Product
Photography
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Virtually
all tangible products require a good picture in order to sell online or through
the mail because people depend almost totally on their eyes. Countless product photos on eBay and other
internet sites are badly lit, and this almost always translates into a lower
sale price, so study this information carefully. The idea is to display a
product's best features to their best advantage. However, you must create a genuine
representation or customers may be very disappointed. An enormous
amount of money and time goes into photographing merchandise. The good news is that in many cases all you need
is a simple photo, that is, the product, alone, with good indirect or bounced
lighting and a neutral background.
Before photographing a product, you should spend some time thinking about how you want to present it. What kind of emotional response do you want to get from a prospective buyer? Beyond that, you need to consider the following;
The item's size, texture, and surface material. Reflective surfaces must be carefully
lit. Do you need to capture small details? Will any other items be in the photo, such as
related products or props? What
color background is appropriate? Materials and shapes can make a
big difference in lighting choices.
These are just some
of the factors involved in photographing merchandise for sale. In
this instructive CD we’re going to go over all of them, and discuss various
kinds of equipment.
Equipment
You do not need expensive top-of-the-line cameras and lights to get good product shots for MOST purposes, such as selling on eBay. You DO need to understand how your camera works, its limitations, and how to get good lighting.
Cameras
Above: Simple is best for most
product photos
Get a good quality camera. The extra you spend will pay off in faster
and better quality images. That does
NOT mean go out and buy too much, too fast.
I strongly recommend a digital camera.
Digital cameras are far more cost effective because you don’t need any
film and you can see immediately what you are getting. That saves a load of time and money. On top of that, it’s much easier to get
images from a digital camera onto a website or auction site. Get one that has several ISO ( film speed ) settings because in many cases you will want
a faster speed ( larger number ), such as 400, or even 800. Get a camera that has the ability to compensate
for different kinds of light, using a “white balance” setting. Also, get a
camera that has a macro ( close up ) feature.
Lenses
If you plan to do a lot of product photos
you should get a camera that accepts different lenses, such as a digital single
lens reflex (SLR). This is especially
true if you want your photos to appear in print. SLR digital cameras are much faster and
generally produce a higher quality image.
If you have a smaller digital camera, or can’t afford a larger one, get
a camera that has a zoom lens that goes from a modest wide angle to a modest
zoom.
Many people don’t realize that lenses can cause distortion. For example, a wide angle lens will make something look smaller, as well as cause horizontal and vertical lines to appear bent. A zoom lens can also distort an object, make it seem larger or distorted. Distortion effects are magnified if your lens is very close to the subject. To portray something accurately you should set the camera lens to the range that is normal to the human eye, usually 50mm or so. Sometimes it is necessary to use either a wide angle or zoom lens, such as when the subject is large ( wide angle ), or small ( zoom ). In that case, do your best to place the object, test, review for distortion, until you get an image that works.
Lighting
Don’t
scrimp on lighting equipment because photography is all about
lighting. Many cameras have an onboard
flash but most of the time that’s NOT the flash you want to use. Ideally, you should get a camera that has
the option of attaching an external flash on a coiled cable so you can direct
the flash precisely where you want it.
Most of the time, you will want to bounce the flash off a wall or
ceiling because a direct flash from a short distance will either wash out the
image or create unwanted glare, reflection, or “hotspots”. If you can’t afford, or don’t have, a good
external flash unit, set up your product outside or near a window.
Flash units for photography are rated
in what’s called “wattseconds”, WS.
It’s a measure of power, per unit of time. All you really need to understand is how
much you need, without getting too much or too little. Most people who sell online need little
more than a 150 WS flash unit, placed in a 10 inch or larger reflector, or
better yet with a small “soft-box” option.
In other words, sometimes use the bulb exposed, other times behind the
translucent cover. Some people use an
“umbrella” reflector instead, with a translucent “shoot-through” umbrella. To make your system more versatile, you
could get:
one 150, to 300
WS flash, with the auto-fire “slave” flash switch.
One small
softbox to put over it sometimes.
One additional 150 WS slave flash to
put in a clip-on bracket with reflector
One off-camera “speedlight” unit
connected by a coil, fired by your camera
Medium sized light tent.
One small “hot-light”, color balanced
toward daylight spectrum
Light stands as needed. Get good solid ones, you won’t regret it.
With this assembly of equipment you
could do a huge range of small product photography. With a little creativity, you could even
photograph a big object like a car with that equipment. If your budget is small, I would start with
the attached, off-camera light unit on a coiled wire, and a nice outdoor or
window location. Next, buy the small
150 WS with softbox. If most of your
products are small, buy a light tent next.
Then you could put the softbox just outside the light tent, and you
would get a nice even wash of light on your product. Experiment.
Types of light
Many people don’t realize that cameras
don’t record light they way our eyes do.
Our eyes automatically compensate for the different kinds of light
frequencies but cameras can’t do that unless you have one that allows you to
set the white balance. Daylight
contains a much wider range of light frequencies than artificial light. Camera flashes produce light that is closer
to a daylight spectrum, but tends more toward the blue end. Common incandescent bulbs produce a yellow, or even reddish light that will tint your
photos. Candles and fire also produce a
yellowish red light. Fluorescent bulb
light is highly variable and ranges from greenish to bluish, making photos
really ugly sometimes, especially on skin tones. Many modern cameras have a “white balance”
selector that allows you to set the camera to compensate different kinds of
light conditions. It’s wise to use that
feature.
Modern Single Lens Reflex (SLR)
camera flash units use what is called TTL ( Through
The Lens ) light metering. It’s very
sophisticated. It’s also very
expensive. If you have a good SLR
digital, but don’t yet have a flash unit for it, I suggest buying a low cost,
basic generic flash unit. Attach it to
your camera with a coiled, expandable connection. By testing it a bit at different angles,
you can easily find a good setting, without using an expensive light meter or
TTL off-camera light. If you are
taking high volumes of photos, of a variety of product types, colors, sizes,
etc. you should buy a full TTL off-camera light unit.
Flash and other lighting equipment
Most products are relatively small, so you don’t need
overwhelming light. In fact, many good
product photos can be created with either daylight, or a simple flash unit.
As
mentioned above, one such unit is a portable flash unit that’s attached to the
camera with a cord ( usually coiled ). That way you can aim the flash in any
direction. Another useful tool is
what’s called a slave flash. It’s a device that screws into a regular light
socket, but it’s a flash that’s triggered by another flash, such as the
portable flash just mentioned. You can
get these quite cheap, say 20 or 30 dollars.
If you put a slave flash into a simple
clip on light fixture that has a fairly large aluminum reflector ( 8 inches in diameter or more ), your on-camera flash will
trigger the slave flash giving you much more light. That’s helpful for lighting larger
products. You can put the clip-on fixture
on a stand if you wish, or find a convenient place to put it. The idea is to have 2 flash units lighting
the product from different angles. For
some kinds of products, where atmosphere is especially important, you might
like to have some shadow, or suggestive lighting. In that case, you might want to use what’s
called a “hot light”. That’s a light
that is always on, typically you can move it around, try different angles, to
create atmosphere. Hot lights don’t
need to be powerful for average sized products. You need to make sure they are “color
balanced” or emit light in the daylight spectrum. You can find these at many photography
stores online, just do a search. Using
“hot-lights” or continuous light has the advantage of being able to see the
final lighting before shooting. They
do get hot, so you need to be very careful with them.
Another useful tool is what’s called
a light tent. It’s usually a cube shape
made out of translucent white nylon and flexible edges that can be folded up
and put into a bag. The idea of a
light tent is to prevent shadows and give you consistent lighting. Set up your slave flash to one side of the
tent, and the light will go through the sides of the tent, lighting the
object. You can get light tents cheap
on eBay. Get one that’s a decent size
so you can photograph fairly big products.
A nice size is 30 inches cubed.
Some of these light tents have
different colored nylon background sheets that attach to the back with
Velcro. That’s okay for some products,
but nylon is very artificial and reflects light. A better idea is to use nice pieces of fine
cloth, with different textures and colors, depending on the product. That has the effect of absorbing some of the
bright light, and balancing the image.
Swatches of attractive cloth can be used outside the “tent” as well, on
a table. Fabric is very useful in
photography.
Setups
Above: a product photo setup. click to enlarge
This setup uses a “softbox” above the
product, and another softbox to one side.
A soft-box is a powerful light enclosed inside a reflective “box“, that
has a translucent cover. The light is
softened as it is broadcast.
Using lots of light can greatly
reduce shadows, but you have to be careful about the angles you use. The lights in this photo are “hotlights”,
or continuous lights, not flash units. However, they are truly hot, and you
should be very careful.
Setting
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Buyers
like to see their prospective purchase in use. It makes it much easier for them to
imagine their own use and enjoyment.
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The atmosphere surrounding a product is often very important. In many cases it's what triggers a
sale. That's why a lot of effort is put
into creating a "set", or even doing expensive location shoots. Most products do not need much space to
photograph, so you can use a small room, or even a table. Even if the product is small, it can be
very beneficial if you put it in an environment that suggests value, mood,
product use, or triggers an emotional response from the viewer.
Backgrounds
Pay close attention to the background in your photos. Most of the time you
should use a plain, neutral background for product shots. You can use a sheet or other fabric. Select a background that contrasts with the
product, such as a light background for dark objects. Avoid backgrounds that reflect light, such
as glossy plastic, glass, steel, etc.
The texture of a background should also be considered. For example, metal is a somewhat harsh
material. You can soften the impression
it gives by placing it on a soft material, or something like wood, as in one of
the samples below.
You can get creative with backgrounds, too. Outdoors you can use green grass, foliage,
flowers, or sky, where appropriate.
Just make sure it looks good and doesn’t have odd objects in it. Nice wood tables make great platforms and
backgrounds for many products.
Photographing different materials
Each kind of
material has different characteristics that affect lighting. Below are some broad categories of
materials and how to light them successfully.
Glass and ceramics
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These materials usually reflect light so you have to be
careful about glare spots. Use indirect
flash by bouncing your flash unit. I usually bounce toward a
light colored ceiling or sometimes to a side wall. You don't need
expensive flash units. For many of the sample photos, I used an on-camera
"speedlight" pointed slightly away from the item, or directly
up. The "speedlight" triggered
a small, 60 watt-second slave flash that was
also pointed slightly away from the item, usually off to the side and
upward. The combination of 2 indirect light sources prevents harsh
shadows.
Metal
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light from the side |
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to capture the detail of
the engraving, the camera was put at a slight angle, with light also from an
angle. |
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Black and white creates a
nostalgic mood |
wood background texture
contrasts with metal |
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Metal is similar to glass in reflective capacity. A
lot depends on what color it is.
Indirect soft flash works very well. Metal is frequently
painted. Select lighting according to color and surface texture. Metal can appear cold and uninviting, so it's
common to introduce warmer tones and textures.
Wood
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Most wood
has wonderful texture and a range of color in the same item. Soft indirect lighting and high contrast
works well. Subtle shadows add depth
and interest to photos.
It's from a large window.
Paper
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Shoot at a slight angle
if using a flash |
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Paper is not always very reflective. It's a "warm" material, so a modest
amount of shadowing is okay. If the
paper is glossy, you need to shoot at a slight angle, especially with a
flash. That way the flash will bounce off
of and away from the lens, eliminating the glare. You can also turn the
product slightly, such as in the last photo on right.
Plastic
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Plastic can be very reflective, but not like glass. Some kinds of plastic have nice texture, too.
Wide variety of colors are possible. To convey warmth, put plastic near a soft
textured object or background.
Combinations of materials
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Paper and plastic |
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glass and metal |
Paper and fabric |
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wood
and natural materials |
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When there are more
than one kind of material in the product shot it creates a bit of a
challenge. Reflected light from a
flash works quite well. Sometimes a
slight reflection enhances the appearance of a product. The trick is to arrange
the lights so only a small area provides the "glow".
You
might need to experiment a bit by moving the items around and doing test shots.
Jewelry
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Good jewelry pictures can be worth a lot of
money. They can be important evidence for insurance and theft
claims, too. Because most jewelry is small it's often
necessary to use macro photography techniques. For really top
notch photos of gems you should use a tilt/swivel lens or view camera and
preferably slide film. Few people need
to photograph high end jewelry, however.
Fabric and
clothing
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From a lighting standpoint, fabric is much like
wood except for a much wider range of colors.
Leather is also similar to some fabrics, in terms of texture. Clothing has a strong emotional component,
so you should use artistic skill with your composition and use good
combinations of colors. Experiment
with lighting to enhance texture. The
best lighting usually comes from an angle, not head on.
Close ups
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Sometimes details are
very important to a buyer. In most
cases, all you need to do is get closer to the subject using a zoom lens, or
just bring the camera closer to a portion of the product. If the product detail is very small, most
lenses cannot get closer without blurring.
In that case you usually need a lens extender or bellows for extreme
close-ups.
Many cameras now have a macro feature that allows a closer view
without blurring. Soft lighting,
sometimes at a sharp, or low angle, is best. Macro photography ( extreme close ups ) is often
used in
advertising. It requires careful attention to lighting and a
special lens or lens extension. It's
usually best to use a tripod, too, because the slightest camera shake will blur
the photo.
Grouping
Combining similar or associated products makes the image stronger and saves space. Several items in a photo can also convey how a product is used. You don’t need to show details of every item, just enough to give the viewer a good idea.
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Packaging there's a whole science
to it and a package often sells the item.
However, a good photograph is necessary to sell the "package".
Communicating value
Expensive items must be carefully
photographed to show their true worth.
Often it's best to have a high contrast ratio. Some
customers have poor eyesight, or they look at the advertisement in poor
lighting conditions.
Large items if an
item is large, or part of a set, it's better to have 2 or more photos. Some should display details.
Using a series of photos
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Many times you
will need to use a series of photos to completely convey a product’s
features. This is very important on
eBay, for example, where buyers need complete information before offering their
highest bid. See the samples
above. It’s worth paying eBay for extra
photos, because people will bid more and higher if they can see clearly what
they are bidding on.
Editing and adjusting photos
Most of the time you will want to work with your images to make them
even more attractive and clear.
Photoshop is the program most professionals use, but many people have
access to other less complex and cheaper programs that can do many of the same
things. If you have a photo editing
program it will pay off if you learn how to do the following things with it.
Image size
First,
remember that for online sales you need a smaller file size so the photo will
load fast. Many cameras produce an
image that is much larger than that. It
might be 1 or 2 megabytes, as well as 30 inches wide ! You don’t need that for online sales. Try to make the photos under 100 KB ( kilobytes ) by using your photo editing program. Ebay’s photo loading program can reduce
image size automatically, but it takes much longer to load the images if they
are really big, and time is money. How
big should they be? The full size of an
online product photo should be large enough to be clear, but not too
large. An 8 by 10 image works quite
well. With ebay you can “supersize”
photos, but if your originals are decent size you won’t need to pay extra for
that service.
Cropping
Cropping is a very powerful tool. Use it to get rid of everything in the
photo that doesn’t need to be there to sell the product. You can also use it to make the file size
smaller and change the proportions of the image.
Contrast
Many times a photo can benefit from
heightening the contrast. When
displayed online, product photos are often small, plus they are displayed on a
variety of different monitor types with different lighting conditions. Add to that the fact that many older people
have weaker vision, and you can see that online product photos need to be very
clear. I often heighten the contrast
and increase the brightness just a touch.
Color balance
I often see photos on ebay that are
clearly not accurate representations of a product’s true colors. That’s because people take photos inside
under tungsten or florescent light bulbs and don’t set their camera to the proper
white balance setting. Ordinary
lightbulbs cast a yellowish hue on everything, and florescent lights radiate a
greenish or blueish tint. You should
fix that before trying to use a photo to sell. Most photo editing programs provide color
correction, at least minimally. In
Photoshop you select Image, adjustment, color balance. Adjust the hightlights to be a bit bluer
and less red/yellow..
Same with the midtones, but usually you won’t need to do much midtone
adjustment.
This CD will be expanded in the
future. If you wish to know when the
next version will be coming out, contact us at: paul@livingpictures.org
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