How to Take Great Product Photos With Your Phone

When a customer scrolls through a marketplace, the photo is the first thing they judge. Before they read your business name, your prices or your description, they decide in a second whether your stall looks worth a closer look. The good news is that you do not need an expensive camera, a studio or a photographer. The phone in your pocket is enough if you follow a few simple habits.

This guide is written for spaza shop owners, home bakers, hairdressers, mechanics, cosmetic sellers and anyone else who wants their products or services to look good on a vendor listing.

1. Start with a clean lens

Phones live in pockets, bags and hands all day, so the lens is almost always smudged. A greasy lens makes every photo look soft and hazy, especially in bright light. Wipe it gently with a soft cotton cloth (the corner of a clean T-shirt works) before every photo session. It takes two seconds and it is the single easiest improvement you can make.

2. Use daylight, not the flash

Natural light is the best free tool you have. The built-in flash flattens colours, creates harsh reflections on plastic and glass, and makes food look unappetising.

• Shoot near a window or a doorway during the day, with the light falling on the front or side of the product.
• Avoid direct midday sun outside. It creates dark, hard shadows. Open shade, such as under a stoep roof or next to a wall, gives softer light.
• Turn off the flash in your camera app so it does not fire automatically.
• If one side of the product is too dark, hold a white sheet of paper or a piece of white board on the shadow side to bounce light back.

3. Keep the background simple

A busy background pulls attention away from what you are selling. You do not need a professional backdrop:

• A plain wall, a clean table top or a sheet of white or light-grey card works well for small items such as cosmetics, jewellery or packaged food.
• For bigger items, such as furniture, clear the area around the item and shoot it against a plain wall.
• For services, such as a hair salon or a panel beater, tidy the workspace before you take photos. Customers notice clutter.

4. Fill the frame and hold the phone steady

Move closer to the product rather than using the digital zoom, which reduces quality. Let the product fill most of the photo while leaving a little space around the edges so nothing important is cut off.

Blurry photos usually come from movement. Hold the phone with both hands, tuck your elbows into your body, or rest the phone on a stack of books. Tap the screen on the product before you take the photo so the camera focuses on it and sets the right brightness.

5. Show more than one angle

Customers cannot pick up your product, so your photos must do it for them. For most items, take:

1. A front photo that clearly shows what the item is.
2. A detail photo of the texture, label, stitching or finish.
3. A size photo next to a familiar object, such as a hand, a cooldrink can or a coin, so people understand how big it is.
4. An in-use photo where it makes sense: a plate of food ready to eat, a hairstyle on a client (with their permission), or a repaired car part fitted back on the vehicle.

6. Photograph food while it is fresh

Kotas, vetkoek, atchaar, cakes and ice blocks all look best the moment they are ready. Plate food neatly, wipe spills off the edge of the plate, and photograph it straight away near a window. A slightly higher angle usually works for plates, while drinks and tall items look better from the side.

7. Edit lightly, and stay honest

Most phones come with a built-in photo editor. Use it to:

• Crop out distractions and straighten the photo.
• Brighten a photo that came out a little dark.
• Slightly increase contrast so the product stands out.

Do not use filters that change the colour of the product, and never use photos you found online or photos of a better version than what you sell. If the customer receives something that does not match the picture, you lose their trust, and trust is what brings them back.

8. Keep photos up to date

When your stock changes, your photos should change too. Remove photos of items you no longer sell, and add new ones when you get new stock or launch a new service. A listing that is clearly looked after tells customers that the business is active and reliable.

9. Respect privacy

If other people appear in your photos, such as clients, staff or children in the street, ask for permission first or crop them out. Customers appreciate businesses that treat people with respect, and it keeps you on the right side of South Africa's privacy rules.

A quick checklist before you upload

• Lens wiped clean
• Daylight, flash off
• Plain, tidy background
• Product in focus and filling the frame
• Front, detail and size photos
• Light edits only, colours true to life

Put your photos to work

Good photos are only half the story. Pair them with a clear name, an honest description and up-to-date contact details. Our guide on writing a business profile that wins customers walks you through the text side of your listing, and taking your spaza shop online covers the bigger picture.

Bona Markets lets township businesses list their products and services with photos, a description and contact details, so customers can find them in one app. Read more about Bona Markets or see the features available to vendors.