As online-based eCommerce business has been expanding rapidly for a decade, product photography has become one of the vital keys to selling any product online. However, without vigorously focusing on product photography, it is so difficult to reach the target of product images to clients.
So if you want to run an eCommerce or online-based business, you’ll have to produce high-quality product photos of your products. Here starts the game of camera settings where you have a lot of things to do to make outstanding product photography.
The proper use of the camera settings for product photography makes your project much smoother with notable advantages in the post-production spell. Some argue that accurate camera settings complete even more than half of the operation of post-production processing.
I would say in a word; you have to have an adequate idea of the camera settings for the production and post-production of photography. To help you to do this perfectly now, I am going to give you a full idea of this so that you’ll be able to shoot some extraordinary product images even if you are a beginner!
Camera Settings for Product Photography
Let’s understand each of the following settings, then try to apply. First, learn the basic science of photography, then the rest of everything will seem like a game to you. Also, you will start to enjoy it for sure. So, without further ado, let’s jump into the points one by one.
Using Manual Mode When Shooting for Product Photography
You’ve probably known or at least heard of the three camera modes which are Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter, plus there are other programmed shooting modes (example: Automatic). Using manual mode for product photography is the best option while you are shooting for product photography. Manual mode allows you to set aperture, shutter speed, and ISO according to your preferences.
The rest of the modes won’t allow this. Automatic camera mode adjusts everything including aperture, shutter speed, and ISO automatically. Aperture priority mode offers to set the aperture only, accordingly it automatically matches the ISO and shutter speed.
So start your journey of learning the camera settings by using manual mode so that you can understand and build up the sense of the exposure triangle, a fundamental subject matter that refers to making the perfect combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Shoot in RAW Format
You should always shoot in Raw while doing product photography. Because Raw file formats always remain uncompressed and there are no adjustments made automatically – your Raw file retains all of the information. I am telling you this because product photography typically requires photo editing services.
Shooting images in Raw format broadens the space of post-production. You will be able to edit that raw file as much as you want without losing any data. For this, you will get enough scope to edit and retouch the photo.
Though a Raw file occupies a lot of space, sometimes even 20 MB and higher, still I recommend you to shoot in RAW format.
ISO Setting: as low as possible for product photography
ISO setting is one of the three big pillars of the camera setting and is of course a crucial part of any kind of photography. To put it simply, the camera ISO setting is the tool by which you can brighten or darken a photo.
ISO controls the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light. By increasing the value of ISO, you will get brighter photos. This tool is exceedingly helpful to shoot photos in a dark environment. On the other hand, by decreasing the value of ISO you will get the opposite outcome.
As we are talking about camera settings for product photography, I would suggest you keep the ISO level as low as possible. Because higher ISO produces grainy photos with a significant amount of noise, this potentially degrades the quality of the image. That means you won’t be able to get a clear and natural image by using a high-level ISO.
So keep the ISO level as low as possible to avoid noise. So start with keeping the lowest ISO level which is ISO 100 (and lower on some cameras), and then slowly increase it by the demand of ensuring light sufficiently. If ISO 100 seems perfect, then leave it to that. ISO 100 means a full second, while ISO 6400 means 1/64 of a second.
You can also manage artificial light instead of increasing the ISO level. So try to keep that low in any possible way you find.
Use a Small Aperture
The aperture is another important one of the three big pillars of photography. You must pay attention to the aperture for successful product photography. The aperture sets the opening size of a lens that lets light pass to the sensor.
Aperture is measured by the F-stops system and typically varies from F1 to F22. A wider size aperture lets much more light come in and a narrower aperture does the opposite, that is, the less amount of light can get into the sensor.
Go for a small aperture for product photography which is a large depth of field. A small aperture refers to a high f-stop number such as f/16 or f/22.
While shooting products, it is important for the entire product appear in focus. So you need to use that smaller aperture to get a deeper depth of field so that you can capture the entire product in focus.
But you also need to keep one thing in mind the aperture is closely related to ISO & shutter speed. If you use a small aperture/higher f-stop that means you are not allowing much light to enter. For this, you’ll have to ensure the source provides sufficient light and try to use a white or plain background. Balancing act!
Product Photography Shutter Speed Recommendation
The shutter speed controls how fast your shutter opens and closes. A higher shutter speed allows freezing of a subject. While shooting products, you have nothing to do with motion. So you should use a lower shutter speed. Because it works amazing for narrower apertures.
We have just mentioned why you should use a narrower aperture. To get a better result with a narrower aperture, it will be best for you to use a lower shutter speed. Furthermore, the low shutter speed will also help you to bring more light into your camera.
But listen carefully! You must use a tripod while shooting with a low shutter speed. If you try to shoot by holding the camera with your hands, that will not be steady, or shoot something moving, and for this, you will be required to use a higher shutter speed. Therefore, using the tripod is a must option to avoid using a higher shutter speed.
Select an Appropriate White Balance
Ensure the whites and colours render properly in your product image. To do that you are supposed to set the white balance appropriately. By selecting an appropriate white balance you will be able to avoid color casts in the white areas as well as other colors of your product photos.
For this, the color tone will offer a true look which means your product will seem much realistic. Try to adjust the white balance according to the presence of light.
You can set the white balance to “Auto” generally, which works flawlessly in natural daylight conditions. Auto white balance is like letting the camera decide to choose it. But sometimes, it may not work properly, especially in those cases when the colors of the image are not white or close to white.
In these cases, you will have to balance the color manually. You can try the white balance presets that your camera offers, such as daylight, fluorescent, flash, cloudy. Analyze which one suits the colors of the image best.
Keep in mind carefully that white balance plays a vital role in product photography when the background is white.
Automatic Full Focus
Using automatic focus is the best option when you are to focus on your product. Through the automatic focus set your camera focus to lock on your product. That will help you to get sharp product images.
There is no problem with manual focus. But you need to be a professional photographer to do that. Otherwise, there’s a chance to mess up the focus on the product.
As everything has to be detailed and clear in product photography, you can go for automatic focus so that your camera will focus on the product automatically for tack sharp images.
No Flash
When you are going to shoot for product photography you should always avoid using flash. Because camera flash will bring some extra challenges to you. You may have to unnecessarily struggle with exposure issues.
Of course, you can use artificial light if you need it. Use artificial lights instead of flash to avoid unwanted and unevenly lit photos. So, shoot with off-camera flash equipment to get the best result.
Zoom In
If you need to zoom in while shooting product photos you’ll have to be selective to choose that. Generally, most cameras offer two kinds of zoom options, which are optical and digital. Always avoid using digital zoom and select the optical one.
Digital zoom creates a zoom effect by cropping the image, and that ultimately deteriorates the quality of the image and creates some issues during the post-production spell. So use optical zoom-in to get a better result.
Final verdict
We have discussed all the camera settings for product photography. Surely you are going to get some high-quality extraordinary photos if you follow all the aforementioned tips. And if necessary, you can retouch and take post-production services to make the photos more attractive. Your customers will get an original and realistic view of your products which can help boost your sales. Good luck!
For more reading on camera settings check out: Birding and Bird Photography: A Perfect Pair
