Hi there,

This week, my son Ray started preschool! He is definitely still adjusting, but we're hoping that the socialization he gets from school will help make up for the lack of socialization he experienced during the pandemic.

As an added bonus, having him at school a few days a week should free up a bit more of my time to work on Forrager! (though I do still have Sierra to look after... she turned 10 months old a few days ago)


Anyway, this week I thought I'd share a few tips for the beginner photographers out there.

Because as I look through cottage food businesses' Facebook or Instagram pages, I keep seeing tons of photos like this. Or this. (those are photos I took, BTW)

And you know what? It is super easy to make those photos look 5X better, with just a little knowhow.

No need to change the camera, use fancy editing software, or stage the scene with beautiful props.

Below, I share my top 3 beginner tips for quickly and easily improving your product photos.


1) Don't buy a fancy camera

Your smartphone is all you need!

Seriously, you don't need to spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a big DSLR camera to take great pictures.

Don't have a smartphone? Or is your smartphone like 8 years old? Just borrow someone else's and thank them by giving them the delicious products you photographed. :)

Otherwise, what's already in your pocket will work just fine.


2) Use natural sunlight

There are two schools of thought on this one. Some people swear by using natural sunlight. Others will only use artificial (electric) light for their photos.

The truth is, both can work well if you know what you're doing. But if you're a beginner photographer, it's much easier to succeed with natural light.

Here's what you'll want to do. Take your photo:

• In the middle of the day
• Inside, near a large window
  
• With the window behind you
• Without direct sunlight hitting your products
  

Basically, you want all that midday sunlight blanketing your product without the sun directly shining on it (or the background).

Here's an example of a birthday cake* illuminated by the artificial overhead lights in our kitchen.

And here's an example of that same cake in front of a window, bathed in natural light. Notice the difference?


3) Use portrait mode and change the angle of the shot

If you're not using portrait mode on your smartphone, you're missing out!

Some phones call it different things, but the premise is the same: the camera focuses on the subject (your product), and blurs the background.

The important thing here is that you want some distance between your product and the background.

And this is easily achieved by shooting your product from the side, instead of shooting it from above.

You get bonus points if the background looks nice, but honestly, you can get by even if your background looks like crap!

Case in point: remember that overhead cupcake photo I linked to above? Here's those same cupcakes shot from the side in portrait mode (featuring crap in the background). And here's the other cupcakes with portrait mode.

Those are some very average-looking cupcakes, with a below-average background, with no props to "dress up" the image, and still, those cupcakes look pretty good, don't they?

Now, I know they aren't the most amazing photos in the world. But that's the point! Even in bad conditions, there are easy things you can do to make your photos look way better!

Sure, there are lots more things you could do to make your photos like Safeera's, but if you're new to the world of photography, hopefully these tips will give your photos a boost!

Until next week,
David


* That was actually the first fancy birthday cake I ever made. I made it for my wife's birthday this year, which was partly to practice for making my son's 2nd birthday cake. After interviewing Liz Marek on the podcast, her beginner tutorials inspired me to try to make my own fancy cakes for birthdays from now on!