Product photography on a budget

The situation

A Kochi spice exporter has started selling retail packs online: black pepper, cardamom, cloves and a few blends, each in three pack sizes. The products are excellent. The photos were taken on the warehouse floor under a tube light, and the pepper looks grey. Buyers cannot smell the spice through a screen, so the photo has to do the work.

You do not need a studio for this. You need steady light, a plain background, the same setup every time, and a short list of shots for each product.

Light first

Use a window, not a flash

Daylight from a large window gives soft, even light that phones handle well. Put your table beside the window, not facing it, so the light falls across the product from one side. Shoot between mid morning and mid afternoon, and avoid direct sun, which makes hard shadows. If the sun comes in, tape a sheet of white tracing paper or a thin white cloth over the glass.

Fill the shadow

The side away from the window will be darker. Hold up a piece of white foam board or a sheet of chart paper on that side and the shadow softens at once. Cost: about the price of a cup of tea.

Turn off other lights

Mixing daylight with yellow bulbs or tube lights gives odd colours. Switch them off while you shoot.

A background you can repeat

For most products a plain white or light grey background works best. A sheet of white card bent into a curve (taped to the wall at the top and the table at the bottom) gives a clean background with no line where the wall meets the table. For textiles, a large plain cloth does the same job.

Some brands prefer a styled background, such as a wooden board for spices or a printed cushion for home linen. That is fine for one or two lifestyle shots, but keep the main photo plain so the product page looks consistent across the catalogue.

The shots every product needs

1. Main photo. The whole product, straight on, filling most of the frame, on the plain background.
2. Angle. A three quarter view that shows depth.
3. Detail. Close up of what makes it good: the weave, the stitching, the size of the cardamom pods.
4. Scale. The product in a hand, on a table, or next to something familiar, so buyers know how big it is.
5. Label or back. For packaged goods, the label with the net quantity and details clearly readable.
6. In use. Worn, used or served. One is enough.

For clothing, add a photo of each colour. Buyers who choose the maroon want to see the maroon.

Phone settings that help

• Clean the lens. A smudged lens causes many blurry photos.
• Use the main camera, not the wide angle lens, which bends straight edges.
• Tap the product to focus, then slide the brightness down a little so whites are not burnt out.
• Shoot from a steady surface or a cheap phone tripod. Steady photos are sharper.
• Keep the phone at the same height and distance for every product in a range, and mark the spot on the table with tape.

Editing, lightly

Crop to the same shape for every main photo (a square works well on most themes). Straighten, adjust brightness, and make sure white looks white. Do not change the colour of the product itself. If the indigo kurta looks blue violet on screen when it is navy in life, fix the photo, because otherwise it comes back as a return.

Save files at a sensible size. A main photo of around 1,500 to 2,000 pixels on the long side is plenty for most stores; very large files slow the page down.

A routine for many products

When you have a hundred products to shoot, batch the work:

• Morning: set up once, shoot every main photo in a row.
• Then: all the angle and detail shots.
• Afternoon: label shots and scale shots.
• Next day: crop and name the files with the SKU (for example KSE-PEP-250-1.jpg), so they match the right product on import.

Limits

Good phone photos are enough for most small catalogues. Very reflective products (jewellery, glass, steel) and very large ones (furniture) are harder, and a day with a professional photographer may be worth it for your best sellers. Model shoots for clothing also take more than a window. Start with clean, honest product photos; they matter more than styling.

Checklist

• Table beside a window, other lights off.
• White card curve or plain cloth as background.
• White board to fill the shadow side.
• Same height and distance for every product, marked with tape.
• Six shots per product, every colour photographed.
• Light edits only, colours true to life.
• Files cropped to one shape and named by SKU.

Product photos and descriptions go into the catalogue together. For how to structure variants before you upload, see catalogue and inventory.