How to Take Product Photos With Your Phone: Salla Guide

Customers in your online store can't pick up your product or turn it over in their hands. All they have are the photos and the description. The good news: learning how to take product photos with your phone is enough for most small and mid-sized stores, as long as you get three things right: light, background and keeping the phone steady. The camera itself is rarely the problem.

This guide walks you through it step by step: how to set up a simple product photography corner at home, which background to choose, when a light box is worth buying, the phone settings that make a difference, the shot list every product needs, tips for perfume, abayas, accessories, coffee and sweets, and finally how to upload your photos to Salla using the specs Salla itself lists.

Is a phone good enough for professional product photos?

In most cases, yes. Today's phones capture far more detail than a product page needs. What makes a photo look "amateur" is usually one of these:

Yellow light from a ceiling bulb mixing with window light, so the colours come out wrong.
A busy background (sofa, table, household clutter) that pulls the eye away from the product.
A shaky hand, so the fine details come out blurry.
Shooting too close with the wide lens, which distorts the product and makes it look wider than it really is.

Fix those four and you'll see the difference before you think about any expensive gear. When do you need a professional photographer? Usually when you have large numbers of highly reflective products, or you want lifestyle shots with a model and a styled location. Even then, your phone can cover everyday catalogue photos.

How do I set up a product photography corner at home?

You don't need a studio. You need a spot near a window, a table and a few cheap items from a stationery shop.

Product photography lighting: why start with window light?

Shoot next to a window with indirect daylight. Direct sun gives harsh shadows and strong glare, so if sunlight falls on the table, hang a thin white curtain or baking paper over the window to diffuse the light and soften it.
Turn off the room lights. Mixing window light (cool) with a bulb (usually warm) is the most common cause of "strange" colours that are hard to fix later.
Shoot at roughly the same time every session. Morning light differs from afternoon light, and if you shoot half your products in the morning and the rest at sunset, you'll see the difference on your category page.

The reflector: a white board that fixes shadows

A window lights one side of the product and leaves the other side dark. The fix is simple: stand a white foam board (or stiff white card) on the side opposite the window so it bounces some of the light back onto the dark side. Move it closer and further away and watch on screen how the shadows soften. If you want a stronger shadow that brings out the product's shape, use a black board in the same spot instead.

Stability: a tripod or anything that holds the phone

A simple phone tripod is a game changer, especially in soft light. If you don't have one, prop the phone against some books or a mug. More importantly, keeping the phone in one fixed spot gives you the same angle and distance for every product, and that's what makes your category page look tidy.

Artificial lighting: when do I need it?

If you shoot at night, or you shoot in volume and want consistent results every day, that's when to look at dedicated product photography lighting: two LED bulbs or panels with the same colour temperature, with a diffuser (a softbox or white fabric) in front of them. The one rule never to break: don't mix light sources of different colours in the same shot.

What's the best product photography background?

The right product photography background depends on the type of photo: a main catalogue image, or a photo that tells the product's story.

A white curved backdrop (sweep): a large sheet of white card, with one end fixed to the wall or a box, curving down onto the table without a sharp corner. The curve hides the line between floor and wall, so the product looks like it's floating on clean white. This is the best background for your main image.
Textured backgrounds: marble (even marble-print contact paper), wood, linen, plain coloured paper. These suit secondary photos that add mood and atmosphere, not the main image.
A background in your brand colour: if your store has a clear signature colour, a plain backdrop in that colour for extra photos ties the page to your brand.

To pick a textured background, think about your customer: perfume and accessories go well with marble and soft fabric, coffee and sweets with wood and linen, and kids' products with light, calm colours. Just make sure the background never overpowers the product. And if you're looking for fresh ideas, start by changing the background and the props around the product (a coffee cup next to the beans, a gift box next to the perfume) before changing anything else.

Is a light box for product photography worth buying?

A light box (also called a photo box or light tent) is a fabric or plastic box that's white inside, usually with built-in LED lights. You place the product inside and shoot through an opening at the front or top.

It's worth it if:

Your products are small to medium-sized (accessories, cosmetics, perfume, small electronics).
You shoot a lot and want the same result every time, regardless of time of day or weather.
You don't have a suitable window, or daylight hours don't suit your schedule.

It's not worth it if:

Your products are large (hanging abayas, furniture, rugs); they won't fit in the box anyway.
Most of your photos are lifestyle and mood shots.
You have excellent window light and only a few products; a white board and a curved backdrop will get you close to the same result.

A tip before you buy: choose a size clearly bigger than your largest product, so you can shoot from different angles without the edges of the box showing in the photo.

How to take product photos with your phone: camera settings

These settings are general and apply to most iPhone and Android phones, so they work just as well for iPhone product photography as for any other device. Option names vary from phone to phone, so look for them in your camera settings.

Wipe the lens. Literally the most important step. A fingerprint on the lens adds haze and glare that make the whole photo look washed out.
Turn on the grid in your camera settings. It helps you keep the product straight and centred, and keep the same composition across products.
Lock focus and exposure. On most phones, you press and hold on the product on screen to lock focus, then drag the brightness slider up or down a little. That way the settings don't shift every time your hand moves.
Don't use digital zoom. Pinching to zoom on the standard lens crops the image and lowers its quality. If you want to get closer, move the phone closer or crop afterwards.
Use the 2x or telephoto lens if your phone has one. Shoot from a little further back with the optical zoom lens instead of putting the phone right up to the product with the wide lens. The result: the product's proportions look closer to reality, and boxes and bottles don't look bloated in the middle.
Turn off the flash. Direct flash creates strong glare and a harsh shadow behind the product.
Watch out for beauty modes and filters. Turn off any mode that automatically changes colours or smooths surfaces while you're shooting products.

How do I photograph my products? A shot list for every product

If you're asking yourself "how do I photograph my products without forgetting anything?", write this list down and stick it next to your photo corner. Salla allows a maximum of ten images per product, and this list gives you roughly six to eight photos that cover the customer's questions:

The main image on a white background: the whole product, centred, with a little space around it, and the same angle and distance for every product in the category.
Other angles: the side, the back, and from above if the shape calls for it.
A detail shot: the material, stitching, pattern, label or ingredients. This photo answers "is the quality good?"
A size shot: the product in a hand, or next to something of a familiar size, so the customer can picture the real dimensions.
Packaging: the box or gift bag if it comes with the product, especially for seasons and gifting.
A lifestyle shot: the product in its natural setting; the cup on a table, the abaya being worn, the accessory on a wrist.
Options and colours: if the product comes in several colours, shoot each one with the same settings so the comparison is fair.

This is a practical way to work: shoot all your products with the same setup in batches, instead of starting from scratch with every product.

Product photography tips by product type

Perfume and reflective glass

Glass reflects everything around it, including you and your phone. Wear dark clothes and use the camera timer with a tripod.
Let the light come from the side or from behind the product through a diffusing curtain, so the glass looks clear and glossy with soft highlights instead of harsh spots of light.
Two black boards on either side outline the bottle and make its shape stand out against the white background.
Wipe the bottle with a microfibre cloth before every shot; fingerprints show clearly when customers zoom in.

Abayas and clothing: on a hanger or on a model?

On a hanger or mannequin: easier and more consistent, and it shows the full cut. Hang it against a plain wall, and iron the piece before shooting because creases show up more in photos.
On a model: shows how the piece drapes on the body and its real length, which is a key question for abayas (the long, loose over-garment widely worn in the Gulf). If you use a model, state her height and the size she's wearing in the description.
Best of all, combine both: the main image on a hanger against a plain background, extra photos on a model, and a close-up of the embroidery and fabric.
Be careful with black: black abayas need more light for the fabric details to show, and don't let the camera turn them grey.

Accessories and jewellery

Small pieces mean details are everything. Shoot from a distance with the 2x lens and crop afterwards, rather than putting the phone right up to the piece.
A photo on a hand or neck is essential so the customer understands the size.
Shiny metal reflects like glass, so the same tricks of soft light and white and black boards work here too.

Coffee, sweets and food

Side light from a window brings out the texture of coffee beans and the layers of a dessert better than any front light.
Shoot food while it's fresh, and have everything set up before you take it out of the fridge or oven.
A photo of the packaging as the customer will receive it (the bag, box or label) matters as much as the product served on a plate.
Don't show a quantity or presentation that doesn't match what the customer will actually receive. A beautiful photo that doesn't match the order brings complaints.

Once the coffee is photographed, give it a description that covers origin, processing and roast; this specialty coffee description guide walks you through it step by step.

How do I edit photos without misrepresenting the product?

Light editing improves a photo; heavy editing creates problems. The rule: edit so the photo matches the product, not to make it look better than it really is.

Crop and straighten: fix any tilt, crop out extra space, and keep all your photos in the same ratio (square, for example) so your category page looks tidy.
White balance: if your white background comes out yellowish or bluish, correct it until it's a neutral white. That usually corrects the product's colour along with it.
Brightness and contrast: a small lift is enough.
Don't change the product's own colour: if a customer orders a "navy" abaya from the photo and receives a black one, or a perfume in a gold box that turns out to be copper, you've opened the door to returns and negative reviews. Compare the photo with the real product next to the screen before you upload it.

For editing, your phone's built-in photo editor is enough, or well-known apps such as Snapseed or Lightroom Mobile. Salla's dashboard also has editing tools after you upload an image, including cropping, adjusting colour levels and resizing.

If you want to remove backgrounds or fix lighting with AI tools, our guide to AI product photo editing covers what's safe to do and where to stop so you don't misrepresent the product.

How do I upload photos to Salla? Image specs, formats and alt text

According to the "Add product images and videos" article in Salla's help centre:

Supported formats: png, jpeg, jpg and gif (an animated GIF can be the main image).
Dimensions: preferably no smaller than 250 pixels high and 100 pixels wide. That's a minimum, so upload your photos at a much higher resolution so they stay sharp when customers zoom in.
Maximum file size: 5 MB per image, and Salla recommends keeping image sizes as small as possible for store speed.
Number of images: a maximum of ten images per product.
Main image: you can set it by enabling the main image option ("الصورة الأساسية") under the images, and reorder the images by drag and drop.
Video: you can upload video from your device (up to 3 clips, a maximum of 250 MB per clip, in MP4, MOV or WEBM) or add a YouTube link.

Alt text: under every image in Salla there's an (Alt) button where you write a description of the image, up to 70 characters. Its job is to describe the image to search engines like Google. Google itself recommends that alt text be descriptive and specific, and warns against stuffing it with keywords. So instead of "perfume oud perfume luxury perfumes", write something like: "100 ml oud perfume bottle with gold cap on white background" (an illustrative example).

Photos and description: why must they work together?

The photo answers "what does it look like?" and the description answers "what size is it? what is it made of? is it right for me?" If the photo shows a shiny fabric and the description says "matte", the customer gets confused. And if you photographed the size in a hand, state the dimensions in numbers in the description too. Google also notes that placing images near relevant text helps it understand them. Here is how to write a description that complements your photos and answers what they can't.

So once you've finished shooting, go back to the description and SEO fields and make sure they match what's in the photos. Our guide to SEO fields in Salla products explains the page title, meta description and URL for each product, and if you're preparing for a sales season, read how to prepare your product pages for White Friday. You can also review the whole product page (photos, description and SEO) with our free checklist.

Once the photos are done, the description is the other half of the page. If that's the part that eats your time, Wasef drafts it from your product data, with an SEO title and meta description alongside, so your time goes into checking that the words match what your photos show rather than starting from a blank page. You review and publish to Salla in one click, and the 7-day trial is free with no card.

Quick recap before you start

Indirect window light, with the room lights off.
A white board opposite the window to soften shadows.
A white curved backdrop for the main image, and textured backgrounds for extra photos.
A clean lens, grid on, focus locked, no digital zoom, and 2x if your phone has it.
A fixed shot list for every product: main, angles, detail, size, packaging, lifestyle.
Light edits that match reality, and descriptive alt text under 70 characters.

How to Take Product Photos With Your Phone: Lighting, Backgrounds and Salla Image Specs