If you’re a product designer running your own business selling handcrafted homeware items – be it clay vases, wooden utensils, brassware and clocks, plastic chairs, picture frames, or whatever it might be – then one of the most important things to consider is how you present them to the public. Having unique home décor products is one thing, but if no one sees eye-catching photos of your items online, then you’re doing yourself a big disservice! Customers searching for interesting DIY homeware creations on eBay and Etsy, for example, deserve to see high quality images of all the things you’re making and selling! So, we’re going to give you a few tips regarding the equipment to take great pictures.
To create your own product photos, pick up the following pieces of equipment in order to stand out from the competition.
Tripod
There’s nothing so wrong with holding your camera by hand, but a tripod just gives you such a superior image for many reasons. Firstly, you won’t get any blurry or awkwardly framed images, as the camera position will be as solid as a rock when attached to a tripod. Secondly, you’ll have much better continuity if you’re photographing the same item from different angles, or even taking photos of other items you’ve made.
Light tent or shooting table
These items are made from soft, white material which gives you a chance to take photos against a brightly lit and neutral environment. Essentially a portable photo studio, you won’t have to worry about annoying shadows or even about editing out something from the background. You can pair these with a sophisticated flash lighting kit and illuminate your item from the top and sides.
Quality DSLR camera
This is a type of digital camera which all the pros use, but you definitely won’t need to spend thousands to get a good one. For absolute beginners who simply want an easy to understand camera (for example, without 8,000 buttons) which delivers fantastic images, then it’s hard to beat either the Canon EOS 200D or the Nikon D3500. Both are under $500 and give you the chance to have greater control over your images. Smartphones are okay for test images, but for the real thing, use a DSLR on ‘Automatic’ mode and you can’t go wrong.
Photo editing software
After you’ve taken the images and are happy with it all, you’ll want to view the pictures on a computer to check everything looks good. You might find you want to crop the image, turn up the brightness and contrast, or even add text onto the photos, in which case, you’ll need photo editing software. Photoshop is easily the most well-known of all editing programs, but as it requires a subscription fee, you might prefer finding alternatives to Adobe Photoshop which are either free or just need a one-time payment.
Now that you’re done, all that’s left is to get the images posted onto your website, social media platforms, Etsy or eBay account, and impress your online customers!
