A picture is worth a thousand words. And, if that picture happens to be a product shot sitting nicely on your company’s website, it better be not only worth a thousand words but also looking like a thousand bucks! Yes, it’s important that your product photography is always on point because that’s going to bring you in a lot of customers. And if you’re tight on budget, here are a few tips on how to get a professional product photoshoot done on a budget.
- Get the background right
Always go for a white or a lighter shade background. You can create a backdrop for your product by setting up a shooting table with the help of a chair and a roll of craft paper mounted on it.You can also create your own small lightbox, designed to diffuse light and spread it evenly around an object. Set your product against this backdrop on a steady surface. Once the lighting is right, begin your photoshoot.
- Let there be light
You can use either natural lighting or artificial lighting, based on what you’re using – shooting tables work better with natural lights and lightboxes with artificial lights.Choose a large window and place your shooting table near it. If the light is too harsh, place a white cloth over the window bubble mailers. If the shadows are too harsh, use a white cardboard. In case of lightboxes, you will need at least two softboxligt setups, one serving as the key light source and the other as a fill light source.
- Keep your camera fixed
Use a tripod, or a pile of books, or a stool to keep your camera steady. Also, set your camera to low aperture and slow shutter speed for crisp and focused images.
- Choose the right camera
In case of a DSLR, avoid wide angle lens and use the right aperture – wide apertures narrow your field while small apertures give you wide angles. Sometimes, you can even end up taking better photographs on your smartphone than you might using a DSLR or a point and shoot camera.
- Post-processing is important
You can use from a variety of freely available photo editing tools like Pixlr, Canva, Fotor, Snapspeed etc. to retouch and refine your images.