Professional Product Photos in a Flash: Part 1 – Equipment.
Fact: Good photos directly affect the profit you get for your item. The more you have, the more you make.
A dress photographed on a hanger will not sell for as much as a dress on a mannequin. A car pictured in the shade will not sell for as much as a car parked in good light. Your photos are your best promotional technique and it’s wise to learn how to do them properly.
You don’t need to spend much to get a good photo. All up, including the camera, you’ll be looking at between $300 and $600, which is a drop in the bucket when you think about the additional profits you’ll get as a result!
1. The Camera
These days you can pick up a decent camera on eBay for between $100 and $300, which is bordering on criminally cheap!
If you don’t know much about cameras, then here’s what to look for:
Megapixels: For a reasonable quality photo you need at least 2-3 megapixels. Anything less will look grainy. If you want your camera to be multipurpose, and not just for taking product images, then I’d recommend a camera with even higher megapixels so that print images turn out better.
F-stop: The f-stop function gives you better focusing ability. Ideally you want a camera where you are able to turn this feature on and off (not automatic in other words), and the f-stop needs to be 16 or greater.
Zoom – there is a difference between optical and digital zoom. Digital zoom essentially makes your photos poorer quality and doesn’t really do anything that your image editing software can’t. Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera to bring the subject closer, thus retaining quality.
ISO or shutter speed control – This function allows you to control the speed the photo is taken and the camera’s light sensitive. Basically, these features give you much more control over the quality of a photo taken in a variety of settings and lights.
Macro – The macro function allows you to take clear close-ups. It’s a good idea to get this feature no matter what you are selling. Close-ups of detail on larger items are just are excellent selling tools.
2. Lighting
Good lighting is essential for a professional photograph. To get it, you need either:
- Two lamps – preferably 300 watts or more with adjustable heads.
- The sun! A light, overcast day is perfect for pictures of larger items to get a good light with no glare. For small items, I recommend using a photo tent and popping it outside in bright sunlight. This will light your tent very well indeed!
3. Photo Tent
A photo tent is a cube-shaped tend that you place your object inside to photograph. The tent filters the light and also provides a professional background. Photo tents come in a variety of sizes from very small, suitable for jewelry and tiny objects, through to ones large enough to photograph a medium size piece of furniture. They usually come with a number of different colored backgrounds.
You can purchase photo tents on eBay for between $10 and $250, depending on the size.
To use a photo tent, place your object in the centre of the tent – usually on a white background, but for white objects you should use the matt black backdrop that will come with the tent.
If you are taking the photograph indoors, you will need to position your lights on either side of your tent so that the light paths merge completely and there are no shadows. If your lights are too weak this will not work and wrinkles or creases in the background fabric will be very obvious, while the object itself will be shadowy.
An easier option is to use the sun. The sun will provide very effective lighting for your photo tent.
You should not use flash with a photo tent.
4. Other tools
Depending on what you are selling, you may need some other pieces of equipment such as:
A tripod: I would recommend everyone get a tripod. It is particularly difficult to take a good photo when you aren’t using the flash, which will be the case with many of your product photos. A tripod will make your photos much better and simpler to take.
A mannequin: essential for anyone selling clothing and/or accessories. People want to see that the clothing looks good on. It makes them more likely to bid and pay more!
A jewelry display unit: useful for giving jewelry some shape.
5. Editing software
Even the best photos can benefit from the miracles of editing software. At the most basic level, you can use editing software to crop and resize your photos. More advanced actions include re-coloring an object to make it more accurate, airbrushing out background clutter, altering the contrast, and enlarging certain areas.
Basic editing tools:
Picasa - free
Paint – free for Windows users
iPhoto – comes with all Macs
Advanced editing tools:
Fauxto – free image editing online
Adobe Photoshop – US$649 (free trial)
PhotoPlus – free
In Part 2, we will look at specific techniques for setting up a photo and what makes a good shot.
