Pictures are worth a thousand words, as they say. So when you upload an image of a product to sell, that one dimensional image – a snap shot – tells a story, in lieu of words. Essentially, you have to seduce a potential buyer’s five senses – feel, touch, smell, hear and see – to become alive, in a very short time so she can come inside your shop.
But how do you do that when the product is displayed on a computer screen where a buyer can’t handle your product before making a decision to buy? Simple. Your product has to be realistic enough on the screen so that a buyer can experience all those pleasing senstaions by just looking at the image. The image has to convince the buyer to proceed and read the description for more details. And it has to happen in a split second.
So how do you take photos of your products to grab someone’s attention in an instant?
Here are five simple tips to make your photo sexy and desirable.
1. Camera
Taken indoor by iPhone with no editing under natural light
Yes, equipment is important but not as important as you think. A Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) Camera is helpful if you want to take professionally looking photos, that’s true. But that does not mean you can’t take great photos with “Point-and-Shoot” camera or even with your smartphone. iPhone takes awesome photos and a light and compact “Point and Shoot” camera can take professional looking photos if you use it correctly. I took photos in my first shop with a $90 Cannon Point and Shoot camera with a macro setting that took great close up shots. The first photo above is taken, using a point and shoot. If you have a DSLR, that’s awesome. You have the best tool to take great product shots. The toughest part with using an DSLR is learning dizzying array of all the features it offers. And if you don’t know how to use it, I suggest you take a day and experiment and learn how to use all the settings. It’ll take you to a whole another level in photography. So the point is; know your camera and learn to use it to its fullest potential.
Case: The first image of washcloths were taken in my bathroom that has one window to the left of the image. The countertop and sink are white. I had the curtain opened and used a “Point and Shoot” camera on “Macro” setting to take the photo. All the setting was on “Auto” with NO flash. No editing was done to this photo. The second photo above was taken with my iPhone with the light coming from above the image. No editing was done.
2. Composition and Background
Evon Cassier Bag
Before you just plop your item in front of the camera and shoot, arrange it and style it with a background or a prop. But don’t bury it; complement it. Make the backdrop work for your item – to make a statement. Focus on the product in front, with depth of field control or with a macro setting. You can also focus on one part of the item to get the detail down. Play with what looks visually interesting. You don’t have to photograph an entire item to tell a story. You can make people imagine what the rest of the item is like and what it’s trying to say.
Case: Evon Cassier makes beautiful bags out of coats, jackets, and even WWII tents. Since her bags are made with coats and jackets with prior lives, her bags always have a history. While the background is muted neutral colors just like the bag, it complements it instead of buying the bag. The simple vintage mannequin and the splash of green color from the potted plant is a telltale sign of her style. You can see what the bag is trying to say, even before you read about the history or how much it costs. The branding works with this simple image. {Image used with permission from Evon Cassier Bags}
3. Light
Lil Fish Studios uses natural diffused light indoors.
“Lights, light, light, yeah….”, as the song goes, natural or otherwise, lighting is the KEY in photography. Specifically, natural light without flash, is the way to go. When is the best time of the day to take photos? Early morning or late afternoon. Even if you live in the Northwest where sunshine is as seldom as an eclipse, you can still find enough natural sunlight to take beautiful photos. Ask any professional photographer from Oregon or Washington. Also, whether you are taking your photos inside or out, it’s important that the light is indirect or diffused. Strong direct sunlight or a direct light from a bulb, as you can imagine, will wash out the subjects. Reflection will also interfere with getting the details. If you are using artificial light, it’s important to choose the right color lightbulb. If it’s warm or yellowish, it will change the color of the images, even with white balance control. The best kind of artificial bulb is OTT-LITE®. It is white in color – almost like a fluorescent – but it’s as close to a natural light as artificial lighting goes. You can get them at any office supply store or craft stores. I use them as desk lamps and reading lamps. And when I need to use artificial light, I drag the floor reading lamp to my light box, and use them any time of the day. I will post on how to make a real simple and easy light box later on.
Case: My good friend Lisa took this image of the felted mushroom terrarium in indirect diffused natural light, indoors. You can see the “outtakes” – what images she didn’t use – on her lighting tips post. Lisa is a wool felt crafter, mushroom lover, and a coffee addict. But most of all, she is a phenomenal photographer who lives in MN where there are more cloudy days than sunny days, so she knows a thing or two about photography and lighting. {Image used with permission by lil fish studios.}
4. Focus
Which necklace image would you click? Click on the image to enlarge first.
There is nothing more annoying than seeing unfocused item on Etsy…unless that’s the message you are trying to convey. I never click on fuzzy photos as I assume the seller does not care enough about her products to take sharp pictures to shout out to the world. Besides, I start to rub my eyes to see if it’s my eye sight that’s causing the blurriness and I get annoyed when it’s not my eyes.
There are a lot of different factors in taking sharp photos. But in general, steady hands, good lighting, and right focal point will give you sharp and crisp images. If you are using a point and shoot camera, even a slight bit of movement will make the image out of focus. But then, if you are using a heavy DSLR camera, it may cause you to be unsteady holding the camera so you may take blurry pictures too. The one way to solve this problem is to use a tripod. If you don’t have one, buy an inexpensive one or a used one…whatever it takes, get one. And if you have one, use it! I know it’s a pain in the royal butt to take out the tripod every time you want to take a photo, but it makes a world of difference in making sharp pictures. In fact, to go a step further, use a self timer to take photos. It’s automatic and it will press down on the shutter a lot better than your finger. Some photographers even go further and use a shutter release cable – a long cable that connects to the shutter that you can press a button without holding the camera. Again, less shake.
Make sure there is good lighting in the room. If lighting is not the best, camera can take blurry photos even if you have steady hands. The shutter speed will be slow and the camera will have to work extra hard to take a sharp picture. If you can set your DSLR to take photos manually and you can adjust the settings then, you have nothing to worry about. But in general, a good lighting will help you take a sharp picture if you are planning to use auto focus.
This might sound like a no-brainer but focus on the right spot on the product. If your focal point is off from the area you are trying to photograph, your whole photo will be ‘off’ and blurry.
Case: I used my DSLR to take the necklace photos above. I kept everything same, except the focus. The #1 image’s focal point was in the middle white background and not on the necklace. But #2′s focal point right on the blue square on the bottom. See the difference? Would you click on the image #1 or #2? (Click on the image to enlarge and you can see the difference a lot better.)
5. Edit
Which image do you think is better? Click to enlarge.
Edits and touch ups are frowned upon if you are an artist, a true die hard photographer. But for our purposes, we NEED to edit. No doubt about it. Among other reasons, you have to check to see if the color is close to the actual color of the product. Depending on the computer monitor and browser, the color may vary a great deal. And since it’s important that the color looks as similar to the actual object as you can get on screen, check on different browsers to make sure. I heard about a seller whose buyer complained that the color of the skirt was not what she ordered and she returned the item. And that may be due to the color variations in monitors but it can also depend on browsers as well.
You can use editing mode to brighten, increase or decrease contrast, sharpen (to a degree), make collages, add frames, etc. There are so many options available that you can’t go wrong to check what you can do to improve. You can use fancy softwares like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements or free versions like Gimp (Mac) or Paint (Microsoft). Or you can use free online sites like iPiccy, PicMonkey, Picasa, and Pixlr. And there are many more. Set aside some time and learn one method thoroughly so you can edit any image when you need to.
Case – The original photo was taken on a cloudy day indoors under a warm lightbulb. As much as I tried to get near the sunlight, the image still came out too dark. Without compromising the color of the caps, I was able to lighten the image a bit, using PicMonkey. There are a lot more I can edit but I just wanted to show how just brightening the image can make a huge difference.
Bonus
Review – I can’t stress this enough. Always review how the item looks in the shop. The photo itself might look great but if it’s cut off or too small when you load it to your shop, it will not look great. Always check and double check to make sure it appears the way you want it to on your shop. If you are interested in being included in Etsy treasuries, create a treasury and test it out. Pick a few items from shops and actually create a treasury. See if the picture is outstanding, literally. Does it fit properly? Does it stand out amongst other similar items? How does it compare to other items in quality (picture quality)?
Size – images for Etsy shop can be up to 1000 pixels wide. But I’ve uploaded images up to 1200 pixels in size and I had no problem uploading them. When the images are large, a buyer can click and enlarge to see the item better. Why waste the opportunity for a buyer to see your item more clearly? I’ve clicked on small images on shops, hoping that they will enlarge but when they don’t, I am disappointed because I can’t see the details.
Number of Images – Etsy gives you five slots for images. Use all the five slots. They are free and it’s a perfect opportunity to show off your product. Take close ups, back of the item, color choices, packaging, how the painting looks on the wall, how the hat looks on a baby, how the vest looks on a dog, etc. Use up all five slots. There’s no excuse for not using all of them to show off your product.
Be Consistent – make the background consistent throughout your shop. Use a plain light neutral background so your item will “POP”. Use dark background if your item is lighter. If you are going to use a certain themed background, then, use it throughout your shop to be cohesive.
There are many more tips on improving photography but these are the basic easy things you can do. Stay tuned for the next post as I review and critique Etsy sellers photos.
What will you be doing differently after reading these tips?
