Product photography crits - put your product shots up for review!

Hi. I would like a bit of advice please. I set my shop up last month and as I’m only able to work part time I have been focusing my efforts into stocking my shop. However, I am now having doubts about my photos. I am a complete photo novice and I have tried a little bit of editing.
My main concern is that my photos may look a bit scruffy. I originally thought they were ok as my style is a bit shabby chic however, fine line between shabby chic and just a bit messy.
I have just been using furniture around my house to take product photos but have been looking at other shops and I’m not sure whether a plain white background would be better?
I’ve attached two photos as examples;
https://folksy.com/items/6696211-Striped-lampshade-30cm
https://folksy.com/items/6689118-Cushion-cover

Thank you.
Gemma

Sorry previous thread a bit of a waffle.

Would white backgrounds suit my products better or are ones set on my furniture ok?

Thanks again.

Hi @Dawitchi,
I’ve just had a look at your shop, sorry to hear it’s gone a bit slow you’ve got a great sales history.

I loved your items and I think I preferred the natural photos to the white backgrounds. I really liked the photos of the little girl and the young women wearing the hats. It had a nicer feel than the mannequin heads.

This is just my personal taste as I understand you probably see more detail in the photos with white backgrounds. I think the natural feel mirrors the look of your items.

I’m having a similar dilemma myself!

Gemma

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Thank you Gemma! Unfortunately I don’t have the young lady around on a daily basis! But I am trying to do a photo shoot from time to time. The little girl is my daughter, but she’s not always cooperative lol

I appreciate your comments :slight_smile:

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What kind of Cameras are you all using? I’ve tried to use my phone and also my small digital camera (like 10 years old) - but I just never seem to get a nice clean shot. I’ve had to borrow a friends DSLR when I need to take new product pictures.

Any advice on getting a better picture with a “crappy” camera - or do I just need to update my camera?

What is the issue with the photos you are getting with the ‘crappy’ cameras? Have you checked to see if they are saving the photos to the highest quality file format (and size) possible? This is often set low to maximise the number of files you can get on the memory card. On older cameras the sensors weren’t as good/ sensitive so they need more light or a longer exposure, can you brighten the ‘studio’ with some reflectors and additional (diffused) lights?
Sasha

I think that cushions on a sofa works better than ones in isolation but you might want to reduce the number of cushions in the shot or change the title to make it obvious which cushion is for sale.
I would prefer to see the lamp shade on a lamp - the lamp could be posed on the dresser as the style works well together - but as it is the lamp shade looks a bit odd just sat there (at first I though it was a cake tin).
Sasha

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I did wedding photography for a couple years so I have some general knowledge of cameras (I’m no expert or anything, but know the basics at least).

Anyway, it’s really grainy - so lowered ISO. Unevenly lit (which is obviously more of an issue outside of the camera - but did not look anywhere near as bad on a proper DSLR). Blurry/not focussed properly - trying to let in more light without using the flash. I have the size set to the large size.

So yeah…I may just need to continuing borrowing until I can save up for a better Camera.

Do you use a tripod? That might help :slight_smile:

I think when you lowered the iso you would have increased the exposure time (or so my understanding of these things goes) so the blurry might be down to camera shake if you are hand holding the shot. Like Ali suggests could you borrow a tripod and cable release (if suitable with camera) and see how the camera does with those?
Sasha

Yes, you can pick up tripods really cheaply, mine was only £13 and I use the timer on my camera to take the photo.

Hi Sasha,
Thank you for your comments. When I read what you had written about putting the lampshades on a lamp I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done that already!!! I have put some of the larger ones on a standing lamp and I agree that it makes more sense.
I’ll also sort through my cushion pictures so that is a bit clearer.
I must of spent so long looking at the photos for the shop I couldn’t see the wood for the trees…or something like that.
Thanks,
Gemma

Hi Gemma. I think your products are lovely and photographing them in a home setting works well, but some of the backgrounds are a bit cluttered and distracting.

This shot is nice because it’s clear at a glance what you’re selling and exactly which cushion is for sale.

Remember, unless someone arrives directly on your product page (from Google or a link on social media for example), they will see your photo in a stream of other images on a search or within a category, so it has to grab their attention immediately. Also the photograph will be cropped to a square in that preview view, so make sure the product sits nicely within that square frame.

I hope that helps.

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Thanks Camilla. That is all very helpful. Now that I’ve got a bit more experience on Folksy that was what I was starting to suspect.
I hadn’t really thought about how my photos looked out of context of my whole shop view.
I think I will carry on taking my photos in my home setting then. I’ll clear the backgrounds and simplify the shots

I’ve started the task of re-taking my photos after finding out by accident that a spare shelf on our new bookcase makes a great place to take my photos, (pure white background) could I just check they do look OK (and that it’s not just me seeing what I want to see), this one is one of the more tricky ones as the card itself is mostly white but I think I’ve got it OK

I find photographing stock difficult, particularly because I want to use a white background. Some come out ok and some not so much after some photoshopping

these are my tattoo hairgrips, I struggle to photograph these because of the glare (goes for all of my grips) all feedback welcome.

I feel your pain with glare - I spend a lot of time polishing my silver and then cuss it when it causes problems with photos. You need to put a diffuser over the light source (a bit of muslin will do the trick or you can buy a proper one (mine came from ebay ~£10 with reflector covers as well)) and some reflectors to bounce the light back into the shadows (piece of white card or silver foil wrapped over some card works nicely on a small scale). Avoid (direct) flash if possible. If you are getting camera shake because of longer exposure times due to lower light levels get yourself a tripod (my other half swears by his one of these when he needs a smaller tripod http://joby.com/gorillapod). If you scroll up the thread you’ll find a photo of the set up I use to photograph my jewellery (post number 95) - not exactly high tech and definately not expensive.
Hope that helps.
Sasha

thank you sasha ,

I will take a look - tbh these were taken with a point and click camera- not adjusting to the settings . I have a white box and lights to use but I cant get it to take good photos- they look worse than these ones .
these were taken in my shop on my desk .

however I am looking into a new camera ( with settings- lol) and with try the muslin and reflectors approach .

I am just worried that the image in them isn’t clear enough for a potential customer ( the image is only 14mm across)

b x

I’m always happy for feedback and sales aren’t happening at all, so love to hear from anyone on what improvements I can make.
https://folksy.com/items/6692464-Blue-Felt-Butterfly-Bag-Ladies-Girls