Basic guide to product photography
by Dufa Staff | 5 September 2020
This is a basic guide to help you plan your shoot and take the best pictures to boost your online sales & drive traffic.
Make a list of shots:
You need to plan your shoot before you begin.
- List all products for the shoot: List down all the products you intend to shoot, that is all the products you intend to list on Dufa.
- Angle and Shots: Plan what shots you need to take for each of the products. Think about the different aspects of your products you’re trying to highlight, and the best way to capture them. You need to decide whether you need context photographs or just product images. This will help you plan the order of your shots and gather the equipment you require for it. You have the provision to add 5 pictures per product and you must try to make the most by taking shots in different angles:
- A shot covering the entire product – which should be used as thumbnail. A thumbnail is the picture that appears on different pages. This should be the best picture showing the entire product.
- A close-up shot – customers would love to know what your product looks like in closeup, the material and colors.
- A shot to show the measurement of the item – a chart or an image with sizes and measurements is extremely helpful to online customers.
- A shot in different angles/ for different variants- such as a side shot or far shot gives better perspective. Also, if you have the product available in different color variations or tints then its best to show a picture of the variations so customers know the actual colors and tints.
- A body shot for wearable items - or a context shop for home & living and artwork also gives the customer a clear idea of what they are purchasing.
- Group and shoot in batches: Lastly, group your shoot into batches, as you have think of all parameters such as lighting and setup and would want to give enough time for each product. If this is your first time trying out to do a shoot, do not cramp too many products in a single day. Try 1 product end to end up to processing and editing before you shoot other products. If you are happy with the shoot, replicate the same lighting and weather conditions as all these factors into taking a good product picture.
Gather Equipment:
The following is the basic equipment you need for taking product photographs.
- Studio Table – any table, where you can setup your products
- Tripod – this is optional, but great to get steady professional pictures
- Camera/ Phone – You don’t necessarily need to have a DSLR or fancy camera, phone cameras work great too and a point and shoot camera can work as well
- Background props – using a background sweep can really reduce your work editing pictures. For an artistic setup, use props such a throw, handmade paper, a linen cloth, or a wooden plank to get the best pictures. You can use plain black drops as well, use plain white sweeps and you can edit the background color later
- Lighting tent/Box – certain reflective, shiny products like jewelry require studio lighting or a lighting tent. This can be made at home or purchased online for a nominal price and comes in handy.
See article Guide to lighting and equipment for details on equipment and lighting.
Setup Lighting:
You can use either Natural light or studio light while taking product pictures.
Natural Light: When you’re on a budget, try using natural light. It’s easy to manipulate, especially for in-house product shoots. Try to take pictures early in the morning or in the afternoon when the sunlight is not too harsh. If the shadows are too harsh, try to use reflectors. Try to setup your workbench as close as possible to your window (90 degrees angle)
Studio Light: You’ll need at least 2 lights one used as a key light and one as a fill/back light. Studio lights give more control over the process and can help if you intend to shoot a lot of products over several hours in a day. You can purchase a lighting box as well that distributes light evenly and reduces shadows.
See article Guide to lighting and equipment for details on equipment and lighting.
Setup your shoot:
Set your table: Place your table next to the window for natural lighting avoiding shadows. The closer you are to the window and the larger the window, the softer the light will be. For studio lighting, you don’t have to worry about setting up the table next to a window.
Setup your sweep/background and props: If you are using plain backgrounds, setup your sweep against the wall. You can use tape to tape up the sweep or secure it so the product can sit on it. Place the product in the center of the sweep on the flat part. Leave enough wiggle room to throw in a reflector if needed. If you are using artistic backgrounds, set the table accordingly. Make sure your backdrop and the flat surface is set with the right props and that your product is highlighted.
Setup your camera: Every camera is different, while some have auto modes some need manual adjustments. Based on what camera you are using, some steps may or may not apply to you:
- Set your white balance to auto (AWB)
- Turn off Flash
- Set your image to RAW image. If you do not have this setting, set your quality to the highest JPG image for good quality, crisp images. Some cameras have a Size and Quality setting, which you can set to Large and Superfine respectively.
- Set your ISO to 100 as well. The ISO controls the sensitivity of the sensor. The higher the ISO, the more noise there is. Some cameras allow you to set this while some do not have this as a setting.
- Set the exposure: You have different options:
- Set your camera to Manual: This works best for product photography. If you have the setting available on your camera, you can also change the f/stop to the highest number, which will give you a greater depth. Switch to the shutter speed and adjust the dial till you get a good preview of your image from behind the camera.
- Aperture priority: Some cameras have this setting, where in you need to change the f/stop to the highest number and the shutter is auto adjusted. You can preview what the image looks like and use the compensation dial to adjust the shutter.
- Auto exposure: Some cameras do not have manual settings but may have an exposure compensation dial which you can adjust per your need to get the setting right.
- Zoom in Feature: Avoid the digital zoom as this will lower the quality of the image because it’s just cropping the digital image. If you have an optical zoom, try zooming in as far as you can without going digital zoom only if you need it. A longer zoom will remove distortion caused by a wide-angle lens especially in phone cameras.
Setup the Reflector/Diffuser: Set the reflector to bounce off the light. Try different angles so you are not getting too many shadows.
Click the picture and Evaluate: Click the picture and evaluate it. If you think there is too much shadow, adjust the reflectors accordingly or angle your product/background per your need. Test a couple of shots to get the setup right. Once you are happy with the setup, take the shots in the required angles and for different variations.
Upload you Image to a computer: The best way to know if you have a good shot is to evaluate on a computer. Upload you pictures and make sure you have good shots.
Post-process and Edit Pictures:
Once you’ve got images, you’re happy with, it’s time to get it processed and retouched. Editing pictures is important to get the right brightness and to remove any excess shadows or errors. Also, if you are looking for plain backgrounds, then there are some cool software tools that help you remove your background image and attach any background color to your image. Here are some recommended tools to help re-touch and edit your images:
- Adobe Photoshop Express
- Lightroom
- Snapseed
- Camera+
- Canva
Resize and Optimize your images:
Once your images are post-processed and edited, you need to resize it to fit into the Dufa App. The recommended resolution is 500 x 500. Also, you need to optimize the image so it’s not very large and bulky. Larger images take time to load on the page, hence we recommend optimizing the size between 200-250KB per image. There are tools such as JPEGmini that can be used to compress your images without compromising the quality.
Upload images through the App:
Once the images are ready to be uploaded, export the images to your phone. Go to the Seller App, “Sell on Dufa” and upload the images for the respective products. To know more on how to upload your images, follow the article Step by step guide to listing products.