Shoot your own product photos with just your phone
Thirty free PDF guides — one for every kind of small business. Twenty scenarios per business, drawn from three different angles each. For the boss who said “take the photos yourself, I’ll pay you more” — and the employee who said yes.
A bakery owner told her son: “Take the photos yourself, I'll pay you more.”
He said yes. He took 200 photos. Every one of them looked like what they were — a kid with a phone, in a bakery, with the ceiling lights on. Customers stopped scrolling on none of them.
Three things would have fixed it: a window instead of the ceiling lights, the 2× lens instead of the wide one, and a stack of books to keep the phone steady. Total cost: zero. Every business he'd ever shopped at had the same three problems.
So here's the photo playbook too. Same deal — just don't forget where you got it.
Find the one for your business.
Search by name, or filter by category. Each guide is a single PDF — download, save it on your phone, flip through on set. Free forever. Share with anyone.
01 OF 30Coffee Shop
From the latte on the counter to the chalkboard menu — twenty product photos that make people want to come in for a flat white they didn't know they needed.
02 OF 30Restaurant
From the plated hero dish to the candlelit two-top — twenty scenes that book a table tonight, not next Friday.
03 OF 30Bakery
Pre-dawn flour, golden ovens, the curve of a perfect croissant — twenty product photos that smell like butter even on a phone screen.
04 OF 30Pizzeria
Wood-fired ovens, dough flying, the cheese-pull miracle — twenty shots for the most filmable food on Earth, captured as stills.
05 OF 30Hair Salon
Tools, color, transformations — twenty product photos that sell appointments before the client even sees the price list.
06 OF 30Barbershop
Old-school chairs, hot towels, sharp lines — twenty photos for the most cinematic small business on the block.
07 OF 30Nail Salon
Tiny details, perfect lighting, satisfying motions — twenty shots that make hands the hero of every photo.
08 OF 30Spa & Beauty
Calm, water, breath — twenty soft-light photos that feel like meditation, designed for a phone and a single window.
09 OF 30Gym & Fitness
Sweat, weights, breath — twenty hard-light photos that show effort honestly, not perfection.
10 OF 30Yoga Studio
Stillness, breath, gentle movement — twenty soft, deliberate photos for a space that sells calm.
11 OF 30Boutique
Curated clothing, careful styling — twenty product photos that earn the click and the visit.
12 OF 30Jewelry Store
Light, weight, intimacy — twenty product photos that treat every piece as a portrait, not a product.
13 OF 30Florist
Color, water, paper-wrap rituals — twenty photos for the most naturally photogenic small business on the block.
14 OF 30Bookstore
Pages, lamplight, quiet discovery — twenty photos for a shop made for slow camera moves and warm light.
15 OF 30Tattoo Studio
Ink, focus, the moment a stranger trusts you with their skin — twenty photos that document the craft.
16 OF 30Photography Studio
Lights, backdrops, the dance of model and photographer — twenty behind-the-scenes photos for a studio's own marketing.
17 OF 30Real Estate Agent
Listings, walk-throughs, the moment a buyer falls in love — twenty interior photos that close deals before the showing.
18 OF 30Pet Groomer
Fluffy dogs, careful hands, transformation reveals — twenty photos for the most pleasant business to film, captured as stills.
19 OF 30Car Detail
Foam, water, mirror-shine reveals — twenty photos that show every car as a hero, not a service quote.
20 OF 30Wedding Planner
Tablescapes, gown reveals, vows exchanged — twenty photos for the most photogenic day of someone's life.
21 OF 30Construction Company
Sites, crews, before-and-afters — twenty photos for the most underrated content category, where clients want to see the work.
22 OF 30Office & Corporate
Teams, meetings, the brand at work — twenty photos that turn office life into honest, useful content.
23 OF 30Dental Clinic
Trust, brightness, the fear-conquering reveal — twenty photos that sell smiles before they sell appointments.
24 OF 30Auto Repair Shop
Engines, oil, the satisfying click of the right tool — twenty photos that show working hands telling a story.
25 OF 30Brewery & Winery
Tanks, taps, the perfect pour — twenty product photos that make liquid look like gold.
26 OF 30Catering Service
Spreads, setups, the moment guests gasp at the buffet — twenty photos that book events before the tasting.
27 OF 30Veterinary Clinic
Animals, careful hands, the kind of trust you can't fake — twenty photos that sell the clinic as a place pets like.
28 OF 30Optician & Eyewear Shop
Frames, fittings, the moment glasses click on a face — twenty tiny-detail photos that demand sharp focus.
29 OF 30Dance Studio
Movement, mirrors, the moment a beat hits — twenty photos for a space made for slow-mo and music sync, captured as stills.
30 OF 30Interior Design & Architect
Spaces, finishes, the magic moment a room comes together — twenty photos that sell rooms before the open house.
30 pages of training pros usually charge for.
Each PDF opens with eight pages of universal photography training — phone basics, camera settings, lighting, lenses, free apps, composition, props, pro tricks — followed by 20 scenarios specific to your business, each drawn from 3 angles.
Phone Photo Basics
Ten things pros do that amateurs skip — for stills. Wipe, lock, light, hold steady, shoot 5+ takes. The cheat sheet that turns snapshots into product shots.
Camera Settings
iPhone + Samsung menu paths. JPEG vs RAW. ProRAW, grid, level, mirror front camera. Pro mode for hard light. AE/AF lock for sharp every time.
Lighting on a Budget
The free window-and-foam-core setup magazines actually use. Four lights worth knowing — when to use which. Five Amazon picks under $80.
Mobile Lenses & Accessories
Macro clip-on for jewellery and food. Wide for interiors. CPL filter to kill glass reflections. The $8 Bluetooth shutter that ends shake forever.
Free Editing Apps
Snapseed, Lightroom Mobile, VSCO, Photoshop Express — what real pros use. The 60-second edit recipe that fixes 95% of phone photos.
Composition & Angles
The three angles that work for every product — eye-level, top-down, low-hero. Five rules that turn snapshots into photographs.
Props & Backdrops
The dollar-store styling kit — linen, kraft paper, dried flowers, glass jars, acrylic ice. The white-paper backdrop trick. What pros actually pay for.
Pro Tricks
Fifteen production secrets — the ones that turn 'phone photos' into 'magazine shoots'. Wipe the product, bounce don't add, dirty plates beat clean ones.
Want a pro to handle the big stuff? We're here.
Brand films, commercial photo shoots, drone work, and the moments you shouldn't trust to a phone — that's our day job.