I have griped on many occasions here about my struggle with my product photography. My first shop I only showed graphics of the offerings which was great because there was a nice consistency to the images, the downside in my opinion was that the client couldn’t really get a feel for the actual product. With the launch of Besotted Brand I knew I wanted to up the ante with product shots, the only problem is that my product photography skills were null. I was at a loss for a few months, but then I feel that things began to change. I wanted to give you a few tips that have helped me tremendous amounts and for those of you struggling may help you as well, which I have listed below:
1. This first tip may make you roll your eyes in the back of your head, but I am going to share it anyway–Take lot’s of photos, all the time. In other words–practice. Does that make you cringe? I apologize, but truly the more bad shots I took the more good shots came about later as a result.
2. I took a class. Now I know not everyone has a budget for a class and this was not in mine either, but I figured I would forgo eating and see where the chips fall. Bonus, I am thinner and more adept at my product photography skills. The class I took was on line by Nicole’s Classes. I am a huge fan of Nicole, she graduated from a very prestigious (and impossible to get into) photography school, she has worked with the industries top photographers and is a success in her own right working with publications such as Real Simple.
This is a great class.3. I bought a tripod. Okay, I should state that I owned a tripod previously, or a poor excuse for a tripod, just flimsy and hard to work with. I couldn’t afford the tripod that I wanted so I invested in the best tripod I could afford. The number one difference with the new tripod is that it has a quick release, making it super easy to pull my camera off the tripod and shoot at different angles. I adore this feature.
I bought this tripod,
with this ball head.
These are only three quick tips, but I feel that they were instrumental in taking me from dark, dank and blurry shots to the shot above, which isn’t perfect but leaps & bounds better than where I was when I started. If you have any questions for me leave them in the comments and I am happy to try to answer them.
P.S. This is my new Parcel Twine Trio, I will be giving a set away next week, but if you can’t wait you can get your set here.
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great tips, miss b. i’m not photographing products, but i just got my first dslr and am trying to take the best pictures i can!
Good advice…I need to take a class AND get a tripod!
Great tips! I’d love to take a photography class…will definitely keep Nicole’s in mind for the future! Xo, Katie
YES. Great tips…purchasing a tripod was the best decision I made!
Also, I try to remind people that an expensive camera does not make you a good photographer. Likewise, you CAN take good pictures with a point and shoot! Practice makes perfect, not pricey equipment. Thanks for the tips! xo
Thank you ladies and I concur with Burlap + Blue, don’t get caught up in the equipment as much as working with the camera + lens (or point & shoot) you own and try to get great results from that. I didn’t own a DSLR for THREE long years after I started getting into photography!
Thanks for the tips and the course recommendation! I’ll be opening up an Etsy shop in the spring so photographing my products constantly stays on the brain!
Wonderful tips, Miss B., thank you! :) I’ll definitely be looking into the class!