Diy Easy Light Box for Selling on Etsy

Hi there! Do you wish you were selling more on Etsy, eBay, or some other online selling platform? It may be that your photographs aren't quite up to snuff. Today I'm going to talk about product photography: taking photos that sell, and see if they don't dramatically improve the quality of your photos!

We'll talk about what makes good product photography, the equipment you'll need, and how to create three cheap and easy light boxes that will make your photos really stand out!

Why Taking Quality Product Photos is SO Important

Have you ever observed someone shopping, whether in an antique shop or a department store? In the course of just 15 minutes or so, they will pick up anywhere from 5 to 50 items. They'll examine it with their eyes, but there hands will examine for sturdiness, feel the texture of fabric, and ting a glass to assess quality.

A major down side of selling merchandise online is that potential buyers don't have the opportunity to hold the item in their hands. How do we as sellers overcome this obstacle? We take excellent photographs that provide a near-touch experience.

After looking at our photos, we want our potential buyers to feel as though they have in fact held our item in their hands and examined it from every angle. To the point where they have confidence in the quality of that item and they now feel safe buying it.

Is it possible to take photos of that quality on a budget? You can get pretty darn close with the guidelines I'll provide below.

What Kind of Camera Do You Need?

Most smart phone cameras take superior photographs, so there's no need to acquire an expensive DSLR. The key to taking great photos lies in angles and lighting, both of which I cover below.

*This post contains affiliate links for products related to this blog post. This is both for your convenience as well as to support my blog, as I receive a small compensation whenever you click on such a link and make any sort of a purchase, for which I thank you.

That said, I do love my Canon Rebel T3 DSLR (digital camera)! While it's actually discontinued; I've linked to Amazon, where some are still available at the time of this writing, in case it's what you're looking for.

Photo Angles You MUST Include + Flaws

Many sellers make the mistake of taking photos looking down on the item they're selling (first photo). In fact, this is one of the worst angles as it foreshortens the image. You want to take your photos straight on, at eye level, as in the second and third photos above.

Depending upon where you've set up your item, you will probably have to squat or at least bend down to take these kind of photos. Here are the eye level shots you want:

Front
Front turned slightly to the side to give dimension
Back
Sides
Bottom
Top/Inside
Any and all flaws

On Etsy you can post up to ten photos and on eBay twelve. I recommend utilizing all of them!

How to Create Proper Lighting for Product Sales

Ensuring that you have proper lighting before taking your photos is another key to taking quality photos. Whenever possible, rely on natural light to "light" the objects you're photographing. The basic rules for creating good lighting for your product photos include the following:

NEVER use your camera flash.
Turn off your house lights, unless it's a dark day, in which case you can leave fluorescent lighting on.
Take your photos in a "light box" of some type (see three cheap and easy light boxes below).

Light Box #1: Poster Board

Set up a large piece of poster board opposite a natural light source. The light will shine onto the paper and reflect it nicely onto whatever item you're photographing.

Here's the photo taken in the "poster board" light box.

Light Box #2: A Painted Drawer

Paint the inside of an old drawer white and set it up facing a natural light source.

And voila! Attractive, well-lit photos.

Light Box #3: A Trifold Display Board+

3. Combine a trifold display board (for back and sides), a piece of foam core (for the base), and a large piece of poster board (to reduce harsh lines) beside a window to create a third light box. You can pick up all three of these supplies at most Dollar Trees.

This is the light box I used to take all the ceramic angel photos you saw above. PRO TIP: Hang a sheer white curtain from the window to diffuse harsh lighting.

How to Edit Your Photos: Cropping & Brightening

If you have a computer or a smart phone then you have access to a variety of software for editing your photos. Just search Google. However, if you are unfamiliar with the process of editing photos, I recommend that you start "fiddling" around with the editor on your smart phone.

Smart phones offer very high quality editing which is fairly easy to learn. If you're concerned about "ruining" your photo by accident, make a copy first.

Many times photos need straightening and cropping. You see photo #2 is a cropped down version of #1. Most photos need some brightening, this one needed a lot! Already, photo #3 looks SO much better than #1, right?

In photo #4, I reduced the shadows a bit and in #4 I increased the contrast a tad. But as I said, play around with the editing features and you will find other adjustments that you can make to improve your photos.

Trust me, it is SO worth your effort to improve your photographs, whether for personal use or selling online. You want your listings to stand out from the crowd and this is one very powerful way to do that!

Thanks so much for stopping by–

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