Product photography almost universally utilizes bright studio lighting and that bright lighting loves to flare off your lens. Dirt on the lens can create ugly diffraction spikes, flares, as well as areas that are fuzzy in your image. Always carry a lens brush and make sure your lens is free of smudges before you set your camera up for product photography. y important these days that product photography be on-point when it comes to creating photos of products for sale. This is where product photography comes in, while the customer can't physically see the product they can see images of the product and those images create a visual experience that can easily make or break the deal of them clicking "add to cart." The possibility of a customer buying a product or not can hinge on how insightful you were in capturing images of said product. Here's some do's and don'ts of product photography.
No one would ever buy a product these days that they can't see with their own eyes. The days of catalogs with lengthy descriptions and an illustration are over. People expect to see exactly what they are getting and if the product they receive isn't exactly the same as what is in the photos they will often return a perfectly good product. It's therefore very important these days that product photography be on-point when it comes to creating photos of products for sale. This is where product photography comes in, while the customer can't physically see the product they can see images of the product and those images create a visual experience that can easily make or break the deal of them clicking "add to cart." The possibility of a customer buying a product or not can hinge on how insightful you were in capturing images of said product. Here's some do's and don'ts of product photography.
Do's of product photography
Use white backgrounds
As of 2021 one of the cardinal rules for most websites that one can list products on is that the background should be neutral but most often white backgrounds. There are exceptions sometimes for objects that are white and will blend into the background, but simple white backgrounds are your bread-and-butter when it comes to product photos. You should also know that it's consistently proven that in most cases products against plain white backgrounds tend to sell better.
Keep your lens spotless
Product photography almost universally utilizes bright studio lighting and that bright lighting loves to flare off your lens. Dirt on the lens can create ugly diffraction spikes, flares, as well as areas that are fuzzy in your image. Always carry a lens brush and make sure your lens is free of smudges before you set your camera up for product photography.
Use a high quality telephoto lens
Most of the time products need to be flattened by the use of a telephoto lens. You don't want people to notice depth, you want them to notice shape. Telephoto lenses "crush" the depth of field. usually in my setups my lens is behind my lights and is sniping between softboxes. A good telephoto lens can be the difference between tack sharp product photos and fuzzy or blurry images.
Don'ts of product photography
Don't be distracting
Lights and backgrounds can be fun to play with and they have their place, but they can totally screw up good product photography by distracting from what is really important to convey visually, the product. If you need to make an artistic choice for whatever reason make sure that it's going to complement the message that is trying to be conveyed about the product in your photo.
Don't use a cell phone
Phones are great, but they are terrible for good product photos whatever a blog or manufacturer, or paid celebrity says. Iphone and Android phones alike, none are as good as a real camera with telephoto lens when it comes to product photos. It comes down to how small the sensor and optical train in your phone is. It's an amazing piece of technology to be sure but it's not able to be controlled the same way a camera with interchangeable lenses can.
Don't use filters.
This should also go without saying but using filters or apps to modify your product photos in any way besides touchup in Photoshop, Lightroom, or other professional software is the fast track to bad product photos. There's nothing wrong with removing a stray piece of lint with the heal tool, but there's a whole lot of bad that comes when you use filters that distort the reality of your product and mislead a customer.
Don't skimp on lighting.
Never ever, ever, skimp on your lighting. If you can afford better studio lighting then buy it. There is plenty of decent studio lighting gear on Amazon for under $100. You should aim to have at least several soft boxes and one hard light source.
These are just a few simple rules to follow. This is only a few of the basic rules, there are many more rules and techniques as well as nuance to taking good product photos. Remember these rules and you can be on your way to being a better product photographer.