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You have just made the your own soap, and you have let it cure... finally it is ready for use, for showing and maybe for selling.
But the ugly cube displayed in your photographs definitely is not "your soap";.... the one you made. You have made great,
creamy, silky, yummy, bubbly soap, and there is nothing shown of all these features.
Your photos are showing a little bad looking; boring piece of something
... experienced soap makers may recognize and value your work... but what about customers?
This tutorial is meant to help clear the headache of taking your own product photos.
There is no aim to show you how to became great photographer, but rather how to make decent photos of
your soaps and present the most features they have to get noticed by customers. You dont really need to buy an expensive
camera or additional photo equipment only this task, through this tutorial you will learn to view your soaps through the camera lens and take wonderful photos.
It means that your perception of objects around you is quite different of your camera perception. You can switch easily between sight angles, seeing what you aimed to see and you are not aware of it at all. Your camera needs to be led in order to capture the objects on the way you see it.
While focusing on your soap, you are not always able to see the things by which your soap is surrounded. There are a lot of details around you, and you are not able to notice them all at once.... unless you focus at them. Such things are mainly related to background of your photo and if recorded, they are making your picture looks messy and unprofessional.
Well, your camera is able to see them, and to record them... without exception.
You observe things differently and when taking a closer look to your piece of soap, you already have the knowledge about what is in it and how you achieved it. The camera records the surface of your soap as it is and if you choose this way (close up picture) to show some particular feature, you should also choose carefully the best angle so only the properties you desire will be accented.
It means that your soap is looking quite differently under different amount, color and intensity of light, but you are not able to notice that until you have learned to observe your soaps that way. So, understanding the part of this tutorial regarding light intensity and temperature is very important in order to make decent photo without professional help.
Yes, you need a decent camera not professional one, not even the expensive touristic model, but please do avoid your cell phone camera as the only tool for making photos of your soaps.
Your camera should have strong flash, but if there is no one, and you have no other objection on your picture quality buying the separated flash will help.
Every decent camera has the ability to focus the object, so you can make the closeup photos, showing the texture of your product. If you never used this option, now is time to learn how and start using it.
The most desirable light is daily, morning light, but we all tend usually to choose more comfortable place for photo session.
Good light equipment is the best option, but since it costs a fortune, and most of us are soap makers and not photographers, such ideal conditions are not going to be explained in this tutorial.
The above mentioned strong flash probably will do the work, but we should know some tips and tricks in order to imitate professionals.
Every color has its temperature. And every material has the ability to make some colors look warmer or colder than they really are. In photojargon it is known as temperature of light.
The soaps are known as warm objects... so you should be prepared that the warm colors of your soap will be accented, as well as every warm color around your photosession area...
Still, the warm colors of soap itself are not The Issue... but if the reddish or orange colors are dominating, the whole impression of your photo is going to be poor.
In order to minimize the warming effect which soap might have on light temperature, you should ensure that there are no objects in strong red, yellow or orange colors around including your dress. The colors which are not eligible are also black and brown, because they tend to absorb the light.
For your improvised studio you should choose the room with no colored walls. The white walls are the best option. If you have no such room, the big pieces of mat white paper will work. So, make sure to surround your working area with white papers.
Note: Do not use textile for this purpose, since the different kind of textiles reflects the light differently.
Your dress should be white as well, especially if your camera abilities calls you to be very close to your object when taking pictures. The best solution is to buy white (and reasonably cheap) labdress you can put over your clothes.
The biggest common mistake is trying to accent the color of your soap by very different background color.
The white background is almost always The Option, and the contrast could be achieved by placing some interesting decoration around (flowers, fruits, stones etc.)
There are few ways for effective presentation of your soaps, so you can be sure that all its features will be shown and your photo will give an impression of clear and neat products (as well as producer).
Here they are:
a) single piece of soap
b) domino order
c) pyramidal order
Try to avoid unorganized objects (soap), especially if you are beginner.
The most important thing is to learn how to positioning your object. Yes, the Photoshop crop tool might be helpful, but not always with results we desire.
As you already know, the camera screen has the square shape and right angles.
First, you should activate the grid option, so you can always see the relation between your soap edges and screen edges. If your camera has no such option, use the screen edges as leading lines.
The only simple rule is: at least on edge of your soap must be parallel with one of your screen edge.
If your soap is roundshaped or has geometrically unusual shape, you should imagine the first very similar geometric shape and than apply the same rule.
The very important soap features creaminess, exfoliating properties, even hardness ... etc. can be observed from its texture.
So it is very important to make close up photos too.
But, what you are going to experience when trying to take closeup pictures of your soap is that your pictures are not always clear and sharp. This is most common problem for soap makers who tend to superfat their soaps over 5%, for those who use HP process and who are adding organic ingredients after the soap is cooked.
This problem is caused by the fact that the very small parts of your soap surface are not equal chemically, so therefore these particles reflect the light on different ways.
The other reason is that micro relief of handmade soaps is very diversified... Which means... imagine the surface of your soap being 100000 times bigger than you.... If you were landed there, you will find yourself surrounded by high mountains and sharp slopes.... Such properties is not possible to note by naked eye, but when the light is trying to get out and to reflects itself from such surfaces, its path is far away from straight line. We are able to note only the final result of our camera attempt to catch the light reflection, and it is usually on the sharp soap surface on the photo.
Without professional equipment you cannot solve this problem easily. The only solution is to try to find the best angle for taking picture. The only available method is trial and error. Some rules could be applied, and they are:
a) Choose the position from which the line from your camera to your soap is parallel to line you have cut your soap.
b) If you are taking picture from different angle (sharp or right related to your cutline) try changing angle degree by degree until the desired result is achieved.
c) Check your pic on computer. Sometimes the picture may look sharp on the camera screen, but in fact it is not.
d) Note that from set of about 50 or 100 photos you will probably have 2 or 3 usable. Yes, it is very hard work. But, it is worth it.
I mentioned that the most desirable background for your photosession is white; never mind what color is your soap. The features of your soap you can accent with carefully chosen decoration:
a) flowers: any flower will do, but avoid the plastic flowers, never mind how nice it looks to you, it will look terrible as decoration, especially if you tend to make close up photos
b) Ingredients: are always welcomed as decorations, they are nice, colorful and they accent the soap properties. Be aware that clay is usually very hard for taking picture, for the same reason explained in Textures part.
c) Fabric, textile etc: try to avoid, except if you really know why you are using it
Author: Aleksandra, Soapmakingforum member
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