How I Made My Product Photo Props on a Budget

How I Made My Product Photo Props on a Budget

Hello, Erixaart entrepreneur! Here are some tips to make your social media/website photos look AMAZING without costing an arm and a leg! Enjoy. 

First, I got some old boxes and makeup packaging that I felt would fit the vision I was going for. I made sure to get packaging that was smooth (no bumpy letters). You can look up product photo examples on Pinterest to start with an idea of how you want your photos to come out. I did that, here are some photos I chose for inspiration

 

Next, I spray painted the items with colors I picked for my business. Nude, white, and light blue are my business’s colors. I use more nude so that my paintings have a neutral background (my art tends to have lots of color).

I did light coats of spray paint, letting the items dry for about 4 min in-between. 

I suggest wearing gloves :)

 

 

Once I was finished with the props, I went onto painting the cardboard that was underneath the spray painted items.

Materials used: 

  • Pink/nude paint
  • White paint
  • Old makeup 
  • Sponge 
  • Cardboard 

As I said above, I looked up some ideas on Pinterest and I saw a product photo with an interesting blotted background. I decided to try it. 

I poured the two colors on a piece of cardboard and added my glitter. I them dipped my sponge and started dabbing away. I found that it is way faster if you just pour the paint onto the piece you are making.

 

When I was satisfied with the blotting, I then took some white paint on a small cardboard piece and let the wind create webs/lines on the pink and white background. This was just to add some more personality. After that dried a bit, I took some leftover spray paint from the photo props and sprayed some areas so it wasn’t super pink. 

 

 

Here is what the final dried background looks like! I really like how it came out and it was super easy to make. I also feel good about not letting paint & cardboard go to waste. 

 

I haven’t take product photos with this background yet, but when I do I will post them! 

In the meantime, checkout these awesome photos using the spray painted photo props!

Tips: 

  • Have good lighting. I didn’t go and buy a special light for these photos. I just used regular room lighting and edited the exposure on my phone to make the photos brighter. 
  • Use scrapbooking paper for backgrounds/photo props. 
  • Use wrapping paper for photo backgrounds. Example:

I took a piece of cardboard and covered it with a semi-matte wrapping paper. I tried my bed to smooth out the wrinkles and bumps. I found it is ok to have some because the camera will blur it out and make it appear smooth. The photo on the right is my finished product photo with that same background on the left. 

 

  • Use fake flowers from the dollar store
  • Use other inexpensive items to add personality/vibe to photos (examples: ribbon, string, leaves, rocks, glitter, shadows, etc.)
  • Spray paint a box and use it as a background. Example: 

 I didn’t have any purple scrapbooking paper so I spray painted a smooth box. Here is how it came out in photos! 

 

If you make your own photo props with these tips/tricks I would love to see how they come out in photos! Send them my way! My instagram is @erixa.art

 

Thanks for reading ! Have a productive day :) 

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