Summary

• Professional product photography costs around $200 per shoot, but smartphone cameras (12MP+) can produce quality images with proper techniques.
• Six key tips for smartphone product photography: use 12MP+ cameras, stabilize with tripods, use wireless remotes to prevent blur, experiment with attachable lenses, shoot against solid backgrounds, and use soft diffused lighting.
• Additional smartphone shooting tips include using grid lines for proper centering, locking focus, adjusting white balance, and keeping ISO below 800.
• Draph Art enhances smartphone photos with AI-generated backgrounds that match products and create professional-looking results.
• The service offers specialized features like bundle photo creation (showing accurate quantities) and mannequin-to-human transformations, eliminating model hiring costs.

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How to Reduce Product Photo Production cost

Did you know that when producing product photos for online shopping malls, the average cost of photo shooting alone is around $200? This cost can be even more burdensome if your shopping mall has to update product photos every season. In such cases, in order to reduce the high production cost, you can use smartphones to take product photos by yourself! Most smartphones that are available in the market currently come with high-performance cameras, so you can get high-quality product photos without the need for professional equipment or hiring a photographer as long as you know just a few tips. Thus for today's post, we would like to share some useful tips on shooting product photos using a smartphone.

 

6 Handy Tips for Shooting Product Photos with a Smartphone

 

1. Use smartphone models with 12 megapixels or more

 

For good quality product photos, it’s best to use smartphone models with megapixels as high as possible. So, for you to create professional-looking product photos, it is necessary to use a smartphone with a camera of at least 12 megapixels. Smartphone models with 12MP camera or more are as follows: In Galaxy series, from Galaxy S8 and in iPhone series, from iPhone 8.

 

2. Tools for stable shooting: Tripod and Wireless Camera Remote

<Tripod or Stand>

 

Fixing the camera stably is crucial for clear and consistent results in photography. Therefore, you need to secure your phone with a tripod or a stand. There are various options for smartphone tripods in the market, so we recommend you to purchase one that fits your budget. If you already own a camera tripod, you could just get a smartphone clip and attach your smartphone to the tripod. 

 

<Wireless Camera Remote>

 

If your phone shakes when taking the product photo, the clarity of the photo will drop. For example, when you touch the screen of your phone at the moment of taking the photo, your smartphone may slightly shake, causing blurry photo. To prevent this, you could use a wireless camera remote. This tool has the advantage that you don’t have to physically touch your screen, as you can operate the camera remotely. Many wireless camera remote in the market are easy to operate and are affordable for under 10,000KRW, so make sure to purchase it before your photo shooting!

 

3. Experiment with various lenses

 

Using additional lenses that can be attached to smartphones allows you to take more professional photos. For larger products, wide-angle lenses are suitable and to emphasize the texture or details of the product, macro lenses work best. However, be cautious that the additional lenses are not distorting the appearance of the product. 

 

4. Use one-colored backgrounds

 

Unless you have a specific theme in mind, it’s effective to shoot product photos against one-colored backgrounds, so the product can stand out. Using a simple white or gray background is especially recommended, as it helps draw attention to the product. Particularly, using a white background can fill in shadows behind and below the product by reflecting lights, making the product look brighter. 

 

5. Use soft, diffused lighting

 

Soft, diffused lighting is the most suitable for product photography. If you have natural light available, it’s best to utilize it. If you find the natural light insufficient, you can use a white reflector to fill in the shadows. However, if you don’t have natural lights when shooting at night or indoors, artificial lighting is needed. Using ordinary white fluorescent lights may not produce the desired results, so it’s better to purchase shooting lighting specifically. These shooting lighting range from small, affordable options to studio-scale lighting, so you can choose one according to your budget. 

 

6. Precautions when shooting product photos with a smartphone

 

• Position the product accurately by activating the grid function in your smartphone camera to ensure that the product is precisely centered. 
• Once your camera is focused on the product, lock the focus for a consistent result.
• Adjust the white balance to match the lighting conditions. Although most cameras have automatic white balance controls, it’s good to double-check it manually.
• Try to keep the ISO below 800 to avoid excessive noise in the photos. 

 

Editing Product Photos Easily with Draph Art

 

Once you are done with photo shooting, now it is time to edit them to create the final output. Utilizing Draph Art in this step will make your final results look more professional! Upload your original image on Draph Art and our AI will automatically generate backgrounds with various themes that match the product. By doing so, you can create even more eye-catching photos!

 

 

You can also create bundle photos from a single product shot. For bundled products that are sold online, it is advisable that the main image reflects the quantity of the bundle accurately. Draph Art’s Multipack Photo feature automatically duplicates the product in the uploaded photo and increases the quantity of the product to your needs. 

 

 

For product photos with mannequins, Draph Art’s AI can replace the mannequin’s face with an AI human model face. This feature comes in handy if you are running an online fashion mall. Without having to invest a lot of money in casting models, just dress up your mannequin and upload the photo on Draph Art. Our AI will automatically generate AI human model faces and also create matching backgrounds. Reduce the cost and time spent on product photo production by using Draph Art!