I’m a photographer, but usually I’m very lazy with my photos here. So instead of pulling out the big camera gear, I just use my iPhone.
A few simple pointers that are fast to do and will make the images more attractive:
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Remember that most things you can do while shooting, will take roughly 1/10th the time of doing in post production. This includes removing background clutter. So make sure youre surface and background are clean from distracting objects, unless they’re context relevant for your print. Also think about surface textures. I’m a fan of wood, but that’s probably because I also do some wood work every now and then.
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Think of color schemes. Read up on color theory, such as complementary colors - dual harmony, tri harmony etc… This website is helpful for generating color schemes: Coolors - The super fast color palettes generator! - So fx. if you have printed a part in orange, blue is the complementary color for that. But of course, no rules without exception - I often run with pairings that include white or black for a cleaner look.
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Use at least 50mm focal length on a 35mm equivalent. On a phone, that’s usually the 2x zoom option. Do not use the 1x zoom option, as this is equivalent to 24mm on fullframe, which makes it a wide angle. The effect of wide angle is that objects that vary in depth, will have greater size difference, as the vanishing point decreases (comes nearer) and lines begin to “tumble”. The effect of tele focal lengths are the opposite: Objects that vary in depth will become more alike in size despite the depth difference, as the vanishing point will be moved further away.
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Good light is not enough: Great light is preferred. I have a few ring lights that I use when speed cubing, so they’re always up and ready - and for me, they’re fine for taking images of my 3D printed items. I also like to use sunlight if it’s diffused, but hard light sources must never be direct, because they will cast very harsh shadows in turn. You can use reflectors or diffusers as you like; an easy and cheap option is to just take a piece of white paper and reflect the light off of that. I have several dedicated soft boxes as well - and I never use them for minor stuff like this.
Going into light theory for product photography is too heavy for this post, but if you want, read up on 3-point light setup and especially what a rim light does. To enhance the definition of any object, a well placed rim light does wonders. The key light must be diffused while a fill light (which can be substituted by a reflector screen) helps soften the shadows even more.
- Layout. After the photo is taken, brush it up in whatever software you prefer. Don’t do manipulations as such; but enhancing the contrasts, local contrasts, color balance etc. will make the photos pop much more.