Product Photo Gear Guide

Updated October 2026

Coming from a company that started out selling a camera accessory, this might sound odd. Most sellers don't need much gear. Light and technique do the heavy lifting. Buy something when a specific problem shows up, not before.

Already in your house

A window is your main light (here's how to use it). White poster board makes your background and your bounce card. A stack of books will hold a phone steady in a pinch, tape and poster putty hold everything else, and a cardboard box becomes a lightbox.

Worth buying first

• A phone tripod with a clamp. If you buy one thing, buy this. Sharper photos, and every listing framed the same.
• A Bluetooth shutter remote, so tapping the screen doesn't shake the phone. The self-timer is the free version.
• White and black foam boards from a craft store, for bouncing light and shaping reflections.
• A couple of spring clamps to hold boards where you want them.
• Two identical daylight LED bulbs (about 5000K, CRI 90 or higher) if you shoot after dark.

Later, if you shoot a lot

A folding light tent saves table space. A roll of backdrop paper on a stand handles bigger items. An overhead phone arm makes flat-lays of clothing and books much easier, and a small turntable is nice for 360° shots and short videos.

What we'd skip

Clip-on phone lens kits rarely beat the lenses your phone already has. Ring lights are popular, but on jewelry, glass and chrome they show up as a bright ring in the reflection. And a dedicated camera won't fix lighting problems, so sort out the light first.

Shooting with a real camera?

If your camera has a built-in flash, don't fire it straight at the item. Bounce it off a white ceiling or a card, or put a diffuser over it. That's the exact problem the FlashClip was built to solve. Our flash page explains how.