How to Master Product Photography on a Tight Budget
how_to_master_product_photography_on_a_tight_budget

What is product photography and why is it important?

Product photography is one of the fundamental pillars of an eCommerce store in South East Asia. Think about it from the perspective of your customers. When the customer does not have access to the physical product, the photograph is the product for them.

The technical sheet and the description provide value, but interest and falling in love starts with a good photograph, therefore:

Better photographs, better sales.

In short, a good photograph makes the customer imagine the product and produces the emotion of owning it.

Also, the photograph must relate to the product, otherwise it won’t create a lot of interest amongst the South East Asian customers and this directly results in losing the customers. In addition, product photography must communicate perfectly to what is sold with the utmost fidelity, quality, and beauty.

In this article, you will find the necessary strategies to make your own product photos for an online store in South East Asia in an easy and practical way.

#1 Product effect on customers

To make product photography memorable you must cultivate yourself. Read books, magazines, catalogues, visit exhibitions and immerse yourself in the current photographic cultural events in South East Asia. There is a huge effect of visual marketing on South East Asian customers, they see it as a product of their use and something that will benefit them.

Therefore, try to see more and more images of great photographers like Marina Joesoef and Darwis Triadi, visit exhibitions, consult photographic catalogue and increase your visual culture in South East Asia. This will help you bring out the trained look composed in an intuitive and natural way.

#2 Make a photo style guide for your online store

A style guide is a document where you specify how you want the images to be for your online store. It will be the reference to which you direct all the steps of the photographic process. The objective is to maintain a clean and orderly appearance that generates confidence and transmits professionalism.

The photo style guide has to include at least these three data: Image format, background type, product position and shadow characteristics. As a general rule, select a square format for greater adaptability, white background for the images to be used in marketplaces like Amazon and soft shadows that do not remain as the leading image.

#3 Make a continuous background

The most common way to create a background is a white continuous background.

You can create a curved background with any table and a white card, or you can also use a fabric or any other material that can be folded. I personally recommend cardboard for matt backgrounds and white plastic tablecloth for glossy or larger backgrounds.

Place the table next to a window, stick the curved cardboard on a wall or any object and you have the background for your first photographic studio for a very less cost.

#4 Use the right lighting for your product

The importance of lighting is such in the product photography that if you know how light works, it is likely that, with the least number of tools, you can achieve a quality result. Mostly, having a good amount of sunlight and some stationery materials like cardboard can be used to reflect and adjust light.

#5 Set your camera to manual

These techniques mentioned above can be done with both professional camera and mobile device. You will get the best results using a camera that allows manual configuration of functions. Having the manual control of the parameters allows you to make corrections between different takes, avoiding the automatic decisions of the camera.

If you want to use your mobile phone in manual mode, you can find different APPs that allow this functionality.

Start by configuring these settings:

White balance: Adjust the colour of the light. Especially if you are going to take product pictures for catalogue in South East Asian market.

Diaphragm: Adjust the focused area and sharpness.

ISO value to the minimum possible: To not lose quality without reason.

Also, control the exposure time of the photograph, in which more time means more light. Finally, cover the viewfinder to prevent the entry of light that contaminates the photographs of your products.

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