My 7 year old made the same mistake many new Shopify owners do with their product photos

Over the summer, my daughter and I started making little fairy dolls. She loves fairies, it’s something we can do together, I love being crafty and we’ve been using these beautiful Sola Wood Flowers I have on hand for their skirts. It’s pretty cool actually.

Anywho. She saw me taking photos of the dolls to put on a demo Shopify site I was working on. Naturally, she copies everything I do.

She has an old iPhone4 that we gave her to play games. She put the fairy on the ground and began to take some photos on her phone. It was important that she had photos on her phone so she could look at them whenever she wanted. #kidsarefun

Our floors are a laminate wood, blonde in color, durable construction and look just like real wood. Exactly what you’d want in your home with kids, cats, and dogs running amok.

So what’s the issue?

First, the reflection of the lights on the ceiling make taking photos a bit challenging but that didn’t stop her. There’s a big glair which also makes auto-focus on your product much more difficult.

Second, the background is really distracting and doesn’t suit the product. The wood grain looks beautiful from a distance, but right on top of it for a photo op, causes the image to be uneven.

And lastly, because the doll is laying down instead of being upright, and the photo is looking down with poor lighting, there are some weird shadows going on. We have cannon lights in the room, so it would make sense they would cause some weird shadows.

Three quick product photos tips while keeping cost low:

You can take professional-looking photos from your home without spending hundreds of dollars on equipment.

1. Use a white or neutral background.

A white background makes editing, removing, or changing the colors of the background much easier. If you don’t have a white background, purchase a roll of craft paper and either clip it to a chair or glue it to a piece of cardboard.

2. Use natural light or studio lights.

Natural light is usually best and relatively inexpensive since you’re positioning a table or chair near a window or using the great outdoors to create your ambiance. Studio lights can be much more expensive. I’ve seen folks using lamps from their living room, laying the lamp on the floor and shining the light directly on the product to makeshift a lightbox. Do what works for you for the budget you have.

3. Edit your photos.

As much as we love use #nofilter on Instagram, editing photos are essential to creating a clean look. I love using https://pixlr.com to edit photos if you don’t have access to photoshop.

It’s funny how kids mimic us so well. She did see me take photos of the dolls too but missed me making edits to the photos. Not that she was planning to post these photos online. I do love how excited she got to take photos of our masterpieces though.

Here’s to more fun projects with my kiddo!