It’s something that we’ve all asked at some point. How can I get my photos to look really nice and bright?
Bright can be super eye-catching and makes the product crystal clear for your customers to look at before they decide to make their purchase. It can help make the product the focus, which might be exactly what you’re looking for in your photos.
So I’ve put together a few tips that I’ve learnt over the years on how to get those bright photos that you’d like for your beautiful products!
I am a big fan of daylight and I love to use this when I am taking my product photos.
I am very lucky to have some full length windows at my disposal that I can use to get the maximum amount of light, however, I realise not everybody has this! Even shooting outside on a sunny day could be a great option for you depending on what products you are shooting. All you need is a suitable background and you’re away.
Natural daylight also can create shadows which can be an advantage if you like the effect that they give. In some of the photos I have taken, it’s been quite fun to play with shadows to create a different overall look of the shot.
Daylight isn’t always enough and sometimes, you don’t have time to shoot in the day. This is where artificial lighting comes in.
I have some softbox lights that I like to use. They’re not too expensive, pricing at around £80 for two and in my opinion are well worth the pennies if you’re going to be doing this a lot.
These are the guys that will give you that wonderful, bright, studio-effect lighting that might be perfect for showcasing your products. They are also great to pair with daylight if you want to, using both to your advantage for those bright photographs.
Another great option to help capture this bright images, is a few settings on your camera.
First of all, ISO. The higher number you set your ISO setting on, the brighter your photos will be. However, don’t go too high otherwise your photos will start to go grainy, and we want that crispness for your products! You’ll notice when this starts to happen, but with some light and good ISO levels on your side - your photos will be beautiful and bright. Secondly, exposure.
You may also be able to adjust the exposure on your camera which is also another great tool to use to boost brightness.
Editing is your best friend. My personal choice of platform is Lightroom, however, they are so many good and free tools out there that you can use also.
For editing from my phone, I am a big fan of Snapseed for photo editing and would highly recommend this to edit your photos. You can adjust brightness and exposure really easily to get that brightness you desire.
Lightroom, the same tools count in regards to adjusting brightness and exposure on your shots. I also quite like to adjust highlights, shadows and whites. There are so many options that you can adjust to boost the brightness in your photographs whilst keeping the quality crisp as long as you don’t overexpose.