Taking professional looking photos for your Etsy shop has never been more important as your competition gets more and more saturated on the platform. Taking beautiful photos doesn’t have to be complicated though. Keep reading for my top product photography tips and learn how to take great Etsy photos.
- Use natural light: Natural lighting is the easiest way to take photos that look natural unless you have a lot of practice in flash photography. If you can’t go outside, that’s ok! Take your photography set up next to an open door or window for the best natural light.
- Create soft lighting: Natural lighting isn’t always enough. Ever take a photo outside under the sun at noon? Natural lighting can still be harsh, which creates distracting, ugly shadows in your images. If you’re outside in the direct sunlight, try taking your photo in the golden hour right before sunset where the light is soft.
- Keep backgrounds simple: Your background should never distract from your products. If you’re just starting out, try using a plain, white, seamless background for the easiest professional looking shots.
- Avoid using props: Again, props can be amazing! But if you’re new to product photography, they’re more likely to be distracting. You never want buyers to look at your images and not immediately know what you’re selling. Start without props, then implement them slowly as you improve your photography skills.
- Keep the product in focus: Nothing ruins a good good image like the product being out of focus. Inspect each image after you take it to ensure your product is in focus.
- Take a ton of different shots: Ever take a bunch of photos only to realize a few weeks later than you needed a vertical one and didn’t take it? Yeah, me too. Take a lot of photos when you bring all of your gear out. Vertical, horizontal, close up, far away, detailed shots. Anything and everything you might need in the future.
- Don’t change the color while editing: It’s so tempting to throw on a filter, especially if you’ve taken your photos on your phone. But lots of filters change the color of your products which can create a bad experience for your buyers. You want to edit your photos, but do it with caution to ensure colors are as accurate as possible.
- Practice, Practice, Practice: Taking great photo for Etsy isn’t going to feel super easy for you all the time and that’s ok. With practice you’ll get better and better. So make sure to set aside time regularly to practice and update product photos for listings that aren’t as good as you want them to be yet.
Need more help perfecting your product photography? Grab my photography guide here.
