Product Photography Tips to Get You Started Making Better Photos

Getting started in product photography can seem daunting. If you've never tried it before, some of your initial research can lead you down the wrong path. It's actually very simple from a technical point of view. The place were people get lost is understanding their purpose.

We call it product photography, but it's essentially the same as still life photography or food photography. In each case, you set the scene and have control over all of the variables. It's up to you to be the art director, stylist and photographer. There's one other thing that you need to have before you get started, though.

You need to have a story.

You're not a photographer. You're a storyteller. That's the difference between a snapshot and a photograph. Make sure that your photos communicate some kind of message.

Lee's Product Photography for Running and Nutrition

Lee has a passion for endurance running. Six days a week, she wakes up at “Oh Dark Thirty” and runs for miles. When she gets home, she takes a photo of herself with some kind of message for her social media accounts. That little habit, along with her cheery personality and experience, is building up a community of people who enjoy endurance running.

She does more than selfies, though. She's sharing images with products she uses. Lately, she started a nutritional series showing her food prep from market to oven. As a result, she's earning ambassadorships with various vendors in the endurance running industry. She also landed a job with a company dedicated to helping others plan, train and recover from endurance races. Her blog is just getting started, complete with her photography to help tell the story for each post.

Product photography is essential to telling her story. It's also helping her build momentum, grow her audience and earn money. That's why telling a story is imperative for product photography. The photo must serve a purpose.

Here are a few examples from her recent photos:

Technical Product Photography Tips

Planning your story is the first step, since it guides everything you do in the photography phase.  Here are a few tips to keep your message on target.

1: Keep Your Set Simple

There are a lot of photography tools that you could use in your product photography, but there are very few tools that you must use. The photos above were taken with a camera, a tripod and available light. If you're comfortable with flash photography and setups, you can get creative with your lighting to isolate or highlight a subject. However, don't think that you need to use external lighting for these photos.

2: Protect Your Colors

If you're shooting a product that has a specific color, like Coca-Cola's iconic red label, then you better make sure that the Red in your photos is Coca-Cola Red. The best way to do that is to use an to create a known color calibration profile.

At the very least, shoot with a grey card to use for your White Balance settings. Don't let the color of your light change the colors of your products.

3: Show Your Subject in Context

One of the products that Lee features in her photos above are little jewelry tags with quotes on them. They can go on your running shoe laces, on a wristband, or even a water bottle. It's fine to show these items together. However, they don't really have a place with her nutrition photos.

Food goes with other food, knives, pots & pans.

It's also fine to isolate your products on a neutral background that doesn't compete for attention. Remember, the objective is to highlight the product for a specific purpose or use. Don't confuse your story or message by placing your product with something irrelevant.

4: Embrace Color Contrast

If you want to help your products stand out, show them with some color contrast.