I've got a storage unit, a mannequin torso, white plastic table covers for backdrop and a small camp light. Tell me how I should improve my product photos. Low budget but I'm willing to make exceptions for things like lighting.
One thing I'm putting effort into is reducing the cast shadow by centering the light with my camera.
Thats mostly what I personally use, but would be happy to hear about different kind of euqipment that should be in a product photographers studio!
I’m trying to capture this perfume bottle in Product photography Box. But you can see the reflective cap is showing everything even camera, this is causing pain, How to get rid of this?
Not in edits, Any suggestions for shot are appreciated
Im trying to better showcase my pipes. Ive been taking pictures outside with a decorative background and floor material.
And its nice and all but the set up time, processing etc etc are overhead that i dont really know are validated.
END GOAL - I want to take the cleanest most accurate pictures I can with a minimum of setup time or delving heavily into developing my photo/lighting skills.
How best to achieve that? Looking for YOUR opinions. Thanks!
Which one do you prefer and why? Which one do the professionals use most?
As shared by Bron in their April 2026 newsletter.
This is a short BTS/how-to on lighting a shot of a Sinar technical camera in the studio.
The photographer is lighting with a masked 120cm x 180cm masked softbox, a Picolite + projection attachment, an Octabox, and the lights being driven by Move 1200 L and Senso 2400 generators.
There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about the gear or techniques being used, but rather just applying the fundamentals of controlling light to highlight the subject details in a desired way.
I enjoy taking product photos, but I prefer not having a blank background. It feels like most posts I see on here are on blank backdrops though and I was curious of these come off as too amateur.
Hello fellow product photographers! I work in ecommerce and one of my clients wants to have their belt bag they had printed styled exactly like the vendor image(first photo). I stuffed it, but the sides and top are so puffed out. Do I need to stuff with something more solid like a foam brick? I would love to know how these guys are getting such a perfect shaped look. Thanks in advanced!
I'm considering to buy iPhone 16 or Samsung Galaxy s24. My priority is only camera I can compromise on everything else. I'm getting this for product photography/ macro photography (small jwellery for example)
But I'm skeptical because I can manage to invest but I don't want recurring expenses which might come. I have never used iphone and my friends give different opinions. Please help me decide.
I'm open for any other suggestions too.
Hey people of Reddit,
I am looking for some advice on what kind of lighting I would need to purchase to shoot product photo's of used watches. Please see attached photo's of what I am trying to achieve.
Some context I have no background as a photographer and I am still learning as we go.
I shoot on a canon Eos R50 with a 35mm lens and a 85mm lens for close up shots.
I want to build a studio where I can have consistent shots without having to move everything around.
I currently am thinking of getting a set of two Godox SL60II-D with two soft boxes.
I would also need a seamless and a proper shooting table but as you can see in the current hero shot (using a cheap neewer soft box) I struggle with the refelctions. I do already use a polarizing filter.
This time I borrowed an empty Sir Davis bottle. Shot on pink seamless paper.
Sony A7iii
Sony 50 1.4
ISO100 f8 5 stop ND filter
3 Broncolor Pulso heads with P70 reflectors and a snoot
Broncolor StripLite
Hi everyone,
I am an amateur photographer. With product photos, I have been struggling with shadows.
I have large content lights on tripods. Someone suggested a half moon light (lash light) instead of large content lights.
Has anyone successfully tried this lighting option? What are the pros and the cons?
Thank you
I’m really starting to get this gradient light approach working for me. These were empty bottles a couple were from the bar kid bartends. I’m purposefully shooting these tight and letting what depth of field I’m getting be. Personally think it’s the people who can shoot and frame their pictures compositionally thats going to stand out from mediocrity that abounds.
There was a good bit of photoshop work but that’s the nature of the beast. Best thing I learned this year is gradient photography. I’ve spent the past several years doing portraits and the lighting is completely different. So I watched a lot of tutorials after coming across this video that explained it to me, https://youtu.be/sKrKRjknpB0?si=ZfFO6PL3J77OkfUs
I’ve since subscribed to visualeducation.com and watched enough videos to be able to do these consistently. Used a Sony A7iii with 90mm macro. Three Broncolor lights, 2 Pulso heads with P70 reflector behind sheets of diffusion paper that’s readily available on Amazon. Also a hard StripLite from the 90s. I made the frame with some wood from Ace hardware along with the bits for the corners and a handsaw. BTS pic at the end.
Seriously, I couldn’t do these until last weekend. I was in the studio a few times last month getting my ass kicked before I started getting it.
Assuming I have zero knowledge of product photography, how and where should I start learning about it?
I understand that I need to learn and internalise the theory before I can even remotely hope to achieve any semblance of good results in practice. Is there a tutorial or course I can follow to get started?
Samples of my current questions:
How do I determine the correct aperture for keeping the entire subject in focus? And how do I determine when simply stopping down is not enough and I need to implement focus stacking?
Since different products will require distinctly different approaches to photographing them correctly, would it be better to first decide on a niche and focus on learning how to photograph only that specific category of products?
Are techniques such as compositing, light painting, frequency separation, etc absolutely indispensable for professional-grade product photography? Or can I implement alternative techniques to circumvent the complexities of these techniques?
Equipment: I have a camera, a few lenses, two strobes with two soft boxes and a remote trigger, but no macro lens. Would it be better to get a macro lens before I even get started? Or is it not a necessity?
Experience: I’ve never shot products other than for Instagram stories on my phone, and I’ve never shot artificial or controlled lighting other than occasionally bouncing a speedlight off the ceiling (admittedly with extremely poor results). I’ve only ever used Lightroom for processing and thus have zero knowledge of the advanced techniques pertinent to Photoshop.
By now, my lack of knowledge in this particular genre of photography should be abundantly evident. Please provide your advice and recommendations accordingly.
Thank you very much.
I got bored and wanted to clean up my photos on my Mac and wanted an easier way to do it to be honest so I started making a program called PhotoTriage(it's probably a thing already but you basically use arrow keys and swipe through them basically left to keep, right is delete, up to favorite and down is to skip and nothing gets fully deleted until you hit finish then it pops up a review page where you can see what you selected and unselect ones and such so. I hope it's useful for some folks 🫡PhotoTriage
Pic 1 is what I’m aiming for. Pic 2 and 3 are my pics. I’m trying to create a website for my products, but the background keeps changing brightness levels, presumably because the steel on bracelets reflect light better than a dark coloured strap?
For context, I’m using a Sony A7C with Sony FE 90mm F2.8 G OSS lens. I have a soft box and put the watch in a white box with a reflective card on the opposite side. I use manual camera settings to keep everything consistent.
I’ve started using photoshop for focus blending and would appreciate some guidance on how to keep the background consistent, but keeping the shadows visible. Given that I’ll be listing many items, and several angles of the same item, is there a way to make it streamlined like Pic 1? I feel like I’ve tried most things at this point but it’s incredibly time consuming - surely there’s a quick way?
Thanks in advance (I’m a complete novice with a camera so please excuse my awful explanation).
Edit: I’m based in London
I've been shooting for a few years and there are some photographers whose work I really enjoy. I want to create work at that level and I genuinely believe the fastest way to get there is to be in the room with people who are already doing it.
Right now I work in a large ecomm studio (not the most creative environment but it's taught me a lot about working efficiently with equipment and getting the light right consistently)
I recently found out I have a connection to one of the photographers through their ex-assistant (who is also a fantastic photographer but in a different genre).
A few things I'm genuinely unsure about - would love any advice:
• Is cold outreach (email vs DM) ever worth it?
• What should a first message actually say and what should it definitely not say?
• How polished does your portfolio need to be before you even reach out? (mine's in my profile if anyone wants to take a look)
• Is offering to assist for free (an extra pair of hands) normal or does that come across as undercutting?
(I can share websites of photographers I’m interested in, if that helps!)
Edit: thank you all for the helpful suggestions!
Hi everyone,
I’m starting a specialized e-commerce brand for high-end piercings (G23 Titanium, zircon stones, complex micro-details). I’m currently at a crossroads regarding my "production environment" for product photography.
Current Setup: Honor 400 (Smartphone). The Issue: While honor 400 photography is great for social media, it’s killing my catalog quality. The AI sharpening creates weird artifacts on the smooth titanium surfaces, and I lose the "organic" sharpness of the stones. I need that "premium jewelry" look where the edges are crisp, not "algorithmically enhanced."
The Proposed Setup: I found a deal for an original Canon EOS M video set (comes with an EF-EOS M adapter, Dummy Battery for infinite uptime, and a remote shutter) for around $300. I am planning to pair it with an Industar 61 L/Z 50mm f/2.8 (the one with the star-shaped bokeh) using an M42 adapter.
My Questions for the Experts:
I’m looking for that "Cartier-style" crispness without breaking the bank while I'm in the MVP phase. Any advice or alternative "stack" suggestions would be highly appreciated!
I used to do graphic design for a living and still like to work in that capacity. I decided to put some of the bottle and glass shots into some framework of how they’d look in ads.
The first set I started looking up etiquette rules around drinking. I came across how you’re supposed to hold your glass in the left hand.
For the Jack Daniel’s and Johnnie Walker ones, I downloaded a logo from brandsoftheworld.com
They’re just comps so no need to put all the extra stuff you’ll usually have to put in on a paying job.
