Professional product photography with the simplest tools

Product photography in a professional manner is one of the most important things that reflect the quality of your products and on which the user builds his first impression of your store, and if the images are distinct then the first impression is positive and if they are not distinct then the first impression is negative and in all cases that impression will affect the shopper's decision.

And considering the photos the most important thing that represents your online store, we will show the most important things related to product photography , including tools and lights, adjusting camera settings, image sizes and other things, so that you will finally be able to take professional photos of your products with the simplest tools, even if they are with your smartphone if you are not able to buy an expensive camera.

The importance of product photography

Product Photography is the use of specific tools and techniques to take multiple photos that show aspects of the product or products sold through your online store to appear in a quality that attracts the buyer and answers all his questions about the product in terms of colors, sizes and manufacturing quality. There is a famous saying in English “A Photo Says Thousand Words”, meaning the picture says a thousand words. As we have shown, pictures have a great power and influence on the buyer in making the decision to buy the product, and there are already proven facts and theories indicating that product images play the largest role in selling products if She was professional, versatile, and looked pretty.

Pictures are what help to better communicate the information about your products to shoppers, according to some statistics that confirm that 90% of the information better reaches the brain through visual materials such as pictures and videos. 

Statistics also indicate that 93% of shoppers consider the appearance of your online store, especially product images, as one of the important factors for them and influencing the decision to buy your products!

Tools required for product photography

1. Camera (DSLR - Smartphone)

The camera is the primary tool of importance in the matter of photography, and it is not necessary for it to be a professional camera such as expensive DSLR cameras such as Canon, Nikon or Sony cameras, especially in the beginning, as it is possible to shoot with your smartphone camera with imaging quality very close to the quality of Professional cameras Since smart phone cameras have evolved greatly and become comparable to professional cameras, phones, especially phones such as iPhones, Samsung, and Google Pixel phones can take huge pictures if adequate lighting is provided.

If you have a smartphone, it is preferable to shoot with a camera of no less than 12 megapixels, as for the settings, for example phones such as Samsung Galaxy S6 phones and above, they have professional photography settings through which you can adjust photography in 4K, and the ISO and Shutter Speed ​​can also be adjusted. And some other settings, just like professional cameras

These settings are adjusted according to the available lighting, so if the lighting is sufficient, there is no need to adjust many settings and can be left with automatic settings, but in the case of poor lighting, it will be better to increase the ISO as much as possible to 320 and reduce the Shutter Speed ​​to enable the lens to collect the largest possible amount of light. And the opposite is true in bright lighting.

2. Lightening

2.1. Natural lighting

Lighting is the most important factor affecting capturing excellent pictures, and there is no better or stronger than natural lighting that is represented in sunlight, and if this is available it is better and you will not need any kind of lighting tools except the reflector in some cases to place the product between it and sunlight to reflect the amount Greater illumination on the product.

2.2. Searchlights

If natural lighting is not available, you will need a spotlight with (white) lighting, and the searchlights may be in the form of a light ring, which is a lighting ring that is placed around the camera that is used in photography to provide the largest amount of light around the lens, and it can be purchased from shopping sites at a cost of about $ 60. 

Likewise, that lighting should be by using LED headlamps in the shooting location and placed inside a white cloth cover to collect the light, or if it is just "LED bulbs" then there is nothing wrong with that, and it is preferable that the power of the lighting surrounding the product is not less than 60 watts of LED lighting, and it is better to put the lighting On both sides of the product.

3. Backdrops and photography box

3.1. Background

The background is one of the main things that shows your product attractively, as white backgrounds are much better than other colors, and the background can be a hanging panel or wall, with a table or chair on which a paper board is placed according to the desired background color, which is preferable between white or One of the light colors in general, because that shows the product more clearly, then the product is placed on the table and photographed from more than one angle.

3.2. Light Tent Photography Box

If the backgrounds cannot be acquired, then the Light Tent can be purchased, which is also called the Light Box, which is a white canvas box as the image in which the product is placed inside and highlights, so that only the pictures that show the product are captured prominently and clearly,

4. Tripod

Tripod is a tool that helps to install the camera well so that no shaky photos are taken, and the holder is not necessarily of the expensive type as there are special holders for the smartphone that do not exceed five or ten dollars on Arab shopping sites such as Souq and Jumia. However, photos can be taken without a stand if not obtainable.

Photo Sizes

In no case should we ignore the size aspect of the images because if the images are larger than the required size, this will increase the download time, which negatively affects the conversion rate and makes shoppers flee from your store for fear of wasting time waiting for the page to load, as the second extra download will change a lot.

The ideal image size should not be less than 1024 x 1024 pixels and can reach 2000 pixels according to the requirements of your online store, and one of the high-quality features of our ExpandCart platform is that it automatically optimizes images and adjusts the sizes to suit the store and makes the loading time short.

In conclusion

In the end, we say that the first thing that shoppers should notice in your store and make them continue shopping through it is the pictures, not the words, they are not attracted to the description of the product as much as they are attracted to the pictures in the first place, and these facts are supported by all the scientific theories related to optics, it is known and certain that images have a great impact on me The rate at which shoppers turn into real customers with large sales. To summarize what we mentioned in the article, the distinguished image equation is equal to a camera + enough lighting + camera stand + white background as the white backgrounds show the product more clearly, and the box called Light Box also prefers to be white, and there should be nothing in the background that distracts the shopper The main purpose for which the photos were taken is to highlight the product itself.