Big brands have come a long way from using monolithic monopoly in marketing. Small enterprises can use the internet today as a powerful leveraging tool that could give big brands a run for their marketing money. Nonetheless, small business owners need to up their game along with improvements in affordable photography technology. High-quality images are a must in any e-commerce site, which means you need to take note of the following tips to come up with beautiful photos that will bring you the bucks you need.
1. Set up the right lighting
You don’t need to build an expensive studio to have a luscious-looking image of a strawberry shortcake you’re trying to sell. If you are selling products that people can hand-carry, you can set up your lighting kit on top of a table to capture images of that product. You can buy these tabletop lighting kits for less than $100. However, remember to use lights with steady illumination.
There’s also another relatively inexpensive light source you can use, which is natural lighting coming from your window. The hues of early morning light create a dramatic effect on your product’s images. If your product is too big for a tabletop, you can take it out under the early morning sun and take shots of it. Sunlight from your window also makes the product picture feel more authentic compared to the light produced from lamps. Sunlight also adds a visual context to certain products such as lemonade, sunglasses, beach clothes, and other summer season and tropical-themed products. The downside with this technique, however, is that there are only certain times of the day and types of weather when you can take your shots.
2. Adjust your camera settings to optimize picture quality
Most photographers usually go with “Auto” settings as they find adjusting camera settings too cumbersome. Business owners, however, need to know even the basics of camera setting adjustments to come up with a photo that sells. Setting your camera to ISO levels between 100 to 400 would help prevent blurry, grainy images. Place your camera on a tripod to avoid motion blur that could ruin the pictures.
Also, make the edges of your product stand out from the background by using a small aperture setting. An aperture with focal length setting f/17 should be enough, although you can adjust it to f/22 when necessary. Some cameras have an Aperture Priority setting which you can use to let the camera decide the best shutter speed and focal length for the chosen aperture setting. Some cameras also have a remote control or timer that would eliminate motion blur from the small shakes of the camera that would appear in shutter speed settings less than 1/60th of a second.
Cameras have difficulty in capturing plain backgrounds such as white and pastel colours. You can cope with this challenge by increasing the exposure compensation button found on your camera. Press that button two times to make the white or pastel-coloured background appear more natural on camera.
3. Use appropriate colour combos for your product background
An example of a product photo using a lighter backdrop . 
An example of a product photo using a dark backdrop.
Colours evoke emotions in people. Hence, you need to use the right colours as your product’s backdrop. If you are selling strawberry jam, for example, you can use a pastel-coloured peach backdrop to enhance the product and make it look more delicious. The rule for colour combinations in product photography is to use pastel-colours for brighter items and use vivid for darker-coloured products. A pastel pair of colour combinations would make the background complement the appearance of the product while the bright-dark background-product pair serves as a contrasting duo.
