Photographing Your Products: Choose Your Style and Stick With It

Tackling product photography, especially as a beginner can be an incredibly daunting task. Oftentimes I feel that people (including myself) get so wrapped up in taking the perfect product shot that it winds up pulling them away from where they should really be focusing, which is on creating the products that brought them into this industry in the first place.I truly believe there is beauty in simplicity when it comes to product shots. Here are a few seemingly common sense, but valuable lessons I’ve learned along the way:Focus on your Product If you’re exerting all your energy trying to find the perfect props, you may want to take a step back to really evaluate what those props are doing to improve the quality of your image. If the purpose of the prop(s) is to display the product in its’ best light or if it serves a purpose (such as a metal tree for jewelers to display earrings while hanging) then it’s worthwhile. On the other hand, if your props are a distraction, remove them from your photo. Your concentration should be focused on making your items unique rather than their surroundings!Be ConsistentTry to create a theme for your product shots through consistent backgrounds and props. This doesn’t mean you have to be boring! Again, as I mentioned above, the key is to avoid distractions. I try to use solid colored backgrounds, either black or bright colored and I typically take images of my products with river rock or metal trees as my props.Start Slow and Build From ThereDon’t try to make every aspect of your pictures perfect from the get go. When I started taking product shots, my biggest struggle was managing the lighting in my shots. Once I figured out how to capture good lighting for my products, I moved on to the props and backgrounds I wanted to use, and so forth. Becoming a good photographer doesn’t happen overnight, but if you're patient, you’ll develop the necessary skills, and before you know it, other people will be asking you for photography advice!Let us know what your style is and how you manage your product shots!Main image courtesy of Silvio Tanaka

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