Professional product photography is more than just taking a nice picture. The right tools can make a big difference in how your brand shows up online. If your images are blurry, poorly lit, or fail to show the real detail of your product, customers might scroll past you without giving it a second thought. On the flip side, clear and polished visuals can spark interest, build trust, and help turn window-shoppers into actual buyers.
To get there, though, you need more than just a camera and a blank wall. From choosing the right gear to knowing how to use it, having the correct setup will save you time and frustration while making your products look their best. Whether you're shooting skincare bottles, fashion items, or handmade jewelry, understanding what equipment helps you nail those shots is the first step in creating images that match the quality of your brand.
At Four x Five, we specialize in capturing professional product photos that look clean, consistent, and ready for your online store. Our process handles everything from setup to delivery, helping brands stand out through high-quality imagery.
The Right Camera
A solid camera forms the foundation of any product photography setup. The camera you choose affects everything from resolution and sharpness to how easy it is to capture color accurately. There’s no single right option for all businesses, but knowing what to look for helps narrow it down based on your style, product size, and shooting space.
Here are a few camera types to consider for product photography:
- DSLR Cameras: These offer excellent image quality and let you swap out lenses. Their manual controls give you more precision when capturing specific textures or reflective surfaces.
- Mirrorless Cameras: These are lighter and more compact but still deliver strong performance. Fast previews and responsive settings make them great for high-volume shoots.
- Compact Cameras: These are good for basic needs, especially if you’re working with smaller setups and don’t need lens flexibility.
When picking your camera, focus on features like:
- High resolution (20MP or more)
- Manual control of settings like shutter speed, ISO, and aperture
- Accurate color and white balance options
- Lens compatibility if using interchangeable systems
A cosmetics brand, for example, may prefer a mirrorless model that can shift settings quickly when working with shiny packaging and different lighting styles. Shooting in raw format is another big benefit, since it gives you more flexibility in post-production.
Lenses And Their Impact
Once you've got a camera, the lens you use will shape how the product appears in the photo. Lenses decide how close you can get, how sharp the details are, and how much blur you create in the background. Choosing the right one helps your product stand out the way it should.
Here are a few common types of lenses used in product photography:
- Standard Zoom Lenses (24-70mm): These give you flexibility if you're shooting a variety of items. You don’t have to change lenses often and still get solid image quality.
- Prime Lenses (50mm, 85mm): These fixed-length lenses tend to produce sharper images and offer great depth of field, perfect for beauty or fashion items.
- Macro Lenses: Built specifically for extremely close-up shots, macro lenses are ideal for detailed items like rings, earrings, or textured product packaging.
Macro lenses are especially helpful when you want to highlight things like logos, textures, or small material features. Jewelry brands often rely on these to get clean close-ups without distortion.
When choosing a lens, ask yourself what your main photo goals are. Do you regularly shoot close-up product details? Do you need a little more flexibility? Picking based on your primary product type can save you both time and budget.
Lighting Equipment
Lighting can make or break a photo. Even if your gear is top-notch, poor lighting can leave your product looking dull or misshaped. That’s why setting up consistent lighting is one of the best ways to improve your photos.
Some popular lighting tools used for product photography include:
- Softboxes: These spread light evenly and reduce dark shadows. They’re good for most product types from clothing to cosmetics.
- Ring Lights: Often placed around the lens, ring lights help cast direct but soft light around smaller products.
- LED Panels: These are adjustable and help control brightness and warmth, giving you the ability to fine-tune the lighting to match your product’s appearance.
To get a strong lighting setup in place:
1. Use two lights on opposite sides of your product to avoid harsh shadows.
2. Add diffusers close to the product to soften up the light.
3. Keep all lighting at the same temperature so colors look consistent across shots.
Even if you're shooting in Los Angeles, and tempted to use natural light, remember that the sun can be inconsistent throughout the day. Controlled lights give you more predictability, especially across multiple items.
Accessories For Product Shoots
The right accessories make life easier when you’re trying to get things styled, steady, and well-lit. These tools don’t just improve image quality but also speed up the process.
Here are a few helpful accessories to keep close:
- Tripods: Keep your camera steady and your shots repeatable across different angles.
- Reflectors: Good for bouncing light and reducing shadows. Helpful when you're not using multiple lights.
- Light Tents: Provide even, soft light—perfect for jewelry, gadgets, and anything shiny or small.
- Clamps and Stands: Useful for propping up flexible or unstable products.
- Backdrops: Help create a clean, on-brand look for your photos. You can switch between different textures or colors to match the vibe of your campaign.
If you're running multi-day shoots inside a studio, or even from your office in Los Angeles, these pieces can help replicate the same look every time. That saves editing time later and helps keep your product pages looking uniform.
Editing Software
After the photos are taken, editing brings that polish to your images. Even with great lighting and gear, most photos still need a bit of refining to look their best online.
Here are some features to look for in useful editing software:
- Blemish and spot correction tools
- Sharpness and detail enhancement
- Accurate white balance and color correction
- Easy cropping and resizing tools
- Ability to remove or clean up backgrounds
You don’t need advanced skills to work with most software. A few small changes can make a big difference. Brightening up product labels, balancing out tones, or bringing out surface texture are all examples of simple but effective edits.
Take something like a face moisturizer with soft packaging. If the initial shot looks a bit gray or lacks edge detail, a small contrast adjustment and clarity bump can help it pop on your product page.
Making Your Setup Work for You
Every tool plays a role, but their real strength comes when used together. A pro camera doesn’t matter much if your lighting’s off. A great lens won’t help if the product moves with each shot. From setup to editing, product photography works best when each part supports the others.
If you’re frequently launching items or rotating through new promos, a stable, well-equipped photo setup makes your photos look consistent across time. That helps build a recognizable look for your shop, which is important for brand identity.
And if putting all this together sounds like a lot, that’s where we come in. At Four x Five, we offer full-service product photography that’s made to handle all of this for you. We’ve got the gear, the space, and the experience to bring your brand visuals to the next level—all without you having to become a photographer yourself.
To elevate your product photography, the right accessories for product shoots can make a big difference in how easy and effective your sessions are. From light tents to sturdy tripods, having the right gear helps your products stand out. At Four x Five, we’re here to make sure your brand looks its best with every shot.
