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Product photography requires attention to detail and flawless creations. At times, we need to produce some fantastic product photography, but the only problem is that those professional cameras cost way too much than what is in our budget. Luckily, there is a solution: your smartphone. Your smartphone can take beautiful pictures of products just like a professional camera would. It does take a little bit of extra work, but a simple smartphone can still help you create unique pictures. Do you want to know how this is done? Read below to find out!
Lighting:
The lighting in a room is of utmost importance. Since you don’t have a fancy camera to adjust light, you need to pick out a well-lit room. It is preferable to place products close to a window because natural lighting is always the best. However, it would help if you started when the natural lighting is preferable, like in the afternoon or early in the morning. This will help all of your pictures shine. Don’t worry about waiting till the evening if you want a darker picture; you can constantly adjust the exposure while taking the picture or during editing. That will make it look like it was taken during the evening or night.
Nevertheless, product photography always looks best if done with great lighting. There is some inexpensive equipment you can get to adjust the lighting in your room to make the pictures even better. They are as follows:
- Bounce boards:
The essential part of product photography with a phone is the lighting. A white bounce board is a great way to manipulate light. A bounce board helps by creating a more balanced light environment, and it minimizes shadows.
- Diffuser sheets:
If the sun is too bright, diffuser sheets can help. They lower the intensity so that there isn’t too much reflection. You can buy these for cheap online, or you can create your own with a frosted shower curtain, printer paper or parchment paper.
- Reflectors:
These are a great tool to get light to go precisely where you want it. You can allow light to reflect further away from your product or closer to it with a reflector. So, you can choose precisely how light touches it in your photograph.
The backdrop:
A backdrop is crucial in product photography. The best option is to go for something plain white to make all your pictures consistent and have the same background. You can always edit the back by changing the color, adding a pattern, or anything during the editing stage. You can use a white paper sweep, poster board, or even an ironed and clean white cloth for the backdrop. You can put the backdrop in place with some tape but make sure it is entirely secure. No one wants their backdrop falling in the middle of a shoot.
Tripods:
No matter how hard one tries, it’s nearly impossible to keep a steady hand or maintain an angle that is difficult to hold. There is an effective solution for this: a tripod. They are available in every shape and size, including ones that fit your phone. You can quickly get tripods explicitly designed for your phone, or you could get one with an adjustable holder that can be used for almost any smartphone out there. These will keep your phone in place and stay at the same angle until you manually change it. Just make sure your phone fits in firmly so that it doesn’t fall out while you’re trying to take a picture.
Find the right angle:
People often forget the importance of the angle during product photography. A flattering angle will make the product shine, which will cause more people to want to buy it. Some of the most popular angles for product photography include eye level, high angle, low angle, bird’s eye, and diagonal. Each of these is suitable for different products. A good practice is to take pictures of all products with each angle and evaluate what looks best in the end.
Learn to Focus:
Most smartphones have an autofocus feature, but if they don’t, you will have to do so by hand so that the camera focuses on the product alone. You have to tap the screen wherever the product is for most phones, and the camera will begin to concentrate there. This is an essential part of product photography because an unfocused image will have a blurry product, not allowing it to shine.
Things to avoid:
While smartphones are great for several reasons, there are a few features you should avoid while taking pictures of products because overdoing them could potentially ruin your photographs. They are as follows:
- Flash
Although flash seems excellent for nights out with your friends, it’s not fantastic for product photography. Avoid this at all times because it reduces the quality of the image.
- Zoom
In a professional camera, zooming doesn’t cause any pixelation or overexposure. This isn’t the case with most smartphones. Zooming in or out causes these issues, and it messes up the colors. These created images either requires a lot of editing or are straight-up unfixable. If you need a better view, you can place your tripod closer or further away instead of trying to zoom. This will help with finding more flattering angles too.
- Selfie camera
Most selfie cameras in smartphones are of low quality. Even if you find a smartphone with an exceptional selfie camera, the camera at the back will always be much better. It’s better to always stick to the back camera instead.
Editing:
This is the final and most crucial part of product photography. It doesn’t matter which type of camera is being used; this step determines the quality of your photograph. You can either invest in an expensive application that does things for you, or you could pick up some skills and get what you want by doing it yourself. Applications like Photoshop or Canva are your best friends. With minor editing, you can turn any old photograph into a professional one fit to be displayed on a company website.
Conclusion:
Fancy and overpriced cameras may sound nice, but they’re nowhere near a necessity. You can always use your smartphone and take photographs that are just as nice. Be sure to follow all the steps and tips above, and you’ll be one of the best smartphone product photographers out there in no time.
