You’ll read articles stating you need to use a high quality camera and take your photos in natural light. That’s good advice but it’s not always possible. What if it’s raining or cloudy? What if the only time you have to finish your products and photograph them is after dark because you have to wait for the little ones to go to sleep or because you work during the day?
Photo Light Box
I have the solution for you! The easiest and best tool for your Etsy shop photography is a photo light box. I use a 25X30X25 fold-able light box I purchased from Amazon. They have smaller ones and larger ones but I find that this one is perfect for all my needs. The box has built-in fluorescent lights and block out all other light so there are no shadows or glare on your products. You have the option to take photos from the top looking down for from the side looking in. It folds up for easy storing but I use mine so often I leave it set up all the time and just plug it in when I’m ready to use it.
Take a look at some of the before and after photos I’ve taken using both natural light and my photo light box.
Natural Light Photos
My living room is light and sunny currently as it’s 12:00pm here in Texas. I had to position the items just right so that they were not in the shadow but also not backing up directly to the light from the window. If I take a picture directly facing the window it’s just a big blur. I also have to position myself so that I’m not in a shadow or the photo is too dark.
For the glass lantern I had to kind of hold my camera out in front of the lantern but position my body off to the side so that I didn’t show up too much in the reflection of the glass. Now, all of this worked out and I got pretty decent photos but it was a lot to think about and if the sun wasn’t out or it was later in the day, this wouldn’t have worked at all.
Here are the same 2 photos taken in my photo light box. All I did was place the item in the middle of the box, close the flap and take a photo. There was no reflection or glare on the lantern. I didn’t have to worry about the position of the sun in relation to my product or my camera and it wouldn’t have mattered if it was 10:00pm because the photo box has lights built-in.
Light Box Photos
I also want to note that I don’t use a fancy camera. A high quality camera is great but honestly, I just use my trusty iPhone. I have edited both sets of photos however the set I took using the photo box has much less editing. I just use the auto edit in my iPhone. For the ones I took in natural light I had to go in and edit the brightness, exposure, shadows, contrast and brilliance. Even after all that, the light box photos look better.
Another thing I love about the light box is that it’s large enough to set a scene if I want or just use the white backdrop. For some things, simple is best. You don’t want to distract from your item with too much background noise. For other things you want to kind of set the scene. Here’s an example of some of my Etsy shop photography featuring some of my Christmas items.
All of these photos were taken using my photo box. For some I set a scene with props and some I just left on the white backdrop that comes with the box. Having a lot of photos of your item in different settings showing all of the features is the best way to go.
(This post contains affiliate links. This just means that if you purchase something by clicking on one of my links I may receive a small commission at no additional fee to you.)
Setting a Scene
Sometimes people will see the scene you set and want to recreate it so use items that you sell to set the scene. I’ve had several people purchase my wrapped boxes used in these photos because they wanted to recreate the scene.
Bottom line, you need to have stunning photos and the best way to do that is to invest in a photo light box. They range in size, quality and price. Look around and find one that works for you. You can click here to see the one I use. I chose it because it was large enough for what I need and it had great reviews. I have NO complaints about this one. It is a bit on the pricey side but hey, you get what you pay for, right? Do some research and start stepping up your Etsy shop photography game. I promise you’ll see a huge return on your investment.
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