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The product you’re selling may be identical to the product your competitor is selling, but that doesn’t mean it has to look the same. Through the magic of modern photography, you can transform your product from ordinary to spectacular.

This article reveals several tips and strategies for snapping high-quality photos that increase sales and often enable you to ask a higher price.

Bump the blurry photos

Blurry photos are taboo in any marketing media. Nobody wants to buy a blurry product. Following are some guidelines for snapping clear photos:

• Upgrade your camera: A low-quality lens produces low-quality images. In addition, some auto-focus cameras are more like out-of-focus cameras
• Step back: You may be tempted to step in for a closer shot, but if you get too close, your camera may not be able to focus. Try stepping back. If you can’t get close enough, you may have to upgrade your camera.
• Buy a tripod: Shaky hands are the most common cause of blurry photos. If you can’t hold still, buy a tripod.
• Adjust the shutter speed: If you insist on not using a tripod, try increasing the shutter speed. The longer it’s open, the more time the camera has to record the effects of your shaky hands.

Eliminate reflections and shadows

Using your camera’s flash feature is a great way to ensure sufficient lighting, but it often results in reflections and shadows. To reduce or eliminate these annoying special effects, try the following strategies:

• Turn off the flash. If you have a tripod, you can decrease the shutter speed to let in more light. Without a tripod, this strategy usually results in blurry images.
• Light up the stage. Light up your object from all angles. To prevent reflections from the additional lighting, shine the lights through a flame-resistant, translucent fabric, keeping it far enough away from the light source to prevent fire.
• Step outside. If possible, stage the item outside in a shady area that has plenty of indirect lighting.

Set the mood with an appropriate background

Use your imagination to set an appropriate stage. Following are some ideas to kick-start your creativity:

• Set small products on an attractive tabletop or tablecloth. The kitchen counter usually is a poor choice, unless of course, you’re marketing kitchen appliances.
• When selling antiques, consider setting an oak table with a classic looking wall paper in the background.
• Plain white paper or cloth usually works if you can’t come up with something better.

Stage functional photos

In “Writing Product Descriptions That Sell,”
you learn to focus on the benefits of the product rather than just its features. The same is true for photos. If possible, demonstrate the benefits of a product—lits portability, ease-of-use, whatever—through photos, as well as your text descriptions, as the image below illustrates.

Edit your photos for optimum quality

You can’t fix a blurry or poorly-staged photo, but you can often tweak the image to improve contrast, brightness, and color balance. Many of the newer image editors have a one-click option that automatically corrects common problems.

Spend a little time fiddling with the image to optimize its quality, but if it still looks substandard, reshoot.

Scale back the size

Don’t alienate customers without high-speed Internet connections. Use a reasonable number of photos and make them just large enough to clearly show the product.

Tip: Avoid graphics and animations that are merely decorative and often annoying. You may think it’s cool, but customers often think otherwise.