Jul 10 2008
Put Your Camera’s Settings and Software To Work
Most digital cameras have a zoom option, so use it instead of physically getting really close to your subject. Getting too close can change the way the flash hits your item, bleaching the color out of the photo or leaving those white flash marks. It can also cause weird shadows, even after you took the time to provide good lighting!
You can use the editing software that came with your digital camera to tweak a photo. The software can help to center it, adjust brightness, sharpness, and eliminate some slight shadowing. They even have automatic fixes, that are hit and miss IMO. You can even remove red-eye so your model doesn’t look possessed.
Too much editing can really alter the color, texture, and overall quality of the picture, sometimes to the point where the item shown is unrecognizable in real life versus photo. Since you took a decent photograph in the first place, there’s no need for too much touch-up work, right?
If it takes a lot of editing to make your item look good, the customer is sure to be disappointed with it in person. Think of a the reaction to someone who posts an ancient picture on a dating site, only to look years older in person. Just take an honest picture instead of leaving a customer feeling tricked.
