Product Photography For Designers Makers Nd.compressed

Product Photography for Designer/Makers

“The Designer/Maker’s Favourite Photographer” Worked with 100’s of independent designers, shops and small businesses Shot 1000s of products covering every material and use Plus Web, film and animation with Yesh&Tash Recommended by:

The Design Trust / New Designers Cockpit Arts / Crafty Fox Market / Craft Central / Just Got Made ETSY / Folksy / Not on The High Street London Design Fair WeMakeWebsites (UK’s leading Shopify Experts) Squarespace

www.yeshen.uk

Twitter: @yeshen

Instagram: yeshen.venema

The Visual Web Your customers are more likely to remember a strong image than text. But we have very short attention spans - less than goldfish at only 7 seconds. Make your shots count. Source: Buffer/Hubspot 2016

Planning Detailed preparation for your shoot is essential. Start planning 2-3 months ahead. Use my Shoot Prep resource. Sketch your shots, pre-visualise the scenes. How will you use your images in the year ahead? Product listings, category blocks and banners Markets/Show applications Press Leaflets, posters, business cards Seasonal Promotions Social campaigns Newsletters Competitions

Pro or DIY? As a designer/maker you will always need to take some photos yourself, even if only for social. For full shoots, best to work with a professional in a studio. You’ll get more done in the time and you can focus on your products - this is true for both product shots and lifestyle. One off or bespoke? You may need to shoot yourself, but at least learn from a pro so you can replicate at home or in your studio space.

Gear check Camera with option for manual (M) mode Tripod/Tripod head Surface: Flat table, or folding trestle legs and table top Background papers/card: Ice White/Quartz Grey/Dreadnaught Grey White perspex (jewellery, cosmetics, food/drink) Foamboard: Black and White Diffusion materials: white muslin or shower curtain, tracing paper, thin white curtain Blu tac, masking tape, gaffer tape, small clips and larger clamps, small wooden blocks and wedges If shooting tethered (connected to laptop): usb-micro usb cable

Tethering If shooting tethered (connected to laptop): usb-micro >> usb cable Software: Adobe Lightroom or Capture One. You see images as you take them, can make preview edits/crops during shoot and you always work ‘non-destructively’. Edits can be applied to a batch or simply applied to next capture. Images are exported at end in chosen format (JPG/TIF/PSD) and pixel size. You can return to the ‘Session’ at any time.

Format&Crop It’s crucial to know your crops before shoot. Common Crop Ratios are: Product listings: 1:1 Square Category images: often 7x5 landscape Etsy: Square, but cropped on thumbnail Web banner: 16:9 for example Facebook/Twitter Header Instagram can be any but square/portrait work best Search for: ‘social media sizing cheat sheet 2016’

DPI DPI is only relevant for print. 300dpi min. Web is all about pixel dimensions, ie. 1500x1500px The max you will need a screen is 2500px wide for full bleed banners. Always start large and make image smaller, never upscale. View ‘Actual Size’ or ‘100%’ to see how large the image really is. MB size is determined by pixel size and colour data. So a cutout will usually be smaller MB than a lifestyle image.

Angle of view Spend time discovering the most flattering and efficient angle from which to shoot your products. The angle should not distort the form, i.e. watch out for perspective on edges of product and props/walls. Usually it’s one of 3 views: ● ● ●

‘3/4 view’ like looking at table from standing Directly side on Overhead (flat lay).

Depth of field Easy to get confused here. ‘Aperture’ or ‘fstop’ setting is how you control how much depth in the image is in focus. Lower the number, like f3: the less is in focus, the wider the lens opening. You can shoot in less light. High number like f12: the more is in focus, the more narrow the lens opening. You need more light or a tripod.

Image source: Petapixel.com

Depth of field This is often the difference between an amerature and professional photo - control over the depth of field. The higher mm the lens, the more pronounced the depth of field will be. A 100mm macro will give a very fine focus point at f3. Be careful not to loose focus on your product. You can also control your lighting to enhance this, by separating the foreground and background areas.

Styling

Minimal

Minimal

Traditional

Texture/Natural

Rethink your setup

Deconstructed

Get Creative Custom made props

Creative

Custom background + spray-painted mdf blocks

Creative

Custom painted background/surface

Creative

Custom painted boards

Creative

Custom painted boards with block colour background

Materials

Location

Behind the scenes Show your: Workspace Tools Materials Process Work in progress Mistakes Pets/colleagues Yourself/your hands Supply chain Discoveries Local knowledge

Apps and Tools for editing and sharing your images. Test of a range of apps for what you need, find the right ones for you. Photo Editing/Shooting Tethered Capture One/Adobe Lightroom Affinity Photo/Photoshop/ Aviary/Photoshop Express Online Canva JPEG Mini Scheduling Buffer Later Resources https://blog.bufferapp.com/ http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing http://www.shotkit.com/

www.yeshen.uk/shoot-prep studio62

www.yeshen.uk

Twitter: @yeshen

Instagram: yeshen.venema

Questions?

www.yeshen.uk

Twitter: @yeshen

Instagram: yeshen.venema