Shine a Light on It

There's a whole lot that goes into taking a "good" photograph. There are high school and college courses designed to develop students into competent professionals.

If you are deficient in this area, you might want to look into taking a class. However, there are a few things you can do right away to make your pictures better. And the more you practice, the better you're going to get.

A big thing is to take care of your lighting. Your photographs should be well-lit. Or, at least, deliberately lit. There are articles (and probably books) all about how to light photographs well. Today I can only scratch the surface. Here are three articles to get you started:

• The Ultimate Guide to Learning Photography: Lighting
• The Top 10 Photography Lighting Facts You Should Know
• A Beginning Photographer's Guide to Light

The best lighting is natural light. Sunlight. However, direct sunlight can be too much, especially the harsh sunlight of high noon. You want the sunlight filtered a bit, depending.

But not everyone can take pictures outdoors. And not everyone has a good place indoors that gets good sunlight. When looking into lighting options, look for white light. Lightboxes can also be helpful. And multiple sources of light can help to make a photograph pop.

(Yes, there's a lot that goes into getting good lighting. Take lots of pictures. See what works. That's the best way to get better pictures.)

Here are some photos from team members that show what you can do with lighting:

First up, this photo looks like it was photographed in a lightbox. It gives a very plain background so what you see is the product. Nothing else distracts.

Barbary Belle Perfume Oil by Scent by the Sea

Here's a picture where natural light was used. See the window? It gives a bit more drama to the shot, highlighting how the vase will look in use.

One Upcycled 1.5L Glass Wine Bottle Vase by Bottles & Wood

Here's an example with flood lighting. We can really see the necklace, and in a piece like this, we want to see detail. We can.

Large Pave Diamond Evil Eye Medallion by Mooti Designs

The brightness of the light helps these crystals shine. When we're shopping for jewelry, we really want to see it sparkle. This sparkles.

The Perfect Crystal Necklace by Beaded Treasure by Sue

There are many ways to do lighting. There are many ways to get it right. How confident are you in your photos' lighting?