Product Photography for Beginners | Tips & Free Tools

Product photography is one of the most crucial factors that customers consider when deciding to buy. If product photos look wonky or sketchy, it can undermine trust in your brand and deter sales conversions. Meanwhile, quality images that really allow your products to shine increase the chances someone will hit that “Add to cart” button.

Yet, when you’re up against large companies who have their own creative studios and product photographers at their disposal, the competition can feel high. This guide contains free online tools and plenty of tips to lower the barrier to entry when it comes to creating quality product photography.

What is product photography (and why does it matter)?

Think of product photography as the commercial form of still life photography. Its goal is to showcase the things you’re selling, along with any features or details customers should know about. Accurate, high-quality product photography is essential to selling, as it’s one of the main things people are looking at when they decide to buy.

There are a few types of product photography to keep in mind:

• Lifestyle product photography: This does well on social media, as it offers an aspirational component where customers can imagine how your products could enhance their lives. It’s especially effective in Instagram posts or even in the form of user-generated content that you reshare.
• Studio product photography: This form of product photography involves using a set to showcase your products with the help of backdrops, lighting, and stylized portrayals. It’s great for using in advertisements to help stand out from the crowd.
• E-commerce product photography: This style of photography typically appears on websites where your products are sold. It features simple backdrops and varied images that depict important details about each item.

Ideally, you’ll want your product photos to include a mix of these elements so you have them at your disposal for different uses.

Product photography tips

It’s one thing to know what product photography is in theory, but another one entirely to understand how to execute it in practice—especially if you don’t have formal photography training or experience using traditional editing software.

If this is where you find yourself, no need to fear. The following tips and tools can help even the most beginners create great product photos that boost your sales.

Prep the product and set

Before you start snapping photos, take some time to prepare your products and set—even if it’s just in your home office. This step will make all the difference in terms of getting your product photography to look more professional.

• Use a simple background such as a curved piece of cardstock paper or a white foam board.
• Clean off each product carefully using a microfiber cloth to remove any dust particles or fingerprints.
• Diffuse your light source by placing a light tent, white tracing paper, or a DIY paper towel diffuser in front of it. Turn off any overhead lights to avoid unwanted shine and shadows.

Use a tripod

If you’re going to invest in any photography equipment, make it a tripod. This will help keep the angles in each product photo consistent, something that matters for customers as they browse. It will also prevent blurry images.

Consider composition

Once your background, lighting, and tripod are prepped, you’re in good shape for creating good image composition. Some factors to keep in mind:

• Keep it simple: When in doubt, opt for simple and straightforward image composition without overdoing it on superfluous stylization—at least while you get the hang of it.
• Mind your angles: Include simple, front view shots along with close ups of any relevant details on the product.
• Stay consistent: Keep your product visuals consistent in terms of angles, lighting, and composition to avoid unnecessary distractions.

Apply these camera settings

There are just a few basic camera settings worth knowing when taking product photos:

• ISO controls your camera’s light sensitivity. Set it to 100 or 200 to ensure clean and clear images.
• Aperture is an opening inside the camera lens that dictates how much light reaches the camera sensor, which has a similar function to a pupil. Select a mid-range setting between f/8 and f/11 so the product stays in focus.
• RAW is a format that is devoid of any automatic image compression, use it to enable more flexibility when editing the images on your device.

Find free photo editing tools

Once you’re happy with the photos you’ve taken, it’s time for post production. While this step can be intimidating if you have no formal training, there are free AI photo editing tools that make things much easier. Many use conversational AI so you can conduct prompt-based edits.

Frequently asked questions about product photography

What are free services for editing product photos?

You can find free, AI-powered photo editing tools for editng product photography by searching online.

For example, Quillbot’s free online Photo Editor enables you to make changes like removing backgrounds, cropping, and adding text overlays instantly. You can do so directly in your browser—no downloads required.

Simply upload your photo, make your edits, and click “Share and Export” to download.

Can I use my smartphone for taking product photos?

Yes, you can use your smartphone for product photography, as they are equipped with quality cameras that contain advanced sensors and high megapixel counts.

It is, however, recommended that you use a tripod, use a simple backdrop, and adjust your lighting and camera settings for the best results.

Once your photos are ready, get help writing product descriptions with Quillbot’s free Product Description Generator.

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