You do not need a camera. You need a window, a sheet of white card and fifteen minutes per product.
Photography on an e-shop is not decoration — it is the only thing a customer “touches” before buying. And bad photos generate returns, not just fewer sales.
Want a view on your photos?
Send us three product pages and we will tell you what would change the sales.
The setup: what you actually need
| Item | What to use | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Light | A window with indirect light | €0 |
| Background | White card curved into a sweep | €3 |
| Fill | A second white card opposite | €3 |
| Stability | A phone tripod or a stack of books | €0–15 |
| Surface | A table beside the window | €0 |
Light is 80% of the result. Indirect light from a window, never direct sun and never flash. The best hours are morning or late afternoon, or an overcast day — which is a natural diffuser.
The second card opposite the window fills in the shadows. It is the cheapest upgrade available.
What to avoid: mixed light (window plus a lamp), which gives double shadows and false colours.
The six shots per product
Always the same, in the same order. That is what makes a catalogue look coherent.
- The main shot, on white. The whole product, centred, with a little space around it.
- A second angle. Side or three-quarter.
- A detail. Material, stitching, texture, zip — whatever justifies the price.
- Scale. Next to something familiar, or worn, or in a hand.
- In use. In its setting, with a real context.
- What is included. Every part of the package laid out.
The fourth is what reduces returns — most returns come from a wrong impression of size. The sixth reduces “not everything arrived”.
Camera settings on a phone
Five things, all on the camera you already own:
- Turn the flash off. Always.
- Tap the product to lock focus and exposure.
- Pull the brightness down slightly if the white background is blowing out.
- Do not use zoom. Move the phone closer.
- Turn the grid on and keep the product centred.
And one option worth using: if your phone shoots in an uncompressed format, use it for products with subtle shades. You keep room to correct later.
Distance and height: the phone at the product’s own height, not above it. Shooting from above distorts and shrinks.
Editing in three steps
Light and consistent. The aim is for it to look like the product, not like a different product.
- Straighten and crop. The same ratio across all, the same margin around the object.
- Brightness and white balance. The white background should be white, not grey or blue.
- A little sharpening. Very little — overdoing it looks fake.
The rule you never break: do not change the product’s colour. A blue that is more vivid on screen than in reality is a guaranteed return and a bad review.
For consistency, build the adjustment once and apply it to all of them. That way the catalogue looks professional even when the shots were taken on different days.
Want a shot list for your sector?
Tell us what you sell and we will send a shot list with examples.
The technical bits: size, format, filenames
This is where half the photos are lost — not in the shooting, in the uploading.
| Item | What to use |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 1,200–2,000 px on the long edge |
| Format | WebP, with JPEG as a fallback |
| File size | Under 200 KB |
| Ratio | The same across all (e.g. 1:1 or 4:5) |
| Filename | blue-cotton-hoodie.webp, not IMG_4821.jpg |
| Alt text | What it shows, in plain language |
A 4 MB photo straight off a phone, uploaded as-is, is enough to wreck a page’s load time — see what that means in website speed.
For Google Shopping specifically: the main image needs a white or neutral background, with no logos, watermarks or text overlaid. The rules change and are enforced — see the Google Shopping guide.
The six mistakes that cost sales
- Your own shadow falling across the product. Stand to the side, not in front of the light.
- A different background per product. The catalogue looks amateur.
- No sense of scale. The customer misjudges size and returns it.
- Only one photo. Products with 5+ images sell consistently better.
- A watermark on the main image. It spoils the look and blocks product feeds.
- Supplier photos. Identical to ten other shops — the same problem as with product descriptions.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a light box?
For small objects it helps and costs €30–€80. For larger items, the window works better.
What does a professional cost?
Typically €8–€25 per product for straightforward catalogue shots. Worth it for the twenty products producing 80% of sales.
Video or photos?
Photos first. A short 10–15 second video helps for products with movement or texture.
How do I shoot shiny or transparent items?
Diffused light from the side and dark card to create clean reflections. It takes experimentation.
The same photos for the site and social?
Not quite. The e-shop wants a clean background; social wants context and life. Same shoot, different crop.
The first step
Take the product you sell most and reshoot it with the six shots, beside a window.
Upload it and compare its sales over two weeks. If it wins, you have a method for the whole catalogue — and the priority order comes from your categories.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute call with the team at The Dev Alley. We will look at your catalogue and tell you which photos are missing.