4 iPhone Product Photography Tips for Beginners

When you scroll through brands’ Instagram accounts, would you believe me if I told you that most of those pictures were taken on an iPhone?

Those promises of amazing pictures that Apple uses to advertise are actually not a lie; you just have to know the right ways to get those kinds of pictures. There are a variety of simple ways to achieve better pictures of your products for your socials while still just using an iPhone! But the first thing you should do is just make sure your camera is clean; it really does make a HUGE difference!

Play with Your Settings

It is time to stop ignoring all the settings! That little drop-down on your camera app is not just for the flash but has so many other settings that you can use to elevate your product pictures. All those little icons next to the flash button have a use, and once you click on them, they tell you what they are! When you have your product in place, hold your camera up to it as you would take a picture and play with all those settings, like your white balance, exposure, and contrast. Once you really like how it looks, start snapping those pictures!

Once you get to the aspect ratio icon, it will probably be set to 4:3; this is where you have to make a decision. If you are going to make this a traditional Instagram post, make it 1:1 or square, and if you want to do a story post on Instagram, set it to 16:9. This way, your picture will already be in the format needed for the kind of content you want to make, and when you go to post it there will be no need to crop the picture or distort it!

Your product is the focus of the picture, right? Then why not actually focus on the product in your pictures? When you pull your camera out to snap the picture, long press on the screen. Once that little box pops up, move it onto your product. If you want to get a little fancy, there is a little sun icon next to it; slide that up and down until you like how the lighting of the picture looks!

It’s All About Those Angles

It really is all about the angles, and luckily there are several different ones you can try! You can take the picture straight on, from above, below, or in a slanted position. Really, just move your phone around until you really like it, and then snap the picture! Another thing that matters when thinking about your angles is how your light source is hitting the product. If you want to create shadows, have the light hitting the top or side of your product, and if you don’t want shadows, have your light hitting the product straight on!

Things to Avoid

I know it can be tempting, but stop zooming in or using your flash and those built-in filters! Once you zoom in, you can really mess up the quality of your picture through pixilation, so just move your phone closer to the product instead. This also applies to using the flash; it can create unwanted shadows and affect the quality, so find some other kind of light source, like a lamp, ring light, or even the sun! I know those filters on the camera app are tempting to use, but I promise it will pay off if you don’t; they also will mess up the quality of your pictures because they process the picture without you knowing! Instead of doing that, download some editing apps on your phone like Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop Express, VSCO, or Snapseed to add all those filters after the picture is taken.

One-up Yourself

If you really want to get the most out of your iPhone camera photoshoot, and you have a little extra cash, then there are some products you can get to really one-up yourself! You can get a plain white background or a lightbox to really get those professional-looking pictures. Another great tool to have is a mini tripod, this way, your camera can stay in the same place once you find your perfect angle, or you can even use it to avoid any shakiness when taking a video! Finally, there are also mini lenses that can be attached to your iPhone, just like with a traditional camera, to capture all different kinds of pictures!

Capturing the perfect picture of your product does not have to be expensive; it can be done with things you already have on hand, like your iPhone!  So just follow along with these tips, and play around with all the settings until you find the perfect picture for you. Taking these steps to make your content look just a little bit more professional will do wonders for all your social media pages!