the angles to get the best shot. A straight on shot can look a bit forced; turning it to a slight angle can make your product look more inviting and natural. 

 

Don’t leave too much space around the product – this is where the macro setting comes in so you can get in nice and close. Fill your shot up so it almost reaches the edges but try not to cut any parts off.  Check for dark shadows and use your makeshift reflector to bounce light to parts of the product that need more light. 

 

 The photo on the left has a lot of shadow on the left hand side of the book and too much light on the right side. Using a reflector to bounce and diffuse the light creates a more even result (right).

 

Try not to get too stressed if you don’t get perfect results the first time. Professionals will shoot 30 or 40 photos each time before they get one they are happy with – granted if you are shooting something that will be sold fairly quickly you won’t want to spend too much time on complicated background settings but, once you have got the desired results the first few times, you will get quicker. If you get your camera set up correctly in the first place you will save time by not having to do too much tweaking in photo editing software afterwards.

 

Photo editing software really should just be used to resize your photos ready for uploading onto your website but if you do find your finished photos need lifting a little bit (and let’s face it most us can’t help twiddling a little bit) there are a few quick easy tools available on even the cheapest of software to get the desired results. The best tool in our opinion is brightness / contrast. Increasing the contrast will whiten backgrounds and keep the colours nice and bright and often that is all you need to do. Don't touch the brightness setting too much as this can lighten the whole photo too much and make it look over exposed or foggy. Another good fix for dull grey backgrounds is the levels setting. When you select levels you should see a box with a choice of pipettes. Select the white pipette then click on your photo in a place where you think the white needs lightening the most. Magically the whites will brighten up, but it may over lighten other parts of the photo too so play around until you become more familiar with it. You can change the blacks too and this is a fun effective tool.

 

If your background has a hint of blue or grey in the corners you can use the selective colour tool to take out just the blue tinge – select whites in the drop down box then move the cyan and other colour settings until you get the effect you want. (Don’t forget to select preview). Or another easy fix is once you have used the contrast tool to get the main area of white as bright as you can, use the brush tool to whiten up any shadowy areas and make the background really crisp.

 

If you need to do much more than this to a photo then you run the risk of the finished photo looking fake and you will be spending more time than you need editing a photo. Learning how to use your camera effectively can produce much better, professional looking results.

 

Taking good product photographs yourself is a constant learning curve but hopefully this article will give you a few pointers to get you on the right track to more professional-looking product images.

 

 

We also recommend this great book, "The Crafters Guide to Taking Great Photos" by Heidi Adnum which we've handily reviewed for you here: http://ukhandmade.co.uk/content/review-crafters-guide-taking-great-photos-heidi-adnum