The old adage, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” is extremely fitting when creating photographs to advertise your products. Many of my clients struggle with taking product pictures and think it’s harder than it actually is! There are three main tips I would like to highlight today to help you make your product photos get noticed and increase your sales…
1. Explore Your Own Space
Many times we think we have to pay for a cool location to make their photographs look professional. That’s not true! Our own spaces, whether our home or office, are filled with objects that we love and make us feel good. Take advantage of that! You can save money, and infuse your photos with more of your personality which will make them more unique, and help build your personal “brand”.
In the example below, I was challenged with creating photos for a men’s line of products (that I designed the labels for) on a tight deadline. I looked outside at our yard and noticed three locations that could work well!
•Our fire pit that was full of wood waiting to burn
•A horseshoe frame we had to move
•And our weathered picnic table
Get creative with this next part! Yes, shoot your products alone…but take a few shots with some of your personal belongings in there as well. Line the products up like you would in your home. Make it look appealing to you. Zoom in to hide the things you don’t want the viewer seeing, or that would take away from your main message : focusing on the beauty of the product.
Think of when you get dressed up to go out. Yes, the clothes you choose to wear are like your product…but then you may add a tie, or jewelry, or a purse or hat…these accessories work the same when taking photos. In these photos, I added some cedar and fir leafs from our trees. I put my razor in there for the ‘Shaving Dream’ product, and my crystals and totem animals for the ‘Men’s Gift Pack’. *Remember the words of the amazing artist Coco Chanel… “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off.” The same wisdom applies for your photos!
2. Wait for the Best Lighting!
Lighting is very important. Here in the Pacific NW we have ample opportunities to shoot pictures in “flat light”. Flat light occurs when the sun is not bright and direct on your subject creating harsh sharp shadows. If you are unskilled with editing programs like Photoshop, the parts of your photos in the shadows will mainly be dark and difficult to brighten up to show the details. You want to shoot when there are clouds in the sky, or in the morning or evening when the light is not direct.
3. Give Your Photos a Hand!
Technology has had an amazing impact on the digital arts industry, making cameras, tools, and editing software more affordable, and accessible to more people. Most of our phones have cameras built in that shoot in 1080p, and even 4K! It’s amazing!
**Now, there is still no replacement for a professional photographer/designer with years of experience under their belt.
For example I was in Photography school back in 2001! We will never be able to replace 18 years of experience with a free app…but we can practice, and through trial and error gain more skills to make beautiful pieces of digital art for our hobby, our passion, or our businesses!
While Photoshop (Adobe Creative Suite) and Lightroom are still industry standards, there are a ton of photo editing apps you can download, many for free, to help edit your photos on your phone. One of my favorites is Aviary. I also use the photo editor build into my Galaxy S10+ phone & Photoshop Express which you can find in any app store. This is how I edited all the photos you see in this post. Over is also an awesome app to help you edit your photos and share them on social media.
As you can see, creating photos of your products doesn’t have to be a stress-inducing or expensive process! Have fun with it, show off your personality, and contact me if you need some help or inspiration!
Special thanks to Sarita Valdes for letting me share a little about our work together. Check out the website I designed for her to learn more about the wonderful products she creates that I love and use on the daily!!
https://herbandmyth.com/