Handmade for Sale or How to Photograph Handmade Items
Published: 10.11.2020
Have you felt like your handmade products are being ignored on the internet? Your friends and family admire your creations. People touch, feel, and buy your works offline. But on social media or marketplaces, they don't even show interest. Many beginners make the mistake of using low-quality photos. They rush to put their handmade products up for sale and don't realize how much photography can increase the quantity and price of their items.
Let's reveal the secret of photographing handmade items for sale. Good product photos play an important role in online sales. The right photos are more likely to be seen by users and shared. Excellent handmade photos will lead to sales!
In our article, we will share the basics of taking great photos of handmade products. We have plenty of extremely useful and practical tips. We will explain how to properly photograph handmade items in order to make a profit.
Handmade photos for sale, in demand
Accept it as a fact: great photos sell handmade items online.
No matter how talented, creative, and hard-working you are. If you don't have the right photos, no one will know about you and your work. Good product photos not only attract people's attention. If you photograph handmade items correctly, the photos will instill confidence in the buyer in you and your handmade products.
If you have a regular photo of your handmade product, a potential buyer may simply scroll past the image without even looking at it. Or a user may find your handmade item in a Google search, but upon seeing a low-quality image, they will immediately move on to something else. Most likely, your handmade product was exactly what they were looking for, but you lacked truly good photographs to showcase the item for sale.
Critically evaluate handmade photos.
You make the most wonderful handmade product, but if your photos are boring or out of focus, the buyer will purchase them from someone else. Take a close look at your images. And ask yourself a few questions:
- Do handmade photos look professional?
- Does the product image catch the eye?
- Is it clear to the user what you are selling?
- Would you click on such a picture?
Compare photos of your handmade items with similar products available. Be honest with yourself. If you're not sure, ask your friends.
How to properly photograph handmade work
You don't need a huge mirror camera to take decent product photos. Most smartphones are perfect for taking great handmade photos.
Read our tips on how to take cool photoson the phoneAnd consider that the beginning has been made!
We want to help you properly photograph your handmade works. This involves not only technical details of lighting and focusing, but also creating a signature style through your images. It will require time and effort. But once you develop a formula for successful photography, it will take less and less time. And you will sell more in the process!
Create a Light album from cool photos for offline advertising. You don't need to print the photos separately. We will print your photos directly on the pages of the Light album. Upload images to the free editor Mapi7 and create a thematic Light album. You can upload photos from your phone.
How to best photograph your handmade products for sale
Why do photos taken by a professional photographer always look so good?
The key is in understanding the characteristics of an excellent photograph and how they are achieved.
Correct background
The idea of stylized handmade photos is to help customers visualize how, for example, knitted items will look in their home or on them. Therefore, you need to find a suitable background.
The background sets the scene. Professionals carefully choose the background to create a winning shot. This is especially true for small products: soap, jewelry, toys.
If you don't have the perfect location and can't find it, create the background yourself. You will need a space with good natural lighting. This is important because artificial light can give photos an unpleasant yellow tint. North-facing windows are ideal.
Working with plain white walls at home can be challenging. Often in photographs, they appear dull and gray. Add interest and texture to your background. However, remember that the background should complement your products, not overpower them. It is usually best to keep the background light, neutral, and stylistically similar to your products - whether it be a real setting or a mock-up.
An excellent background does not require additional decorations. Props should be minimal and simple.
Some ideas for interesting backgrounds for handmade items for sale - whitewashed half-shells, old boards, concrete wall, paper. If you can't find a suitable background, make it yourself. Cover a piece of drywall with wallpaper imitating marble or wood.
Use the props
After you have decided on the background, choose props that will complement your products. You don't have to use them all at once. But if you have them on hand, you can try different combinations and see what works best.
Old stools, benches, boxes, books, and shelves work great. Just keep in mind that dark wood absorbs light and dominates in the photograph. If your items need something lighter, opt for a shade that is easier to work with.
When choosing props, remember that your product is the star, and the props are supporting characters. The role of props is to give context and scale to the product, as well as make it shine. Therefore, use props sparingly and make sure they enhance your product. If you are worried that something is not right, just remember the rule: less is more.
Furniture, frames, and shelves made of laminate can glare in photographs. Use them with caution.
Invent your own style
Choose props and background that will give the photo a consistent stylized look. Choose carefully so that the details or colors do not confuse your buyer.
One way to achieve your own photography style is to use the same background or props in each photo. Don't worry about it looking boring or repetitive. Having a consistent style in your photos means that clients will be able to recognize your brand.
You can choose one background for all your photos. Or add a prop to each frame. For example, in every photo except your artwork, there could be a bright orange or a sprig of dried lavender. Think about a style that will suit your work and try to stick to it.
Cool photos deserve unique framing. Print your cool photos in Polaroid style. Fans of instant photography from the 90s may experience familiar feelings when holding a photo in Polaroid style. Those who are not familiar with the traditional Polaroid will enjoy square images with space for captions.
New season - new style
There is a simple way to keep your products looking fresh throughout the year without introducing new items - give them a different style. Provide customers with clear visual cues on how to use your products and for what events they are suitable. Use obvious seasonal props. For example, painted eggs for Easter or snowdrops for International Women's Day.
If you don't want to limit the lifespan of photos with products too much, hint at the seasons using shades of your background. Introduce seasonal flowers or foliage into the frame, stylize with food associated with a specific time of year.
How to beautifully photograph handmade items
All your photos should be sharp and focused. The image should clearly reflect what you are selling or exhibiting. The colors should be vivid, without distracting borders or filters. And although it is not necessary to crop the image to a square, handmade items really look cool in a square. Because that's how they will look on a social media page or in a search.
Now you know how important a proper photograph of a handmade product is. A high-quality image will help sell your handmade items, make them desirable, strengthen your brand and reputation, provide you with content for social media, make people share your work and talk about you. Stunning product photos have almost magical power, so it is really worth spending some time and maybe money to get them right.
Take good, clean, and attractive photos to successfully sell handmade products online. The quality of your photos directly impacts the success of your online handmade business.
