Ready for My Close Up: Top Tips for Product Photography

It’s World Photo Day on 19 August 2017 and with recent news that Etsy has increased its photo limit to ten, its file size to 3000 pixels and added improved zoom features, what better time to celebrate.

Importance

67% of consumers consider the quality of product images to be “very important” so it is even more important that you get your photography right. In the words of eBay:

“High quality, professional product shots don’t only make your items more appealing to potential buyers – they prove that your business cares about the details.”

Top Five Product Photography Tips

So here are our top tips to professional looking photographs:

1. 1. Equipment

If you have the budget, investing in the skills of a professional photographer (or someone trying to get onto the ladder) will instantly improve your photos and leave you to do what you do best (selling).

If you don’t have the budget, consider buying a decent camera and a tripod; an artist is only as good as his tools. You may also consider enrolling in a local photography course to learn the basics.

2. 2. Lighting

Consider your background and lighting. A light tent and light clamps will instantly help to create that flawless (as opposed to that “are those Cheerios in the background?”) photo. Both Amazon and eBay are huge fans of a white background.

3. 3. Turn off the flash

Using the flash can cause unwanted shadows and reflections – best to leave it off and use lights (see above) or natural daylight.

4. 4. Vogue

Capturing all angels and detailed close-ups will provide your buyers with the visual information they need to hit that buy button.

5. 5. Editing

We’re not talking about reducing your product’s dress sizes by a few or lightening up those dark circles but a few minor tweaks here and there can help to enhance your photos – as long as you are not misleading buyers.

The Rules

Here’s a quick run-down on the top three’s photography guidelines:

	Amazon	eBay	Etsy
File Types	JPEG (.jpg) GIF (.gif) PNG (.png)	JPEG (.jpg) GIF (.gif) TIFF (.tif) BMP (.bmp) PNG (.png)	JPEG (.jpg) GIF (.gif) TIFF (.tif) BMP (.bmp) PNG (.png)
Maximum File Size	10MB	7MB (12 if copied from a web address)	20MB
Minimum Dimensions	500 pixels on the longest side	500 on the longest side	Recommend 1,000 pixels wide

 

Practice Makes Perfect

Of course, practicing your photography skills will improve them. Once you’ve perfected your product photos adding your photos to Expandly is quick and easy.

Happy snapping!