How to photograph your products with just a phone

The most common reason a shop owner gives for not posting is that the photos will not look good enough.

It is a fair worry, and it is also mostly solvable. Almost every phone sold in the last five years takes a photo good enough for a feed. What separates a picture that works from one that does not is rarely the camera. It is light, background and angle — and all three are free.

Light: stand near a window, face it

This is the single biggest improvement available to you, and it costs nothing.

Indoor tube lights and yellow bulbs make everything look flat and slightly ill. Daylight does not. Find the window or the open shutter with the most light coming in, put your product near it, and stand so the light falls on the product rather than behind it.

A few things to avoid:

• Direct midday sun. Too harsh, blows out detail. Bright shade or an overcast sky is better.
• Your own shadow. If you are between the light and the product, step to the side.
• Mixed light. Daylight from a window plus a yellow tube light overhead gives you two colours at once and the photo looks off. Switch the tube light off.

Morning and late afternoon are kinder than noon.

Background: less than you think

The fastest upgrade after light is removing clutter. A busy background pulls attention away from the thing you are selling.

You do not need a backdrop. You need one of these:

• A plain wall
• A clean counter
• A sheet of white or plain-coloured paper or cloth
• The floor, if it is clean and even

Keep it consistent. If every post uses the same surface, your feed starts to look deliberate rather than accidental — and that reads as a business that pays attention.

Angle: shoot how it will be used

Two angles cover most products.

Straight on, at eye level. Best for clothes on a hanger, bottles, boxes, anything with a front. Hold the phone at the same height as the middle of the product, not above it.

From directly above. Best for anything flat — food on a plate, jewellery, folded fabric, a spread of items. Stand over it, keep the phone parallel to the surface, and watch your shadow.

The one to avoid is the accidental angle: standing wherever you happened to be and shooting downward at a slant. It makes the product look smaller and the photo look rushed.

A few practical things

Clean the lens. Phone cameras live in pockets. A wipe on your shirt fixes more blurry photos than any setting.

Tap to focus. Tap the product on the screen before you shoot. Then drag the little sun icon slightly down if the picture looks too bright.

Take five, keep one. Photos are free. Move slightly between each one.

Fill the frame. Get closer than feels natural. Do not zoom — zooming on a phone usually just crops and loses quality. Move your feet instead.

Skip the heavy filters. A small brightness lift is fine. Anything that changes the colour of your product is a problem, because the customer will notice the difference when they arrive.

What actually matters more than any of this

A slightly imperfect photo posted today beats a perfect one posted next month.

People are not judging your photography. They are deciding whether they want the thing. A clear, well-lit picture of what you actually have, put up while it is still in stock, does the job.

Shoot it on the counter, near the window, and put it up.