Dear Photo Expert, I make lei, and sell them on auction web sites. I bought a kind of expensive digital camera to take pictures to put on the auction sites, but my pictures still aren't so great. I make different kind of lei, some with yarn, some with feathers, and some with shells. My pictures look flat and don't show details like I want them to. How can I make it better? (signed) Lei

Dear Lei, Depending on what equipment you have at your disposal, there may be a number of things you can do to improve your Product Photography. That is what we're talking about here… Product Photography.

There are a lot of pros out there who have devoted their careers to perfecting their product photography. I don't want to mislead you here, if you want a truly professional look to your products that you are selling on the internet, or anywhere else, unless you have plenty of time for practice, and money for equipment, your best bet is to take your products to a professional commercial studio photographer. Meanwhile, for now, there are a few simple ways to improve on what you've got.

First of all, make sure the lens you are using is clean, and you are getting a good exposure when you make your photograph! A dirty lens can obscure details, and lower contrast in your images. And make sure the product is well lit, so you can 1) see it clearly, and 2) you can get a good exposure without having to have a slow shutter speed.

You should definitely be using a good, sturdy tripod for your product photography. You want to get full shots of your lei, but you also want to get close-up shots to focus on the details. And I mean getting the camera lens as close as you can focus to the lei, and getting close up detail shots.

Now for lighting your product. Lighting for Table-top product photography is different for different products, but we're talking about products where texture and shapes are important, and specifically, lei. So, I recommend not using the on-camera flash. Instead, I suggest you get some lamps that you can change the direction of their light output. You can buy clamp-on light fixtures with reflectors at a hardware store inexpensively, and they work fine for this.

You are best off buying light bulbs that are made for photography. You can get them either at a local camera store, or online. But the main thing is that all your lights are the same kind, and wattage. Your digital camera has an automatic "white balance", and will figure out the light you use as long as there is only one type of light in use.

I recommend using two lamps. Position one a few feet above the lei, and slightly in front, (on the camera side), pointed down at the lei. This will light it, and the texture will cast a very slight edge of shadow defining the details. Place the second light to one side a couple feet away. This light should be level with the lei, and also just slightly to the front. This will add highlights and more detail.

Play with the placement of the lights within parameters described above, and take several pictures. Change the camera position a little higher, a little lower, and see what looks best. And place your lei on a clean, solid color surface.

About the author: Stan P. Cox II runs a Portrait and Commercial photography studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and has been a professional Hawaii photographer for 31 years. His web address is: http://www.ParamountPhotography.com. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.