Jan 18, 2012

Two Quick Steps to Fix Your Product Photographs

A blogger friend of mine, CereusArt, recently posted about her product photography woes.  She had been working hard to improve her shots, using a light tent, and doing her best to edit the photographs after taking them.  But she still wasn't pleased with the results.

Product photography is not easy, even when you're a photographer.  When I saw her images, I immediately thought of a way I could help her "fix" them using my favorite free photo editor, Picnik.  The video below provides a tutorial, and I hope both you and CereusArt will find it useful!



Before & After


image credit: CereusArt

Additional Tips

- If you can, keep some distance between the product and the backdrop.  This will reduce shadows and also prevent the backdrop texture from being a distraction.  Get creative with pins and binder clips to make this happen!

- Make sure the entire light tent is evenly lit, both the object and the backdrop.  Try lighting from the sides or above as well as from directly in front.  If you need more light, make sure it's all from the same type of light source.  My preference is to use at least three daylight fluorescent bulbs in plain old work lamps like these.


Good luck!  Do you have specific questions about product photography that I might be able to help you with?

6 comments:

  1. Looks wonderful! Wow! Thank you!

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  2. You are very welcome! Best of luck as you work on your photos - they'll only get better and better with practice.

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  3. Great tutorial! It is amazing what you can do with a little photo editing.

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  4. It really does make a big difference, Sara! Glad you liked it :-)

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  5. Great tips!Thank you!

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  6. Very helpful! I use Picnik for everything...love it!

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts!