5 tips for professional woodworking photos

Woodworking is a labor of love. Whether you’re crafting large furniture or small home decor pieces, professional woodworking photography captures the quality of your craftsmanship. In turn, poor photos reflect badly on your work and could cost you jobs. 

Even if you’ve built a luxury kitchen, a low-quality photo can make all your hard work look unspectacular. In today’s digital world, where visual content is so important, professional woodworking pictures aren’t just nice to have. They’re expected. 

You don’t need to hire an expert or buy lots of expensive equipment to take high-quality photos. You’re already halfway there if you have a smartphone and access to good lighting. 

Continue reading to learn our five easy tips on how to master woodworking photography and boost sales. Whether you use your phone or a DLSR camera, these pointers will enhance your woodworking photos.

The importance of professional-looking woodworking photography

Professional woodworking photography elevates your work. It’s also crucial for selling your pieces online and winning more clients. In fact, good-quality photos have a 94% higher conversion rate than low-quality photos, so never underestimate their impact. 

Here are the key benefits of having professional-looking woodworking photos:

• They create a visual portfolio, offering a compelling snapshot of your craftsmanship — this is crucial to getting more jobs. 
• They attract more buyers and clients, who often form their first impressions based on what they see online.
• They highlight the details of your handiwork, like the wood-grain patterns or intricate carvings, effectively conveying your skill.
• They help you establish your personal brand by presenting a consistent and visually appealing collection of your work. 
• They maximize the marketability of your creations, attracting a wider audience and setting you apart in a competitive landscape. 

5 tips to improve your woodworking pictures

To improve your woodworking pictures, you need decent lighting and a basic understanding of camera angles. You can also invest in a few pieces of optional equipment that make a big difference in photo quality:

• Tripod: Available for both smartphones and DLSR cameras, this reduces camera shake and produces sharper images.
• Portable lighting: These setups work wonders if photographing at night or if you have a gloomy space. We’ll cover portable lighting in more depth later in the piece.
• Wide-angle lens: Allows you to show the full room when photographing renovations. There are plenty of wide-angle lens options for both smartphones and DLSRs, but there’s a good chance your smartphone has built-in wide-angle functionality. More on this later, too.

It’s surprising how a few simple steps can transform your photos. Let’s explore further. 

1. Set the stage

Setting the stage is an important but often overlooked part of photography. The background matters. You’re not just photographing a cabinet renovation. You’re capturing how that renovation can transform lifestyles.

A cluttered or distracting background detracts from your work. Similarly, a lackluster environment feels uninviting.

Details like place settings, flowers, and bowls of fruit bring life to your photos and add a welcoming touch. It gives your audience something to relate to so that they can see the value your work would bring to their homes. 

We suggest photographing your work when the homeowner is already settled in. If that’s not possible, bring your own props to dress up the space — just be careful not to overdo it and overshadow your project. Here are some tips for the perfect setup:

• Choose subtle items that complement your woodwork.
• Use props that reinforce the feeling you want to communicate.
• Keep all visible areas minimally cluttered and tidy so your creation stands out.

When photographing stand-alone pieces in your workshop, consider a neutral-colored backdrop. This focuses attention on your work and adds a professional touch. 

2. Find your angles

A thoughtful composition is the difference between professional and amateurish woodworking photography. Experimenting with different angles helps you find the most flattering way to photograph your work. It also effectively highlights important details. 

Here are some tips for finding the perfect angle:

• • Use the rule of thirds. This involves framing your shot so that the subject — your creation — is in the left or right third of an image. This balances your subject with negative space.
  • Walk around. View your piece from various perspectives to see which looks best. Different angles convey different moods and highlight distinct features of your work.
  • Shoot from chest height. This eliminates distortion and gives a parallel view. The result is a more streamlined photo the eye can glide over.
  • Take artistic close-ups. This is important when photographing cabinet doors, for example, where wood texture and hardware details significantly contribute to the overall visual appeal.
  • Find the widest angle. This is important for something like a kitchen cabinet renovation. It allows the viewer to see the full scope of the room without awkward cropping.
  • Use leading lines. Incorporate natural lines from your surroundings into your composition. This promotes balance and guides the viewer’s eye across the photo.
  • Know how to frame. Use objects or architectural features in your environment to frame your subject and direct attention toward it.
  • Shoot vertically and horizontally. Horizontal photos work best on websites, while vertical ones are ideal for social media or printed brochures and catalogs.

You can never take too many woodworking pictures. Take as many photos from as many angles as possible. The more options you have, the better. 

3. Use lighting to your advantage

Lighting is your biggest tool. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to purchase an expensive lighting rig to achieve the best results. 

Natural light is the best choice. It produces an even illumination that captures true colors and textures while avoiding harsh shadows. This allows you to get an authentic representation of your work.

Avoid direct sunlight because it can cause overexposure and unflattering contrast. Instead, opt for a softer, diffused light source. You can achieve this by:

• Shooting with the windows behind you — never shoot toward a bright window.
• Drawing sheer curtains or blinds over windows that have to stay in shot.
• Shooting on slightly overcast days (not dark) for a softer light source.

Don’t use lights in the home or workshop. These artificial sources have different color temperatures that clash with natural light. This might inaccurately represent colors in your woodworking photos and cause unsightly reflections. By using natural light, you more cohesively and accurately portray your woodwork.

If you do need artificial lights for whatever reason, we recommend softboxes, which disperse light evenly and reduce glare. Producing a neutral and daylight-balanced color, they also avoid color casts. Place these strategically around your work to achieve consistent lighting. 

4. Invest in a wide-angle lens

When photographing a large project like kitchen cabinets, it’s important to capture the entire space. Doing so allows you to convey atmosphere, spatial relationships, and the overall aesthetics and functionality of the kitchen.

You can achieve this with a wide-angle lens. A wider field of view saves you from having to squeeze all the way to the back of the room to get your shot. Some benefits of using wide angles:

• You capture more of the surrounding environment.
• They create a sense of depth in your photo. 
• The space will feel more expansive and immersive.
• They eliminate half-room shoots, which look unbalanced.

Without the broader perspective that a wide-angle lens provides, your woodworking photos will lack context. This makes it challenging to showcase the design of a room. The framing may also cut off essential elements, like drawer fronts or pieces of furniture, resulting in an incomplete and unappealing picture. 

Wide-angle lenses are great for highlighting kitchen transformations, as they emphasize the impact the cabinet renovation has on the look and feel of the room.

The good news is that you don’t need a DSLR camera to get a wide-angle lens. Most smartphones today have wide and ultra-wide shooting options built into their camera settings. Simply select this setting before you shoot for a professional-looking, wider field of view. You can also buy wide-angle lens attachments for your smartphone.<h3>5. Check your photos</h3><h3> 5. Check your photos  </h3>

After a day of woodworking photography, the last thing you want is to get home and realize all your pictures are blurry, lopsided, or overexposed. You can avoid this by taking a few minutes to check your photos while you’re still on site and retake any that miss the mark. Here are some of the corrections you can make:

• If your photos look wonky: Set your phone or camera on a level surface or tripod. Use the grid lines on your camera’s viewfinder to ensure everything is straight and aligned. Some smartphone cameras also allow you to overlay grid lines on your screen.
• If your photos look overexposed: Refer to our lighting tips. Cover any bright windows or ensure they’re behind you. You can also lower the exposure in your camera settings.
• If your photos are too dark: Use artificial lighting sources like softboxes to brighten the room. Again, you can also try increasing the exposure in your camera settings.
• If your photos are blurry: When you retake your photos, make sure you have autofocus turned on. You can also try using a tripod or level surface to avoid camera shake.
• If your photos look unbalanced: Play around with different compositions by changing the camera angles, rearranging props, or using the rule of thirds.

It’s equally important to learn the basics of your camera settings, whether you’re using a DSLR or smartphone. Experimenting with different manual modes and color settings gives you greater control over the final photo and helps you fix things like inaccurate colors. 

If, after all that, your woodworking pictures are still not looking how you’d like them to, you can rescue them with a few basic editing techniques. Familiarize yourself with photo editing tools, like Adobe Photoshop, to enhance colors, sharpness, and contrast. This is often just a case of moving a few sliders until you’re happy — and trust us, it makes all the difference. 

Learn More with The Cabinet Door Store

No matter where you are in your woodworking journey, we can’t overstate the impact of high-quality photos. These five tips will elevate your woodworking photography to help you build a visually appealing portfolio that attracts more business. 

For more inspiration, explore The Cabinet Door Store. We have a range of resources you can use to make your next project a success. We also stock a range of cabinet door profiles, drawers, and hardware so you can find everything you need in one place. 

If you have any questions or specific requirements, we’re happy to help. Simply contact our friendly team of experts.