Taking Black or White Background Pictures

Have you ever looked around online and seen the great pictures of products that look like they are floating on a solid background? Here is how they do it:

For solid color backgrounds and black: Take a twin sheet and stretch it over either a small form board or piece of plywood. You can use small tacks to hold it in place on the edges. I often place light colored items on a black background, because I have found that it is easy to darken up the background if needed to make all of my product pictures more uniform.

In contrast, if you want a solid white background you will need a lightbox/light tent. An actual lightbox can cost upwards of thousands of dollars. But, you can also make your own for about $10. Make sure you visit:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

Here are some other great guidelines for taking great photos:

1) Eliminate other items from the photo, so that you only have the product for sale shown.
2) Photographing items outside provides a great source of natural light
3) Try to shoot your item at a close distance.
4) Shoot pictures from all sides of your product.
5) To show the size of a product, use a common object (a coin, ruler, etc) to demonstrate the size difference.
6) Don`t use the flash if your item may reflect it.
7) Never borrow photos from other listings without permission.

Copyright 2007, Inch By Inch Designs

Back to Articles