How to shoot product photos with a phone

Author: bgready team

You do not need a DSLR to produce usable product photos. A modern phone, a window and a few minutes of care are enough for listings — especially when you will remove the background afterward. This guide covers capture habits that make cut-outs cleaner.

Light before gear

Stand the product near a large window with indirect daylight. Avoid mixed lighting (warm bulb + cool sky) that tints whites. Turn off decorative coloured LEDs. If noon sun is harsh, diffuse with a white curtain or shoot facing a bright wall instead of the sun.

Watch reflections on glossy packaging. A slight rotation often kills a hot spot without needing a polariser.

Stabilise and focus

Rest your elbows, use a cheap clip mount or lean on a stack of books. Tap to focus on the product’s logo or front edge. Lock exposure/AE if your phone offers it so a bright table does not underexpose a dark product. Clean the lens — fingerprints look like fog after you zoom in the editor.

Framing for background removal

Leave a little empty space around the subject so the silhouette is clear. Fill most of the frame anyway; tiny products in a huge canvas waste resolution. Shoot square-ish when you know the channel wants square crops (Shopify grids, many Amazon main images). Keep the camera parallel to packshot faces to avoid keystoning.

For apparel, smooth wrinkles and shoot flat or on a plain hanger. For bottles, align labels so type stays readable after crop.

Backgrounds while shooting

A plain wall or sheet helps, but busy kitchens still work if the product is sharp and contrasty. Dark products on light tables (and the reverse) give algorithms clearer edges. Remove clutter you do not want reflected in shiny surfaces.

File settings

Use the highest quality still setting available. Prefer the wide camera for groups of small items only when distortion stays acceptable; otherwise stick to the primary lens. Do not run aggressive “AI enhance” filters before upload — they create halos that survive into the cut-out.

HEIC from iPhones is fine to upload to bgready; you can still download PNG/JPG afterward.

Batch shooting discipline

When photographing a catalogue:

• Same height and distance for comparable SKUs
• Same side of the light for consistent highlights
• Name files with SKU codes immediately
• Shoot a spare angle for backs, soles or ports

That discipline pays off in bulk background removal.

After the shoot

Upload to bgready, preview the cut-out, then choose transparent, white or an AI scene. For marketplace rules, read Product photo requirements (2026). For output choice, see Transparent vs white background.

Official photography tips from platforms are also worth a skim — for example Etsy’s photo help and eBay photo tips.

Good capture plus a clean cut-out beats an expensive camera with careless light. Shoot a test SKU, process it end-to-end, then roll the same setup across your catalogue.