How to Take Professional Quality Product Photos With a Smartphone

Before you hire a product photographer or buy an expensive camera, try photographing your products with something you carry everyday: your smartphone.

It's not as simple as grabbing your smartphone and taking a variety of photographs. You will need a few extras to begin practicing. Apply some basic photography techniques, and you can become a great amateur product photographer in little time.

A Backdrop is One Secret to Great Product Photography

To create a consistent look to your product photography, you’ll need two things: you’ll want to photograph each product from a consistent angle and a simple white backdrop.

From my experience, it’s best to shoot three to six consistent angles of your products. When it comes to consumer products, shoppers often like to many angles of a product before they buy.

A white photography backdrop will allow the viewer to focus on your product instead of the background.  You can often find backdrops on Amazon.com or in your local camera store. Some include lighting, which also helps when natural light isn’t available.

Use a Table or Risers to Photograph Your Products

To make it easy on you and your back, place your white photography backdrop on a table or a few risers to bring your products to eye level.  If you need overhead shots of your product, you may need to lower the photography box to get the shot you need.

Use a Tripod for Image Stabilization for Product Photography

Rather than stabilize your smartphone on your own—which isn’t easy to do—buy an adjustable-height tripod. This way, all you have to worry about is hitting the button to get the shot and your multiple angles.  

Also, many tripods today are height adjustable, making it easy to get those overhead shots, and a remote so you can step back to get the perfect shot.

Buy a Lens Kit to Zoom in on Your Products

If your products have detail, you’ll want to buy a zoom lens. A zoom lens will help your potential customers to see the product quality before buying an item.

Use Apps to Edit Your Photos

You can use the photo editing applications found on your smartphone, or purchase other apps. Another editing pro tip is to size all your photos the same size, so they render the same on your eCommerce website.