Product preparation

If you just grab a product and put it in front of the camera you are asking for trouble.

Analyse its features, unique selling points, and target audience. This knowledge will guide your photography decisions.

Check for dust, fingerprints or scratches, it that may not be apparent when you have the item in your hand but when you look at the images on the screen they will stand out like a sore thumb.

These things can be fixed in post production but five minutes spent inspecting and cleaning the product first will save you hours later.

Once you have cleaned the product then try not to handle it again, I wear thin cotton gloves to prevent fingerprints getting on the item.

If you are photographing a clear bottle then remove any labels on the back of the bottle as otherwise they will be visible in the final image.

When I am shooting products I Tether (connect) the camera to my computer so when I take an image it can be shown large on the monitor and zoomed in so it can be inspected in detail.

All of the above won’t stop dust completely but it will save you hours of post processing.a settings.