They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is doubly true of website photos, which must both communicate information about an item to a potential buyer and make it look appealing enough to buy. So forget about putting up a couple of quickly taken, poorly thought out product snapshots up on your site. For the amount of time you’ve invested in building your website, it’s worth spending a little extra time taking good pictures of your inventory.
Here’s how to take website pictures like a pro (without investing in expensive camera equipment or spending years attending photography school to develop your technique):
Step #1 – Stage Your Photos like a Professional
When you set out to take pictures for your website, the first thing you’ll want to consider is how you stage your pictures. Don’t simply toss your items on to a table and snap away – instead, think about the best way to present your items for maximum effect.
With a few simple props, you can create a product staging area that will enhance the visual appeal of your products. First, consider two surfaces – a horizontal one that your item will sit on and a vertical one that will form the background of the picture. Both should be relatively plain so as not to detract from your product within the image.
For example, a wooden table and a white panel in the background could create a subtle, yet professional looking stage for your items. You can also consider incorporating other items like plates, napkins, flowers and more where appropriate, but be careful not to overwhelm the items you’re selling.
If this all sounds too complicated, consider purchasing a roll of white craft paper from your local arts and crafts store in order to form a plain white background for your image. Your item will really pop and give your website photos a clean, professional look.
Step #2 – Consider Your Lighting
Once your stage is set, it’s time to create a lighting scheme. Although the professionals invest heavily in different types of lamps and other light fixtures, you can achieve a similar effect with lights from around your house (assuming the product you’re photographing isn’t too large).
The key to creating your own professional-style lighting scheme is to avoid pointing a single light source directly at the product, as this can wash out elements of your item and create harsh shadows that distract from the product that should be featured. In addition to using multiple sources of light, it’s important to “soften” the effects of your lamps, to ensure that light is distributed more evenly over the product you’re photographing.
This set up is built on a clear, frosted Rubbermaid container, into which a sheet of white craft paper has been draped. The two lamps are directed towards a piece of interfacing fabric, which also helps to soften the light that reaches the product.
As you create your own at-home lighting scheme, you may need to experiment in order to find the perfect balance of illumination and harshness to suit your products. Don’t be afraid to take a few pictures and then adjust as necessary to find the lighting system that works best for you.
Step #3 – Set Up Your Camera Correctly
Once your lighting scheme is in place, it’s time to start taking pictures! The first thing you’ll want to do is to position your camera securely, as “wobbles” can lead to your pictures looking blurry. If you have a tripod, that’s great. If not, use a stack of books or other items so that your camera can remain stationery while you take your pictures.
In most instances, using the automatic settings on your digital camera to take your pictures should provide sufficiently high quality images. However, if you’re feeling creative, you can experiment with adjusting your shutter speed, aperture and white balance manually to create different effects with your pictures. Be sure to also adjust the position of your camera itself, taking closer shots, pictures from farther away and images from different angles in order to improve your chances of getting a shot that will work.