Finding your Spark :  Product Photography – Lighting

*Is that a flash or a tanning booth? 5×7 Print, from JosephineAndCole on Etsy*

I wanted to put a bit of focus this week on “Product Photography” in the handmade seller’s store.
There are some great crafters around the handmade marketplace that have hit the nail on the head when it comes to photographing their work, to a standard that looks incredibly professional and irresistible for that matter too!  It’s something that I think some sellers, (especially newer ones) may not consider primarily when it comes to “how” they photograph their work.  And I know for most it is something of a new venture and simply a lack of awareness on the subject.
Any one can point and shoot a camera… at least that’s what we all think!  But to do that skillfully and use it to improve your business is what I’d like to focus on with my next few articles.

*Lighting Reference Photo – by Naomi Morgan*

I want to be able to put emphasis on the common mistake I see with product photography and discuss some ways this mistake can be rectified.

Flash vs Daylight (photo 1)- The BIGGEST no-no in product photography in the way that it is done most of the time, is to simply point and shoot with a ‘flash’.  The reason why this is bad is that a standard built in or pop up flash doesn’t have the power or portability to exceed it’s limitations in terms of spread of light and it’s flexibility.  You will notice that taking a photograph of anything with a standard flash is very limited and in the wrong settings can cause dark photographs, over exposure with enhanced shadowing, or the dreaded GLARE on shiny objects (jewelers beware of this one)!  Once these problems arise you are left with an inaccurate portrayal of your work and loss of detail… Even the photoshopped photographs may suffer as most manipulations of works will just look grainy and unattractive.

The fact of the matter is, you can avoid this kind of photo easily, without photoshopping and without the expense of a DSLR camera… And to all those that feel they have rubbish lighting in their home, there are solutions for you also!

If you are fortunate to have a home with an excellent source of light in the daytime then USE IT (see photo 2).  It is your greatest asset to photographing your work and making it look amazing.  Yet daylight photos aren’t exempt from going wrong in the same way flash photgraphy can go wrong.  Sunlight, when used directly can also leave behind glare and harsh shadows in  your displays.  Yet when managed well, can achieve the most flattering photos of your work when it involves capturing contours, details and keeping everything looking natural and true to form.

The easiest solutions that I reckon can work for any standard camera or novice DSLR users (with a little trial and error) are as follows:

FLASH REDIRECTION … This is an excellent way to take away the focus and harshness off a camera flash, by literally getting it to go elsewhere and “bounce” back to your photographic display.
For night time photos You will need to make sure a white or light colored backdrop is next to you, behind you or above you (like a wall, ceiling or a sheet… in fact the more surfaces the better!), whilst your items are set out ready infront of you and close to this white area (it will need to be nearby due to the lack of power in the built in flash).  Forcing the flashes light into the direction of this white area will cause it to bounce off and return a lot more sparsely and softly than initially.  If you cannot turn your flash in any direction then use a mirror to bounce it onto the surface!  In practice you may want to spend some time adjusting angles, distance etc as all cameras are going to be different and you may find having tripods or ways to get your hands free may make the process a whole lot easier for you as you may end up having to juggle things around a bit otherwise!  To avoid the harshest of the flash and dark shadowing, this is a great method.

Even try making a reflector out of tin foil and using it directly (without white surface light bouncing).  It’ll work in a similar way although the light will be a little more dramatic (less so with the duller side of tin foil).  Yet adjusting the flash distance from the item will change just how dramatic this may look. You may find that you will want to reflect off walls with mirrors anyway, but it can work without the need to bounce off a light colored wall if your surroundings allow for it.

If your room isn’t incredibly dark or you are using the flash in daylight, try bouncing the flash off the lighter surface without mirrors or reflectors (see photo 3) to achieve a highly saturated looking “daylight” photo.

DAYLIGHT REDIRECTION … In the same way reflectors and white surfaces can be used with a flash, they can be used indoors in daylight.  It’s not necessary as they are much softer but if you want to avoid the dark shadows, then placing the light or reflective object on the dark side of your items to bounce the window light onto this darkened area will brighten it up no problem!

FLASH AND DAYLIGHT DIFFUSION …  If you are in the situation where the above just doesn’t cut it for you, or if you are in an extreme setting where the flash is way too bright or even for the brightest of sunny days there is another way to further soften the amount of incoming light by actually diffusing it.  White mesh, tissues, white silk, lightweight paper, tissue paper… You getting the picture?  If you have a very fine and almost see through material to hand like these examples or anything similar that will allow light to pass through it, then setting it up so it’s blocking the harshest of the light from windows or sticking it over your flash will do what you set out to achieve hopefully.  And if diffusing the one source of light is a bit too much, then maybe adding others and doing the same to them if necessary will add further light ambiance around your items ie: using lamps.  Sounds like a lot of work and wires potentially.  A controlled method of this variety would be the use of a ‘lightbox’ or ‘light tent’ which have the purpose for creating the backdrop that allows light to be diffused and bounced around in a confined space, making your work look incredible!  I plan to write a tutorial on making a homemade lightbox shortly so I’ll cover this one soon!
You may find the process works fine with just the one source of light (your flash or the sun).  Again this will be trial and error, but worth the effort for excellent photos that will captivate your customers!

It will bring out the best of your work taking photography into consideration.  The big corporations know that they can sell anything they like by making something look good as generally we tend to “judge a book by it’s cover” by nature, looking and admiring before finding out further details!  And it’s something you can achieve to create that kind of success for yourself and your own business ventures, with a few tweaks here and there to improve your product photos.  Best of luck!