Our step-by-step guide will help you learn how to photograph products and master the art of product photography. We explain this using simple tools and setups and recommend gear.
Introduction:
In today’s digital era, we are surrounded by e-commerce, advertising, and branding, with product photography at the center. This niche helps businesses help their customers understand the product’s features and encourage purchases by building trust.
It might seem simple in words, but doing this practically is quite complex and requires sound knowledge of what you are doing. You must combine technical camera skills with creativity, lighting control, and preparation to get professional results. Let's get into how to photograph products, where we'll be systematically working on lighting, composition, camera settings, and post-production for such photos.
Essentials to Consider
1. Your product should be clean and defect-free, as the product photo will expose all of that. Always thoroughly clean the product you are shooting, and remove any dust and fingerprints on the surface.
2. White backgrounds are common for product photos, as they are very effective in attracting focus and attention to the product. Recall Apple's product photoshoots on its website? They are primarily white.
3. You must use consistent artificial lighting with softboxes, as natural light is unpredictable.
4. You will need a professional camera with enough megapixels and low-light performance. Working with a macro or standard prime lens is ideal. For maximum details, switch to RAW format in the camera as it preserves maximum image data for post-production.
5. Finally, your shots need to be ultra crisp, for which you need stabilization. Invest in a tripod to avoid camera shake and get sharp images from all angles.
Basic Equipment Needed
1. First, you must invest time and money in proper lighting, as good lighting gear distinguishes amateur-looking photos from professional results. Look for good-quality softboxes or LED panels with white balance.
2. To take product photos for an e-commerce platform, use a seamless white background that is not reflective. Materials (or fake textures) of wood, marble, and fabric are also used to add personality
3. A capable camera body hooked on a sturdy but lightweight tripod is required. A mid-range DSLR or mirrorless body is enough for beginners, but for professional results, aim for full-frame cameras.
4. A camera lens significantly impacts your final image of the product. Look for a standard 50mm prime lens built with optics that can handle distortion and produce sharp results. One such lens is in the SIRUI Saturn 35/50/75mm Full-frame Carbon Fiber Anamorphic Lens kit, which has advanced anamorphic optics to deliver ultra-high sharpness that makes product shots look professional even without post-editing.
The anamorphic optics of this lens kit also add signature anamorphic characteristics to the images, making the final shot distinctive from the original. The preferred variant for product photos is the 50mm one from this kit, which is practical for shooting small to large products.
How to Photograph Products: Step by Step
1. Plan the photoshoot!
This is the most common mistake rookies make, as they jump directly into clicking product shots without planning. Each product is unique, so start by identifying the best angles and gathering inspiration for poses and lighting for your photoshoot.
2. Set up Surface and Background
Light tents or shoot-through boxes are recommended if you are shooting a small product. In these, you have to use a clean, non-reflective surface. Clean surfaces and backgrounds are commonly used in white solid color without any reflections. If you want to create a theme for such photos, you can add relevant props, which may enhance perception initially, depending on your photoshoot style.
3. Set up Proper Lighting
The theory is that you must remove any shadows and highlight the small product features. This is why you will need at least two light sources, one a key light and the other a fill light, to remove those shadows on the product features. Pro pros use soft, diffused light sources combined with polarizing filters and diffusers on the cameras to smooth out the light even further.
4. Set your Camera
Getting used to your camera's manual focus is essential for professional results. It will give you nice precision for product photos from each angle, especially for small or close-up products. To avoid noise, set ISO to the lowest native and set your shutter speed at a value that balances exposure while avoiding any blur. The recommended aperture is between f/8 and f/16, providing an appropriate field depth for such shots. Once the settings are done, start shooting.
5. Post Production
Professionals generally use software like Photoshop and Lightroom to correct exposure, tune white balance, and contrast to get that final clear look. You can also subtly remove dust spots or distractions captured by the camera and apply extra sharpening. A good amount of quality content is available on YouTube for learning how to photograph products and post-product photos of small to large items.
Wrapping Up:
As we went through how to photograph products professionally, the core areas we identified to get better photos were the skill of using artificial light, setting up a backdrop, and using a good camera lens to capture sharp images. The 50mm variant from the SIRUI Saturn lens kit is ideal for capturing ultra-sharp and visibly appealing product photos.
