Product Shots that Pop: It's Not About the Pixels By Helen Bradley
February 12, 2008
Look around at other e-commerce sites and you'll see a range of photography from very good to appallingly bad. Good photos make your business look professional and your products attractive to buyers. Bad photos do just the opposite, especially when customers can't actually touch the inventory or inspect it in person. When you take high-quality product shots, your wares look inviting, and they have a better chance of attracting the eye of shoppers, who naturally are more inclined to make a purchase.
The difference between excellent and poor product photography, however, is not based on who has the best camera, but rather who has the tools to pull off professional-looking imagery and who uses them to best advantage. In this article, we'll have a look at some basic tools that you can use to take photographs that pop — without spending a fortune.
Lighting with Flash Some of the best money that you'll spend on improving your product shots is investing in good lighting. While the flash on your camera is handy for taking quick snapshots, it's not good for product shots. Particularly when used close up, the flash shoots a burst of light at your subject creating deep shadows where the object blocks out the light. This practice also blows out highlights where the flash scores a direct hit on the object's flat surfaces.
If you are using a digital SLR camera, one option is to invest in a flash that mounts on the hot shoe (the slot where flashes are mounted) at the top of the camera. This flash operates in place of the camera's own flash and you can adjust it to get the best angle of light. These flashes generally come with white, semi-opaque filters that you place over the front of the flash to diffuse the light so it is soft and spread out rather than behaving like a spotlight and being harsh and directional.
Other options for diffusing the light from this flash are a soft box attachment, which is a largish box that attaches over the flash and has a white semi-opaque fabric front. This softens the light and spreads it out, giving a softer, even light to light your subject and eliminating harsh shadows.
A good alternative to a regular flash is a special adjustable flash with a diffuser.
One downside of a flash is that it only fires when the camera is taking a photograph so it is difficult to set up a shot without taking lots of sample shots to test the result. Instead of a flash, you can purchase standalone lights with soft box attachments. These lights can be turned on and positioned more easily allowing you to experiment with placing the lights without having to take lots of sample shots to see what you'll get. When you use a soft box studio light you can shoot without using the camera's flash and still get a nicely lit object.
Ideally you would use two soft box lights, one on either side of the object. However, it is possible to get away with a reflector in place of one light. A reflector is a small screen covered with shiny reflective material that you place opposite the soft box light. The reflector captures some of the light from the soft box light and reflects it back onto the unlit side of the object. If you're short on cash, the reflector you put in your car's front window to protect it on sunny days makes a good inexpensive reflector as does a sheet of white cardboard.
Lighting Tents and Cubes If the subjects that you are photographing are small, a lighting tent or cube is recommended for best results. These tents or cubes are made of a semi-transparent white fabric and they stand on their own. You then place lights outside the tent so they shine through the fabric. You don't need to use soft box lights because the tent fabric acts as a diffuser so you can use directional lights if desired.
A lighting tent or cube helps you light your subject properly and the fabric at the back of the tent provides a neutral backdrop for your object. Many of the tents and cubes you can buy also include backdrops and fabric sweeps in various colors that you can use to provide an attractive background to your photo.
This cube and lights from EZCube.com offer a simple desktop solution for photographing small objects.
One of the benefits of using diffused light such as you get using a diffuser or a lighting tent is that it makes it easier to shoot reflective and shiny objects. Instead of sharp reflected light, which your camera will record as burned out highlights, you will get a more subtle sheen on the object. In addition, with a light tent or cube, because your object is standing inside a semi-opaque container, you won't get reflections from surrounding objects.
While you can buy lighting tents and cubes you can also create them yourself using anything from a white plastic garbage bag to a white plastic bucket. Place the 'tent' over the object and photograph through the opening in it.
When you use a lighting tent you will need lights to illuminate the object. You can purchase special adjustable lights on stands or you can use a couple of good desk lamps or halogen lamps — anything that provides a strong even light source is a good choice.
If you use standard household style globes to light your subject you will find that tungsten globes typically throw a yellow/pink colorcast and fluorescent globes throw a yellow/green or blue/green light on your subject. You should set your camera's white balance setting to match the light and it will adjust for the color cast to give you a neutral result. If you don't do this, you will need to remove the color cast later on in your photo-editing software. Professional photography lights generally incorporate daylight globes which give off a neutral light with no colorcast so you don't need to adjust for it.
This object has been photographed with different lighting and no white balance adjustment to show the different colors of the lights. Left to right — fluorescent light, tungsten light, daylight globes.
Holding It Steady with a Tripod When shooting product photography a tripod will allow you freedom to set up your shot and adjust your lighting without having to manage your camera at the same time. Not only does a tripod ensure that the camera is held steady, but it will let you shoot at slower speeds and with less available light and still get a good photograph.
Most tripods are adjustable so you can use them with the camera upright or on its side. Some tripods have extension arms that allow you to position the camera over the top of the subject which is handy for photographing subjects that are best photographed lying down such as coins, spoons etc.
Budget Solutions While it is possible to spend many hundreds of dollars on a good photography kit, it is also possible to create your own DIY versions. A neutral background or sweep can be made using a sheet of paper taped to a wall. This should be positioned so it is higher than the product behind it and then sweep behind and under the object creating a seamless background.
Add a couple of good lights or a light and a reflector and set your camera to the correct white balance setting and you have a workable budget solution. For less than a couple of new DVDs you can add a professionally designed light tent or cube and a sturdy tripod can be purchased new or for a few dollars on eBay or at a garage sale. Where you will spend the real money is for quality adjustable daylight lights — they're not cheap but they are a worthwhile investment if you are doing a lot of photography.
Helen Bradley is a respected international journalist writing regularly for small business and computer publications in the USA, Canada, South Africa, UK and Australia. You can learn more about her at her Web site, HelenBradley.com.
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