Product photography plays such an important role for eCommerce stores - helping to drive sales, support conversions, and boost product appeal. That being said, if you’re working on a shoestring budget, getting high-quality images for your store may seem near impossible.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to get flattering photos of your product. Instead, it might be worth learning how to take great product photos with your smartphone. The quality may not meet the standards of a DSLR, though you can still use a handful of simple tricks to get the best result from your smartphone’s camera.

Want to learn how to take great product photos with a smartphone? Here are 10 quick tips to turn your shots from good to great.

Best Phone For Product Photography

For business owners working on a small budget, product photography with a smartphone can deliver great results. That being said, certain smartphones will deliver better images than others - here’s a list of the best smartphones for product photography.

Google Pixel

The Google Pixel holds a stunning camera, perfect for those eager to practice their product photography. The rear camera is 12 megapixels with an f/2.0.

Plus, the camera is capable of taking the images very quickly, minimising the risk of a blurriness caused by camera-shake.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro

For product photography, the Apple iPhone 11 Pro has a lot of features that are easy to love. The smartphone has a triple camera array - including a wide-angle, ultra-wide, and telephoto lens, all of which are 12 megapixels.

There’s also good consistency of both colour and tone across all 3 cameras - producing sharp, clean images. Plus, the wide-angle lens provides much more flexibility for those working with larger subjects, minus any distortion.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Lastly, there’s the Samsung Galaxy S5, holding a 16-megapixel rear camera, with f/2.2 and a 31mm focal length - perfect for creating quality product images. On top of this, there’s plenty of additional features such as an LED flash and auto-focus.

If you’re interested in creating video, the camera can also shoot up to 30-frames per second.

How To Do Product Photography With A Smartphone

Grabbing the best phone for product photography is only half the battle. To get the very best results from a smartphone, you’re going to need a few tricks up your sleeve. Here’s 10 simple tips you can use to make sure your images turn out looking great.

1. Use Natural Light

Successful product photo-shoots depend on good lighting, so it’s important to get it right from the start.

Studio lighting provides the most control over your scene, though the equipment can be very expensive. If you’re working on a small budget, natural light is a great alternative - it provides an organic look and is very easy to take advantage of. Plus, it’s free!

To get the best results, set up the photo-shoot in a space with plenty of natural lighting - this could be near a large window or door. If you need to fill in any shadows, try using a reflector to steer the available light onto your subject.

2. Don’t Zoom

When you’re learning how to take great product photos with a smartphone, this is one of the most important rules to remember - don’t zoom! As you zoom in, the resolution will drop and decrease the image quality.

Instead, try to physically get closer to your subject if you need to fill the frame - and steer clear of that digital zoom.

how to do product photography with iphone

3. Turn The Flash Off

Using the flash feature of your smartphone will rarely produce the results you’re chasing - especially since they have a reputation for leaving behind blurry, blown-out, and poorly coloured images.

Instead, save yourself the hassle and leave the flash turned off. If you need better lighting, set up your shoot in a location with an abundance of natural light.

4. Clean The Product

This may sound simple, though it’s a step that’s easily forgotten in the moment. Before you start your photo-shoot, remember to give your products a quick clean to remove any specks of dust or smudges.

These can stick out like a sore thumb in online stores, decreasing the appeal of a product image. To avoid this, use a microfibre cloth to gently clean your subject - it’ll save a lot of stress down the line

Though if you do notice a few specks of dust in your images, don’t lose hope. Rather than going through the effort of re-shooting, try editing them out in Photoshop.

5. Use A Tripod

Whether you’re using a DSLR or a smartphone for product photography, you’re going to need a sturdy tripod - and fortunately for smart-phone users, they’re very affordable.

Using a tripod will eliminate camera shake, helping you to create clean and crisp images for your store. On top of this, you’ll be able to maintain a standard angle throughout the shoot, providing the photos with a consistent look.

6. Use An External Trigger

There’s no room for blurry shots in an eCommerce store, especially since customers depend on clean and accurate images on their purchasing journey.

Luckily, crisp-looking images aren’t difficult to create - all you need to do is prevent camera-shake during the photo-shoot. It may sound dramatic, though even the smallest nudge as you’re taking the photo can be disastrous.

To ensure your images turn out nice and crisp, you’re going to need an external trigger. They connect to your smartphone wirelessly and allow you to trigger the camera without touching your phone.

7. Use A Mobile Lens

Though smart-phone cameras can produce remarkable results, there’s only so much they can do. Fortunately, mobile photography has advanced over the recent years - and there are now plenty of high-grade smartphone camera lenses you can use to boost your camera’s capabilities.

For example, you can use wide-angle lenses if you’re working with bigger products to make sure you’re getting everything in-frame. Otherwise, a macro lens would be a better choice if you’re shooting smaller items like jewellery or watches. They help you to get closer to the products so you’re able to properly capture all the intricate details.

Mobile lenses prove to be a handy addition to any photo-shoot, helping you to customise your approach when shooting particular products.

8. Grab A Lightbox

For a softer, even distribution of light over your subject, consider investing in a light-box for your photo-shoot. A light-box is essentially a small tent made from a semi-transparent material that diffuses and softens the incoming light over your subject.

This simple photography tool fights off harsh light and strong shadows, making it easier to create professional-looking product images.

9. Take Multiple Shots

When it comes to product photography, there’s plenty of benefits that come with getting a little trigger-happy with your camera.

By taking multiple shots of your scene from different angles and styles, you can increase your odds of getting the perfect shot. The first image may be a little blurry, while the next is slightly off centre - though in this cluster will likely be an image worthy of your website.

Taking many images of the same scene gives more options and flexibility when you go back to edit them later on.

10. Edit Your Photos

The photo-shoot is only half the job - once you’ve taken a series of crisp-looking images, consider taking some time to edit the shots.

Using photo-editing platforms like Lightroom provides you with more control over a photo’s final look. In these applications, you can adjust the exposure, contrast, colour, and more to make the image look its very best. It may take some practice to become familiar with the process, though the results will speak for themselves.

Otherwise, if you don’t have time to learn how to retouch your images, consider hiring a professional to do the hard work. The service is often very affordable and can elevate your images to a whole new level of quality.

In Summary

For small business owners working on a small budget, smartphone product photography continues to be an affordable option. With this surprisingly advanced camera sitting in your pocket, you can create a series of crisp and clean images worthy of your site.

Though the results don’t quite meet the standards of a DSLR camera, there are plenty of ways you can make your images look even better - whether it’s by using natural light, turning the flash off, avoiding the digital zoom function, or editing your photos after the shoot. With these simple tips by your side, you’ll be taking beautiful product photos in no time at all.

Ready to get started with your product shoot? Be sure to check out our previous article: ‘How To Do A Product Shoot In 6 Easy Steps.’