White Background Photos: An Essential Element of E-Commerce

White background photography – sounds quite simple, doesn’t it? Well, think again. This seemingly simple product photography service has its nuances which we shall learn in this write-up. From the basics to the dos and don’ts – we’ve covered everything about white background product photography here. Read on to find out more.

White background; The most preferred in product photography

Why does the background of my product photographs have to be white? Here’s why:

  • Highlights the product – The use of white colour in the background of product photographs serves two purposes. First, it does not attract viewers’ attention. Secondly, at the same time, it makes the product appear as the point/object of focus.
  • Common standard – E-commerce juggernauts of the likes of Amazon, Google, etc. mandate sellers to have only light (especially white) coloured backgrounds in their product photos.
  • Edit easily – The use of many popular photo editing effects becomes extremely simple when the photograph being edited sports a white background. For instance, the lasso tool works pretty flawlessly with a white background.

 

Dos for the perfect white background photograph

Here’s what you’d need to do to enhance your white background product photography skills.

  1. Set up the equipment properly – Place a spotless and sparkling white background (a white cloth or a white paper or cardstock) behind your product. Clamp the lights on to a decent spot. To ensure an adequate amount of lighting, try using three lamps, each placed on the right, left, and top of the product.
  2. Configure camera settings – To have that perfect shot, you’d need to tinker around a little with the settings of your camera. Try setting the ISO, white balance, aperture, and shutter speed.
  3. Persevere – The key to clicking great white background product photos is to practise clicking more and more. The initial few clicks might leave you confused but in a matter of a few more clicks, you will surely find that perfect combination (of equipment, lighting, etc.) and camera configuration.

professional product photography tips

Don’ts to be kept in mind

Here are a few things you should avoid while clicking white background photos:

  1. Low or poor lighting – Try to strike a good balance between the lighting of the subject and that of its background. Underlighting or overlighting of either the subject or the background can leave you with a photograph where either the product is in shadow or the background becomes the centre of attraction.
  2. Floating object – If absolutely no shadow(s) of your product(s) is formed on the floor of the shooting surface, it may appear as if your object is floating mid-air. To avoid this, try to have a shadow or reflection of your product on the white base of your shooting area.

 

Hire a seasoned product photographer

In case you find the entire exercise of clicking white background product photos too cumbersome to carry out on your own, it would be wise to avail of a professional product photography service. EtherArts Product Photography is one of the most renowned product photography firms in the USA. To have flawless white background photographs of your products clicked professionally, you may get in touch with the team at EtherArts Product Photography.

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About The Author

EtherArts is an Amazon Approved Product Photography Service. Aarti is the principal photographer with more than a decade long experience in product photography. We try to share our experiences and some ideas on how to do professional product photography through our blog posts. So keep in touch and learn new tips every day!