Let me begin with this caveat: I am not a photographer, and I have a feeling that some pros will be appalled by my suggestions!

Graphic designers are often asked to do a little photography work. Small website clients especially like to make such requests because “real” photo work simply isn’t feasible given their budgets.

For several years, I ran an online shop. I did all of the photography myself, for better or worse. It saved me time and money, and after much trial and error, I learned a few things. Here are a some tips that you can use for almost any small product shot job:

1) White posterboard is your friend. It’s cheap and flexible and provides a perfect backdrop. Curve it up when you need a seamless surface below and behind a large object, or lay it flat on a table when shooting a product from above.

A curved piece of posterboard propped against a wall creates a seamless, wrinkle-free backdrop that’s easy to both put up and take down.

2) Avoid colors and patterns. Unless your product calls for a specific background color (for example, a silver piece that would look great on black velvet), use solid white. Colors and patterns are distracting, and it’s not easy to keep them consistent from shot to shot. I learned this the hard way after shooting a number of products on woodgrain. The background looked yellow in some shots, red in others. While you can correct such things in Photoshop, it’s more work than you want to do for a small job.

3) Clean your products well, and place them carefully. Use a Swiffer cloth or a can of compressed air to remove dust, and check the product for defects. Every item you shoot should be flawless. When positioning a product, make sure that all its important parts are on display. Nothing extraneous should be included in the shot. If you’re shooting a rectangular box, angle it slightly so that both the front and the side can be seen. It’s a more attractive and informative view, and it’ll look much better than even a precise head-on photograph.

These Switchrings were photographed at an angle, so it is clear how they interlock. If shot head on, it would be hard to see how they worked.

4) Use diffused light, and daylight if possible. Set up your shots outside on a bright but cloudy day, and odds are you’ll get great results; the clouds will scatter the sunlight, thereby eliminating harsh shadows. The same concept applies indoors. Under bright fixtures, try to diffuse the light in some way, for example by placing white fabric around your product (but outside of the shot). There are fancier ways to achieve this effect, but we’re amateurs, remember? And don’t worry about tiny shadows cast by your product. As long as they’re subtle, they’ll help add some depth, and you can always remove them in Photoshop.

Check out Part 2 of this post tomorrow. It’ll include even more tips, including advice on how to get the most from your camera.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.