Simple Product Photography Tips For Absolute Beginners

Posted by marycooper on July 14th, 2015

Ok so you want to explore the field of product photography in Perth but have almost nil experience and don’t know where to start? Fret not; we got your back. This post is meant for people just like you who are completely new to the product photography domain. Now you might have done some amateur school ball photography in Perth for your alma mater back in your high school days; chances are, the procedures and techniques you learned then might or might not come in handy now. You can also start afresh from scratch by following these steps:

1.Product preparation- After thoroughly cleaning the product you wish to photograph, assemble a simple set up outdoors. This would help you save on the lighting costs along with providing you the natural light exposure. If you can, always go with opaque, solid backgrounds. You can use simple sheets of paper or hang a linen rag behind your product for this purpose.

2.Apparatus preparation- The one thing common among professional and trainer photographers is perhaps the tripod stand. Set your camera equipment on a tripod stand and focus the lens on the product.

3.Picture settings- Now one needs to set the camera settings according to the requirements of the frame. You would need to adjust white balance, ISO, aperture, exposure and self timer settings appropriately.  Make sure that your flash is turned off while working outside as this can cause harsh lighting and shadow effects which are not always required.

4.Capture- Now click several shots of the product from various angles. If you are not completely satisfied with the outcome try clicking the picture with slight variations in image settings. Analyse your shots and shortlist.

5.Image editing- Now comes the task of picture editing. For this you can install some of the easily available online image editing applications like GIMP or Photo!Editor. Use levels to get a solid opaque (preferably white) background. Then you need to crop out the empty places and remove any lingering marks or colour spots left.

And there you have it! An almost professional looking product capture! Not enough to get you a job as a professional photographer in Perth, but definitely an extraordinary first attempt by an absolute beginner. You can also perform other post processing procedures you want on the picture like applying various available filters or enhancing its colours through colour balances, masking etc. Meanwhile, you can start training in professional photography courses along with expert picture editing software tutorials which have become imperative in the field of professional and commercial photography all around the world.

Let us know if you found this article helpful!