How to set up a mini product photography studio at home with less than $150
Hi cool cats & kittens! (Tiger King Reference)
We are certainly experiencing unprecedented times. But in crisis comes creativity & resourcefulness.
If you’re a product based business, you know you still need to invest in professional product photography. But maybe you don’t have the budget or current circumstances prevent you from working with a photographer in a studio.
Don’t worry, you can actually set up a mini product photography studio at home right now to begin creating content with tools you may already have. This is really great if you want to create flat lay product photography content for social media. I recently share my 3 tips for Redfin and you can check it out here!
Fun Fact: When I first started my product photography business, I only had an iPhone, whiteboards + 2 soft lights. That was all I had access to at the time for 18 months.
With those 3 tools + some additional creativity, I was able to secure some pretty cool clients. I was creating flat lay photography for Instagram. Some of those clients included: Macy’s & Eden Body Works and I even did flat lay styling for Harper’s Bazaar Digital!
So, before you ask if you can create content with just an iPhone + soft lights, the answer is yes. It helped me launch my product photography business.
Here is what you need to create your mini photo studio with less than $100.
How it all started. In my New York City studio apartment with 2 soft lights & whiteboards. This was my setup for 18 months! And I made $10,000 in my first 6 months!
Ample Space. You don’t need to dedicate an entire room to shoot; however, if you have that capability great. Ideally, you want at least 5’x 5’ space, enough for 2 soft lights, your product set up and a step ladder, if you’re going to be shooting above for flat lay photography. If you want to start with natural daylight, I’d recommend setting up your layout near a window with ample daylight.
Ideal Lighting. For scope, I wanted to share this picture This was my set up for the first year and a half I was in business. I dedicated a small area of my New York Studio Apartment to shoot flat lay photography. As you can see, when I used studio lighting, I invested in 2 soft lights. Each light was on opposite ends of my flat lay to remove shadows and provide even lighting. For lighting you have two options to help maintain white balance or natural lighting to show the true intensity of colors
Natural daylight which provides white balance showing the true intensity of colors
Soft Lights with Daylight Bulbs which is an artificial source of light. I purchased my soft lights on Amazon and I’ve linked these as well as an updated version here. You can purchase soft lights at any size, the ones pictured here are 2’ diameter. The bigger the soft light, the more coverage of your layout. I purchased 2 and was good for almost 2 years.
Your iPhone! Yes believe it or not, you can create beautiful content using only your iPhone. As I mentioned, the first 18 months I was in business, I only used my iPhone. I believe at the time it was an iPhone 5s or 6s. Your phone does some really amazing things and when used right can be used for flat lay photography. The camera lens is similar to a DSLR. The lens can open & close, increasing the amount of light that goes in & out of the lens. The first step & most important step when using your iPhone is to CLEAN YOUR LENS! There are so many beautiful pictures I see that look like a really bad filter was placed on top of it because the lens wasn’t cleaned. It make such a huge difference.
Whiteboards. Whiteboards are pretty great because not only can they serve as your backdrop for flat lay photography, they can also serve as reflectors. The simple definition for reflectors is that it fills light where there was once shadows in your layout. To use as reflectors, simply flank the whiteboards on opposite sides of your flat lay (as pictured below) to help fill the shadows. You can use simple weights or maybe a can from the pantry to keep them upright. You can order whiteboards in bulk from any arts + crafts store. If you don’t have access, you can use aluminum foil covering a flat surface.
With these tools, you can set up your mini product photography studio at home with less than $150! You can create all kinds of flat lays with some creativity using items in your home as props to help support the story you’re trying to create.