Product Photography With a Phone: Online Store Guide

Product photography with a phone is enough to run an online store that sells, as long as you get three things right: soft daylight from a window, a plain clean background, and the same set of steady shots for every product. A recent smartphone camera is good enough. What separates a photo that sells from one that sends buyers away is light and consistency, not the price of the camera.

The short version: shoot beside a window in daytime with the flash off, on white paper or plain fabric, with the phone fixed on a stand or a stack of books. Take six shots per product: front, side, back, close-up detail, scale or in-use, and packaging. Let the product fill most of the frame, and keep text and logos off the main image.

This guide is part of our series on starting an online store in Egypt. It is written for merchants who photograph stock themselves at home or in a small storeroom.

Why photos carry the product page

Online, the customer cannot touch, hold or try on what you sell. Photos do that job for them. When photos flatter a product beyond what arrives, the cost shows up later as refused deliveries and returns, and with cash on delivery that cost lands on you. So the aim is not a "beautiful" photo. It is an honest, clear one.

If you want the full picture of a page that converts, from title and price to the order button, read our product page conversion guide. This article focuses only on the images.

The kit you actually need

Item	Budget version	What it does
Light	A window in daylight	Soft light without harsh shadows
Background	White card or a plain sheet	Isolates the product
Reflector	White cardboard or foam board	Lifts shadows on the far side
Stand	Books or a small tripod	Sharp, repeatable framing
Cleaning	A microfibre cloth	Fingerprints and dust show up badly

Nothing on that list is expensive, and most sellers already own all of it. If you plan to shoot often, a cheap phone tripod and a large sheet of white card are the only two things worth buying.

Step by step: shooting products on a phone

1. Clean the lens. A smudged lens is the most common reason phone photos look hazy.
2. Turn the flash off. Flash creates glare and hard shadows, worst of all on shiny products.
3. Place the product beside the window, with light coming from the side, never from behind the product.
4. Put the white card opposite the window to bounce light into the shadow side.
5. Fix the phone in place at the same distance and height for every product in a batch.
6. Tap the product on screen so focus and exposure lock onto it, not the background.
7. Use the main lens without digital zoom. Digital zoom throws away detail. Move the phone closer instead.
8. Take several frames per angle, then choose the sharpest on a laptop screen rather than the phone.

White background or styled scene?

Use both, for different jobs. A white background works for the main image: it shows the product clearly and is accepted by shopping catalogues. A lifestyle shot, such as the item on a table, in a hand, or being worn, helps customers picture it in their own life. Lead with white, then add one or two in context.

A shot list for every product

Keep the order identical across your catalogue so the store looks deliberate rather than improvised:

1. Front on white: your main image.
2. Side or a three-quarter angle.
3. Back, if the product looks different from behind.
4. Close-up detail: fabric, stitching, zips, or the ingredients printed on a box.
5. Scale or in use: in a hand, next to a familiar object, or worn.
6. Packaging: buyers like to know how it will arrive, especially for gifts.

If a product comes in several colours, shoot each one separately from the same angle. A customer ordering navy should never be looking at a photo of black.

Image sizes and Google's rules

If you want your products to appear in Google's shopping results, the Google Merchant Center image requirements set out the following:

Requirement	What Google says
Minimum size	At least 500 × 500 pixels
Recommended size	Around 1500 × 1500 pixels or above
Maximum file	No larger than 16 MB and no more than 64 megapixels
Formats	JPEG, WebP, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF
Product fill	Recommended at no less than 75% and no more than 90% of the image
Not allowed	Promotional text or prices, watermarks, barcodes, borders

In practice, that means a big logo or a "SALE" sticker on your main image can hold back your listings. Put offers in banners and ads, and keep the product photo clean. The same images also feed your Meta and TikTok catalogues, which we cover in Facebook and TikTok product feeds.

File names and alt text for search

Google's SEO starter guide recommends sharp, clear images placed near relevant text, with short descriptive alt text. Put simply:

• Name files after the product: cotton-tshirt-navy.jpg, not IMG_2045.jpg.
• Write alt text that describes the photo: "Navy cotton crew-neck T-shirt, front view".
• Compress before uploading, so pages load quickly on customers' phones and mobile data.

More on getting a store found in search is in our Egyptian e-commerce SEO guide.

Mistakes that cost sales

• Colours that are not real. Heavy filters change how a product looks, and the customer sends it back. With cash on delivery they may simply refuse it; see COD best practices.
• Busy backgrounds. A bed, a patterned floor or clutter in the frame pulls the eye away.
• Supplier photos only. They may not match what you ship, and many other stores use the same images. The same goes for supplier text; our guide on how to write product descriptions shows how to replace it.
• A different angle and light for every product. The store ends up looking random.
• Yellow bulb light. If you must shoot at night, use one bright white bulb and switch off other lights so colour temperatures do not mix.

Batch your shoots

The fastest sellers do not photograph one product at a time. They set up once, shoot a whole batch in the same light, and edit in one sitting. A simple routine:

• Prepare the night before: steam clothes, wipe packaging, remove price stickers.
• Shoot in one block during your best window light, usually late morning.
• Edit lightly and consistently: crop square, straighten, adjust brightness to match the real item. Then stop.
• Rename and resize files before upload, so the catalogue stays tidy.

Uploading your photos on Baseet

According to the Baseet website, setting up a product includes its images, prices and sizes, and you can import a whole catalogue from Excel in one go if you have many products. So the workflow is simple: shoot with the steps above, name your files clearly, then upload. You can start free with no credit card.

FAQ

Can I photograph my store's products with just a phone?

Yes. A recent smartphone camera is good enough for an online store. Daylight, a plain background, a steady phone and a clean lens matter far more than the camera itself.

What is the best background for product photos?

Plain white for the main image, because it shows the product clearly and is accepted by shopping catalogues. Add one or two shots in a real setting so customers can picture the item in use.

What size should product images be?

Google Merchant Center requires at least 500 × 500 pixels and recommends around 1500 × 1500 or larger. Square images work well across most storefronts and catalogues.

Should I put the price or a discount on the product photo?

Not on the main image. Google does not allow promotional text or watermarks on product images. Put offers in banners and ads, and keep the product photo clean.

How do I shoot at night if I have no daytime?

Use one strong white bulb from the side and a white reflector opposite, and turn off other lights so colours do not mix. Daylight is better, but this is a workable fallback.

Written by Sara Mahmoud, E-commerce Strategist at Baseet. Last updated: 13 October 2026.

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